Wheelchair or Seat in Shower

[Birdman42]

Hi All. A little advice if you please. We are moving house, our current four bedroom, large garden house is just too much for me to manage and look after My Margaret, who has PSP, properly. Our current en-suite is narrow and we have had it modified to a wet room and it was ideal to fit grab rails either side and a fixed shower seat. Our new en-suite, also a wet room, is a more traditional square design so the fitting of effective grab rails is more problematic. I have heard of wheelchairs specifically for use in showers (with or without commode). Has anybody any comments or advice on wet wheelchairs versus fixed shower seats? Margaret cannot walk unaided. Hope you can advise. Alan

[Kasenda]

Dear Birdman42, my husband has PSP and we manage very well with a commode shower chair on wheel that can be moved from the bedroom to the bathroom. He sits in it for a shower and also for toileting as the commode goes over the toilet. All the best.

[Heady]

Definitely a shower commode!Lots of love

Anne

[Birdman42 in reply to Heady]

Thank you for the advice. Looks like a Commode/Shower Chair has it all round. AlaN

[Scottoppy]

Hi Birdman A combined commode and shower chair is the answer. e have been in this position when in temporary rented bungalow as we could make no modifications. The one we have is a commode but also has a seat inset for use as a shower chair. The carers found it very good.

[Birdman42 in reply to Scottoppy]

Thank you for the advice. Looks like a Commode/Shower Chair has it all round. Alan

[AJK2001]

Definitely a shower commode on wheels. Made life so much easier, fewer transfers, safer, they can come with seat belts which might be needed in the future to help hold the person in position and that hole in the seat means you can get at some awkward places easier! Do make sure you get one that fits. We had to change Mum's because she lost so much weight the original one became dangerous as she could literally fall down the hole in the middle! Luckily the carers alerted me before we had a nasty accident and OTs quickly changed it for us. They also come with different amounts of padding, some are very hard which can be uncomfortable for a bony bum!Good luck with the move, hope the new place works out well for you both

[Birdman42 in reply to AJK2001]

Thank you for the advice. Looks like a Commode/Shower Chair has it all round I will look out for the padding. Alan

[AliBee1]

HiWe had a wheelable shower chair that had a commode that could be removed. Nigel used to fall sideways so after one fall out of the chair we managed to get a wheelable commode chair where the arms lifted up, not sideways. It worked very well. It saves all the hard work of transfer and is far safer. You cannot use them if there is a lip round the shower area. Good luck AliBee

[Birdman42 in reply to AliBee1]

Thank you for the advice. Looks like a Commode/Shower Chair has it all round I will investigate the arms. Alan

[Jimjam22]

Hi Birdman 42, I had a solid plastic shower chair with wheels, it was like a wheelchair with built in commode, it did very well for my Mum who had psp as long as there was no lip to go up on entering a room, it did the job great, I did think about a fitted seat to the wall, but I just didn't trust one, this chair made it feel more safe, it had arms on that you could simply move up out of the way, I bought it on amazon, hope that helps xx

[Birdman42 in reply to Jimjam22]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know the brand/model of chair? Alan

[Jimjam22 in reply to Birdman42]

Hi there, i have just had a look, I bought it off the internet, I just googled mobile shower chairs, it was from n r s healthcare it was a mobile shower commode chair hope that helps i am in th e uk.

[Birdman42 in reply to Jimjam22]

Thanks. We are UK as well. Alan

[Jimjam22 in reply to Birdman42]

Just out of interest, where about because I still have this commode, if you were near you could have it x

[Birdman42 in reply to Jimjam22]

We live between Portsmouth and Southampton

[Martina_MP]

Yes it gets tough to transfer to a fixed seat and people may tend to keel over sideways or lean forward suddenly, so hinged armrests that raise are very helpful on the commode wheelchair. The commode bucket slides out (we leave it off as we don't use it as a commode yet--my mother uses the toilet still) and the commode opening allows access for cleaning of the 'undercarriage'. 😊

[Birdman42 in reply to Martina_MP]

Thanks this is very helpful. Do you know the brand/model you bought? Alan

[Jimjam22]

Oh no, I'm in Yorkshire that's a shame, well I hope you get sorted out x

[Debspottery1]

It depends on the strength of the person to be able to hold on and balance themselves. The PVC and netting chairs are safer in my opinion, and you can use a seat belt and some towels to help support. A slippery wet person who cannot sit up is very difficult to bathe for one care giver.