Aging is not for the Faint of Heart, but it's better than the alternative!
This is a quote that many older folks often say and as I'm getting older I would have to agree with them. There are so many things to be thankful for when we reach that "Golden Age"! But (and now comes the truth), there are also many things that start to go wrong! Things that we never noticed in our youth. Like the effects of arthritis on our joints especially hips and knees, fingers and such.
My other half and I look after two more elderly than us, relatives. My uncle turns 91 today and my mother turns 90 in August! While we "look after" them, they are still both in good health (relatively speaking) and only require help with shopping, doctors appointments and such. So we are blessed that they both still have their wits about them.
One thing that they both complain about is getting up and down. Stairs and getting up off of the couch or chair causes them both some measure of discomfort. They are both showing signs of age related arthritis that can be very painful at times. That seems to be their most difficult and constant complaint. They can't get up as easily as they used to!
So we started to look for things that would raise their chairs and couches up a little bit more so that they didn't have to work so hard to get up. What we found were several options that were affordable, easy to install and provided that extra lift!
Buying new furniture was not an option for either of them or we might have suggested that!
Now my uncle is tall (over 6 ft.) and my mother isn't a shorty either, so we decided to go with something that would give them enough of a lift so that when sitting their knees were at 90 degrees to their hips. Right now, without these risers, their "bottoms" are lower than their knees, making it hard to rise up out of the chair or couch.
Medical equipment specialists, have chairs that will electronically almost stand a person out of the chair when activated, but that was over doing it where my family was concerned and they are very pricey ($400+).
Furniture risers seemed to be a great answer and we decided to try it ourselves first because I have very bad arthritis in my knees and was having the same problems that they were having. We ordered and installed the "iPrimio Furniture Risers" and it could not have been easier. Simply lift each leg and slide the riser under the foot of the couch and place it back down again. No holes to drill, no marking up the floors, no slipping either as they have a rubber foot that doesn't slide. Within minutes our couch was 3 inches higher than it was before.
These are the risers that we have installed on our couch.Added bonus is that now it is even easier to vacuum under the couch. With that extra bit of space underneath, the vacuum head easily reaches under the couch!
You can see in the ad, that there are also risers for bed frames too. No need to buy a whole new bed assembly, just lift and install the risers and I know you will hear words of thanks coming from your loved ones.
Bathrooms are also problematic. Just recently toilets are being made to what is called a "comfort height". If they live in their own homes you could hire a plumber to install one of these but again be prepared for a cost that is not average. A regular standard height toilet will cost about $150. dollars without installation. You can get regular height toilets that can cost much more for "decorator styles". Comfort height toilets will start at $270. plus! Again that is just for the toilet, installation will cost extra.
But, when getting up and down is a real effort or causes pain, then you have options that can help your loved ones live life easier with just a few modifications. Safety and comfort for our aging population are important as we try to keep them as independent as possible.
I hope that my experiences with these really easy additions might help you with whatever joint related issues you or one of your loved ones might be having.
The risers are wonderful and you would never guess that they were added after the fact! Everyone who comes to our house enjoys sitting on the chairs and couch, not realizing that the extra height makes it so much more comfortable. Rising from them is no longer a pain in the knees or anywhere else.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
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