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), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
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