Bathroom Safety After Surgery

If your movement is limited during recovery, ask a family member or friend to help prepare your bathroom. This helps make it safer and more comfortable while you heal. Use the tips below as a guide. Know that some equipment you’ll need won’t be ordered until you’re ready to go home.

Bathroom safety tips

Try the following tips for staying safe:

• Prevent slips and falls by using nonslip bathmats on your bathroom floor and in your tub or shower.

• Watch out for hazards, such as wet floors.

• Use grab bars in your shower or tub for support as you get in and out. Also have them by your toilet.

• Install a hand-held shower hose.

• Keep the soap and shampoo within reach

• Sit on a bath bench or shower chair while you bathe.

• Use a long-handled sponge to wash hard-to-reach areas.

• If you had surgery that limits bending, use a commode chair or elevated toilet seat to raise the height of your toilet.

• Talk with your occupational therapist if you need more instructions in using bath aids.