Comments please, renos, grab rails and fibro

BlueBells

Senior member
Joined
Aug 1, 2023
Messages
418
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
12/2019
Country
AU
State
VI
@Auriel @Harpy @SBee @Badger @sunkacola @JayCS
@Ian waxman
Hi everyone, and anyone that reads this :) :) :)

I am renovating. I am considering a tye of hand rail along the passage, not a long passage, but I do lose balance at times.

Considering I will only get older , and throwing age stuff in with fibro wobbles, have any of you got thoughts of this idea?

I know hospitals etc, and cruise ships on the passageways have them, but I've not seen anything in a private dwelling. Always a first time :D:D

I'm so hoping to get a few ideas from you all, as fibro fog is having a party and I haven't got time for that at the moment. 🐉:mad:🐉:mad:🐉:rolleyes:
 
Hi, a hand rail sounds like a good idea, depending on your circumstances it might be possible to have them fitted for free. I happen to have some in the wet room, along stairs and by door ways as they were fitted for my late mother.

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Good idea @BlueBells you may not even need it but its there just in case so will give you extra confidence. We too had the shorter ' grab rails' for my late mum in the bathroom and top of the stairs in case she lost her balance and then bannisters fitted both sides of the stairs.
I've seen some places that use a thick rope for a more decorative look but thats looks too nautical for me!

Hope the gremlins give you some quieter times soon 😍
 
Hi @BlueBells, 🌷I have a grab rail on my bath, (I've also had my taps altered to the push types) I would be much happier in an elderly person type of place, 100% if you can (have one fitted, whatever will make life easier for you,) when I move I'm gonna ask if some thing's can be changed (to easier function) 🌛😙🌜
 
@Badger and @Auriel , @SBee

Thanks for your reply, make that replies. I had this written and forgot to send it. I think my head is a bit whoopsie at the moment :D :D :D

The builder said he'd put noggins in for the bathroom so it would be prepared for rails later, but I have asked to put them in anyway. One doesn't think of everyday handiness of such things, it's generally and age attitude involved.

The previous house I lived in had one in the toilet, and it was so very handy when I'd have a bad flu or such, and a bit unsteady. ( I now realise fibro was part of the problem) and the security was reassuring.

Where I am has the shower over the bath, and there are two noggins (I know the name now :) , I think) where there was a rail, and I use them every shower for a little bit of steady, or a lot at times !

Going to the loo in the night, and first up in the morning, my balance is a bit off, that's why I considered the idea of a rail in the passage. At the moment, I tend to grab a door handle or just flat hand against the wall.

I'll chat with the builder, but I think it will be down the track, as locating a nice looking rail is not going to be easy. I found one, very tasteful, but they only supply the trade for big projects , like hospitals, supermarkets, but not individual people.

I know I'm breaking new ground here, not a commonly done thing, but...first time for everything

I've seen some places that use a thick rope for a more decorative look but thats looks too nautical for me!
@SBee I don't think it would suit my decor, either :) Also, when trying to gain balance, grabbing something with so much give in it, no help at all !

I am trying to appease the gremlins by backing off a bit, and trying not to worry about what I'm not getting done. If I push too hard, I'll get nothing done, so a bit is an achievement :):)

@Auriel yes, I think that the "old folks rails" are something that should be re-named, balance rails, or safety or something that takes away the "age" stigma and many younger people would certainly opt for them !

I have chosen taps etc that I feel comfortable with, I have a shower that has a fixed head plus a moveable one that is also hand held, so a true 3 in one . The bath, I have a faucet that swings back to the wall so it doesn't hang out over the bath, and it is midway mount. I also have hand held spray that is solo attached, so no trying to push a rubber hose onto the end of the faucet.

I know there are things I haven't thought of, and it will be "oh, why didn't I choose that?" but considering this has been full on since mid May, I'm doing very well under pressure :D:D:D

I'm actually proud of me, and that is very rare for me to say :D:D

Just flooring to choose, and it's done !!!
 
the grab rails are a great idea, I personally love the wooden rails.
Or the industrial look. Smallish water pipe connected set up look and painted black.
Could you use a walker till you come up with a design that suits.
 
@Harpy

No where near a walker yet, thankfully. Just some days I get the wobbles, so I am careful walking anywhere, and on those days I stay home.

On the rare occasions I feel too unbalanced to walk, I'll go all fours along the passage. On my own, so no one knows anyway :D

I'm just thinking ahead, thinking of an house that works with fibro on the bad days, as I do believe age (sick of fighting through) does affect symptoms.
 
Hiya folks! 😃 - Just heard Someone ring my doorBells ;)

On the rare occasions I feel too unbalanced to walk, I'll go all fours along the passage. On my own, so no one knows anyway :D
Yeah, I do do this when exhausted. Even if visitors are there. If anyone doesn't get it, they get it then. 😁
And slow cycling instead of going for walks - if anyone asks or chides me for being on a pavement: that's my 'walker'.
It seldom helps me to push it, so I don't think a walker is ever gonna be for me. Like Nordic walking sticks: Leaning hurts elbows/wrists.

My wife keeps offering gadgets that help and her help. She in the past often talked about a walker or chair lift for the stairs.
But my attitude is: Use it, don't lose it.
Hard for her to accept my stubbornness. Sometimes I humour her, and accept 'help', so she feels better. Humouring her makes me laugh.
If I take a hand she offers, I often hurt myself, esp. my feet, cos I can't move as slowly and smoothly as I need to.

On the stroke unit for a week last August cos of attack of severe vertigo and imbalance, the only slight help was the physio teaching me balance exercises.
It got better fairly quickly, praps cos of adjusting supps a bit. (Not directly cos of the exercises tho.)
But imbalance remains, esp. in the dark, I've recently realised, and I don't put the lights on when I'm up 3-6x at night, even when cold showering, so I don't wake up.
But the more imbalanced I feel, the more that reminds me to do balance exercises. Same as with other symptoms like fatigue/Ache and esp. local pains. First I ask myself and around how can I improve my body. With what's left I develop workarounds. And only if anything is left there do I try to ease that.

So my main balance exercises are walking on straight lines, maybe with closed eyes, or looking straight to the left/right, standing on one leg, cycling on pavement curbs... As with most exercises I usually do them while doing what needs to be done or while doing something else. However long it takes I try to wash and dry my feet and take my socks and jeans off standing.
As a workaround I may lean against the wall in the shower. To get tight jeans off over my 5 pairs of socks, I trample them down and hold them with the other foot while pulling away.

Back to the question: When imbalanced, I walk around the flat broadly, like a sailor on a ship. Incidentally on ships I used to do that too, rather than use railings, on trains and in buses the same. Even if I can only shuffle. My gadgets and appliances are everything around me, MacGyver style. See the youtube video How to get up off the floor MacGyver style - and other moving videos for ... the elderly... ah, there we are back to the age topic above, but from an active angle... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
To save energy and practice balance at the same time, I may let myself fall against a wall/things, roll myself off / up from them, let myself drop, use rebound effects, throw a limb or two in the direction I want to go, etc.

Your passage with praps hand rails would be me walking thru the big room I sleep in, too many chairs and stuff to use the walls.
If sailor walk didn't work, I'd use what's standing there, if necessary place it better or crawl.

Similar our house staircase with banisters: I just tested. I usually only use them to drag myself up or drop on to, again using rebound effects, if I'm exhausted. Like I used to when I was 10x as quick and wanted a turbo jet boost. Apart from that, I avoid using the banisters and walls. And actually there again I do the opposite. Almost every time I use the stairs, I carry my tray with my laptop, big camera, food and other things I need in the garden, plus smaller bits of rubbish for the bins & composter, sometimes a lighter bag or empty watering can for the balcony. I carry this myself and when it's dark don't put on a light either - that decreases my balance, but increases my attention. My wife always offers to carry it, but I feel safer/better carrying it myself.

Maybe the try does help my sense of balance. Oh, and something important I do often use, again body-own is I play aeroplane, put my arms out to the side. Unless carrying the tray :D. And I don't care who sees that.
Now I've rememered situations where I do fairly often use hand on walls: When getting up after caring for the wild plants in front of the house. And back from the shops after getting off my bike I lay against the wall, sometimes before getting off it. But I can't remember a further situation where I'd need handles or banisters.

My wife often offers to pick things up off the floor for me or get me things, and I actually don't like that. The only time when I can really accept people picking things up for me is at table tennis, so I can last more than one game.

So of course, there'll be situations where we need gadgets and help.

But delaying their use as long as possible is my way about it, improving and compensating with what's there.
 
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Hi @JayCS. Well. Look who the cat's dragged in 😂

Good to be back reading your words of wisdom, you always seem to write a different slant on things.

Needless to say I still can't quite get the ' how to do quotes 'bit, but interesting that you find balance harder in darkness, my own balance is always pretty good unless I am exceptionally tired - but a Pilates teacher said they key factor in good balance is achieving a results with the eyes closed... Thats harder then I would've thought. Bit hit and miss for me.
 
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