What Is a Shower Chair?
A shower chair is typically a four-legged chair with rubberized feet, usually made with aluminum legs and a durable, plastic seat (some models also have chair backs), used to provide additional support in the bath or shower, and make it easier for the elderly, or people who have mobility issues to get in and out of the bath or shower.
Main Usage
As its name implies, this is a highly-specialized type of seating. Its design is optimized for use in the bath or shower, providing users with limited mobility a greater degree of independence. Its main aim is to help reduce the risk of slips and falls while bathing.
They are used to facilitate transferring a person from a wheelchair and into the shower chair. This added piece of equipment is not always required, of course, depending on the mobility of the user in question.
Note that shower chairs are not considered Durable Medical Equipment, and as such, are not covered under Medicare Part B.
Types of Shower Chairs
While it’s true that the standard design features four legs with rubberized feet, there are a surprising number of different types of shower chairs available on the market today. We’ll list these just below and highlight their key differences.
Origin and Brief History
Shower chairs are a relatively recent development, with the first patent being filed in 1973, marking their creation. The initial design was little more than a wheelchair with the wheels removed and replaced by rubberized feet.
Since then, manufacturers have taken advantage of advances in materials sciences to change and improve the design, ultimately morphing into the various types of shower chairs we see today.