7 Reasons A Doctor Would Recommend A Lift Chair
An increasing number of Americans are making the decision to grow old in their home for their comfort and autonomy.
But of the projected 80 million people hitting retirement age by 2035,
76% will have a mobility-related issue.
12 million households will have an individual who needs help with self-care tasks like bathing and dressing oneself.
27 million households will have an occupant who has limitations when it comes to driving, cooking, and cleaning.
These numbers present a problem for seniors who choose to age in-home — they’ll need support systems, and there are a lot of competing opinions about what the best options look like.
That’s why many turn to their doctor for advice. A doctor’s recommendation can support your decision to remain in-home while aging, and can help you feel secure. They can also give advice about some tools and tricks that will maximize your comfort.
One such item is a lift chair. Because of their therapeutic and mobility-focused functions, lift chairs are widely recommended by doctors. There’s a library of research showing how these mobility supports can support transitional movement, along with a host of other benefits.
With that in mind, here are seven reasons why doctors recommend lift chairs for adults planning to age gracefully in their home.
1) For Aiding Deep Sleep
Without a good night’s sleep, aging adults are more prone to memory problems, depression, falls and accidents, and irritability.
However, without a good night’s sleep — often 7 to 8 hours — these issues can exacerbate to the point where seniors are getting just four to five hours of interrupted, low-quality sleep.
Poor sleep hygiene in older adults come with a host of other issues. Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) or Periodic Limb Movement Disorder are common sleep disruptors.
That’s why doctors can sometimes recommend a lift chair — To aid with issues like snoring, movement disorders, and other factors that cause you to lose sleep.
Because you have a higher degree of control on the reclining angle of a lift chair, you can adjust the tilt so that it takes the pressure off your spine. There’s also the option of reclining completely and elevating the feet, allowing for better blood flow and improved circulation.
2) To Speed Healing Post-Op
With aging comes an inevitable loss in bone density and bone health. Of course, resistance training can help strengthen your joints — but it may not be enough.
As you age, the risk of knee or hip fractures increases. Hip and knee replacement surgeries are not uncommon as they are often a viable solution to a problem that will only get worse.
And sometimes, a partial or total hip replacement surgery might be your only option. That’s when it’s good to consider post-surgery precautions.
Image Source
Home recovery is now at the point at which doctors recommend mobility devices like a lift chair for senior patients. There’s research that supports their precautionary prescriptions.
In a study of postsurgical recovery times in patients undergoing laparoscopies, subjects recovering in lift recliner chairs reached a state of “home-readiness” sooner, and experienced deeper comfort levels than those recovering in a traditional hospital bed.
As a post-operative tool, lift chairs can significantly speed up the healing process by removing the pressure on an operated area.
3) As An Aid For People With Arthritis
If you’re living with arthritis, you’ll be pleased to know that your condition comes with all kinds of support — including mobility support.
There are specific functions that a lift chair can help with, which allows doctors to recommend them to patients:
- They help you stand on your own, which otherwise may be difficult.
- They relieve pain from movement in your knees or hips.
- They simplify the sitting-to-walking transition, even if you need a cane or walker.
In these cases, a lift chair is considered medically necessary, and your doctor will need to be Medicare-approved.
4) To Help In-Home Clinicians And Support Workers
If you’re a caregiver, you need to consider what equipment and support tools you’ll need to help your aging family member.
Caregiver burnout is a frequent occurrence that can affect everyone in your life — your kids, spouse, and your relationship with the aging individual under your care.
Image Source
It’s not just families that help aging adults. Personal support workers (PSWs), occupational therapists, and nurses who come to your home also need the right equipment. Lift chairs can help aid individuals beyond the user.
In this case, PSWs can rely on the safety of the lift mechanism to allow their charges to move from sitting to standing safely. This means they don’t have to be bending down, straining their bodies physically, and tiring themselves out.
This is why the lift chair is so useful — it supports both parties. Doctors who consider the needs of clinicians and caregivers will often recommend supportive furniture like lift chairs to alleviate the stress of physically caring for an aging adult.
The technology powering mobility solutions like the lift chair can improve both patient and caregiver safety — because the risk for injury is real.
5) For Spinal Alignment
Without spinal alignment, you have back pain. And if you decide to age in your home, the last thing you want is to feel back pain every time you sit down.
The most common reasons for back pain are:
Muscle/ligament sprains
Spinal stenosis
Herniated discs
Osteoarthritis
Fibromyalgia
Sciatica
“Head” related stresses and pressures
Another prime contributor to back pain in the elderly is sitting in positions that compress, rather than extend and support, the back muscles and spine.
The solution for this is simple. Research says that the best position for your back is to sit so that your back is partially reclined at a 135-degree angle, rather than the 90-degree positioning of most chairs.
The lift chair’s infinite positioning and natural tilt is the right solution for realigning the spine, taking the pressure off the lower lumbar region.
And it’s not just about the tilt — it’s also about the movement. A lift chair gives the user complete control over the degree of tilt, allowing for a more dynamic seating experience. This flexibility and dynamism of a reclining position are precisely what researchers found improved spinal health.
6) Triggering Relaxation And Stress Relief
96% of doctors agree that when individuals who experience chronic pain use the multiple reclining positions of a lift chair, they’re able to get into a more relaxed, stress-free state faster.
If we’re going to be sitting for, on average, 7.7 hours a day, doctors recommend a tilt position. Reclining chairs have multiple benefits, including:
Alleviating back pain
Reversing the hunched position
Relieving spine compression
Helping you to breathe better
Relieving stress
When the back is supported and the spine is elongated, you’re halfway to relaxation. But there’s another factor that makes lift chairs so useful: Breath.
Lift chairs naturally lengthen the spine, which makes it easier for the ribs and lungs to expand.
That means it’s easier for you to draw breath in and out. And medical reviews of the tilt consistently conclude that improved ability to breathe and the subsequently improved oxygen content leads to better speaking and cognitive functions in the elderly.
7) To Relieve And Heal Sciatica
Sciatica is pain that radiates from your buttocks when the sciatic nerve is pinched or compressed. It has to do with posture, inflammation around the nerve roots, and poor sitting implements.
Another major reason for sciatica and pressure on the sacral region of the body is a right angle which forms between the torso and the upper leg. When you elevate this and straighten out your knee, it causes an already irritated nerve to become even more so.
A tilt position creates more of a “V” shape, correcting this right angle and results in less sacral stress. The position also helps reduce sitting pressure and guards against pressure sores that are likely to develop — especially if you’re recovering from surgery or a stroke.
Conclusion
Whether it’s intended as a post-operative recovery tool, an emergency solution for muscle, bone, and joint diseases, or as a means to improve spinal health, a lift chair has multiple benefits.
Designed as a wellness and mobility tool, a lift chair has a built-in flexibility, allowing you to switch from one purpose to another, and bringing health benefits along with it.
These benefits address both short-term issues and long-term quality of life. You can age in your home with maximum comfort.
The best part is that, with a doctor’s prescription, Medicare can cover your lift chair up to 80%. If you’re looking for added features like heat and massage, you can use Medigap to cover the difference of your purchase.
To us, the right support is, first and foremost, an investment in your longevity. Contact Perfect Sleep Chair today to find out more about building the right doctor-recommended lift chair for you.