Glass door vs. shower curtain

[celeste]

Does Susan or anyone else have input as to which might be better for me - a sliding glass door or a shower curtain?

I have PPMS & it is becoming more difficult for me to lift my "bad" leg into our tub/shower combo with glass doors. We plan to change to a stall shower but I am wondering if we should have a curtain instead of doors.

Currently, I use the doors just slightly to help with balance where a curtain wouldn't provide that. A new shower would have grab bars but they would only be on one side. Curtains also tend to billow in so that might give me a bit less room in an already smallish area. At this time, I don't use a shower seat but a stall would make that a possibility.

I'd also appreciate any other input you may have about this before we start looking into contractors & materials.

[hunterd]

I'm not certain on this topic. I have seen them, but don't have one myself, but have you ever thought of a transfer seat that slides on a track from outside the tub to inside? That may only be a temporary fix, but it would buy you a little more time. Good luck to you.

[techie]

I put a small stool in the tub.
techie

[NYJenn]

They have some really fabulous walk in showers. That is, you can roll in with a wheelchair if need be. The shower stalls that I saw have 3 grab bars on each side, a bench, an adjustable shower head on a hose. The doors are glass and open in the middle, instead of sliding.

[SusanD]

Shower curtain is much better. Please do not use the shower doors for support as they move and can potentially pop out. They also have a track you'd have to manage over.

While waiting for renovation, consider purchasing a tub transfer bench. Half of the bench is placed inside the tub and the other half outside. You sit on the part outside the tub, move legs over (need to remove doors and put in shower curtain), and then slide over. A hand held shower hose is easiest for cleaning and using shower gel instead of soap bar.

Ideal set up for new shower stall would be for curtain, seat, grab bars

I suggest getting an order from your physician for occupational therapy. They will assess your needs, make recommendations, assist with ordering and set up of equipment, and provide proper training.

[JayEm]

Tip with shower curtains: they have curved bars for them, so that the top goes outside the tub/shower stall, widest towards the middle where you'd stand, and the bottom of it stays inside. I don't know if that's why, but I haven't had a problem with that one billowing in.