The Hunt for a Shower Seat

About 8 years ago, my husband and I had to shower together to save money. I am super grateful that we did, because I fainted in the shower one day with hardly any warning at all.

I managed to say, "I'm going to faint," so my husband was able to quickly get his arms around me as my body dropped like a sack of potatoes. I remember my husband saying, "I got you. Are you OK?" repeatedly, and it took a couple of seconds before I was able to respond. At that point, I still had not regained my vision, which took a couple more seconds.

Times I want to sit in the shower

Since then, I have times I feel faint a lot in the shower or have issues where I get dizzy and almost lose my balance.

I have thought about getting something to sit on in the shower since then. There are lots of times when I am so tired, but I want to be in the shower for my restless legs syndrome (RLS) or to try to fight back a migraine. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints, this is not something that was able to happen until just recently.

Searching for the right shower chair

Thanks to my new job writing about my health issues, I finally had the money. The hunt began and I was excited. This ended up being a bit more challenging than I thought because I have a small apartment-sized shower.

From all the looking online I did (because of the pandemic and all), the shower chairs/stools available at local medical assistant device stores were too big. I expanded my search to other stores and ended up coming across a shower stool that swivels and locks in place. The dimensions seemed to be perfect, so I placed my order and anxiously waited.

Using my new chair

The day it arrived, I was so happy because my restless legs were acting up really badly and I was super fatigued. I quickly assembled the stool, which was just pushing the legs into the seat, and headed to the bathroom. To my delight, the stool fit perfectly, not an inch to spare.

That night, I climbed into the shower with my new stool and got into position. I was so happy to be able to just sit there and have the hot water massage my body without it making my RLS worse or taking up any spoons. When I finished, I was so exhausted, and then it dawned on me that I could take the stool out of the shower and sit on it while I dried off. (Winning!)

Perfect timing for my shower chair

I am so happy I finally have a way to sit and relax in the shower. There are many times when I am just in the shower for my restless legs, or a combo of RLS and trying to fight back a migraine.

Especially right now, I haven't been able to get out for a walk since the heat dome hit my province (Canadian here). Once that ended, the forest fire season started and the smoke has been so bad that I haven't been able to get out for a walk. This has made my RLS act up, so it's really nice to be able to just sit in the shower and not be on my legs.

Do you have a shower seat? Do you find it helpful to have?