If you help your husband or wife up from a chair, the bed or the toilet several times a day, you are doing one of the most physically demanding parts of caregiving, usually without anyone ever showing you how. Many spouses who provide care are in their 60s, 70s or older themselves, and repeated lifting adds up: a sore back, a strained shoulder, or a near-fall that frightens you both.

The good news is that most of that lifting can be handed off to the right equipment, and a few changes in how you help can protect your back right away.

Why Helping Someone Stand Is So Hard on Your Body

Pulling someone up from a seated position means bending forward and lifting part of an adult’s weight with your arms and lower back. That is exactly the position most likely to cause a strain. If your spouse grabs your neck or arm for balance, the load shifts suddenly. And if they start to fall, the natural instinct to catch them can injure you both.

Let the Chair Do the Lifting

A lift chair looks and feels like a comfortable recliner, but at the push of a button it gently tilts forward and raises the person almost to standing. Instead of pulling, you simply guide. For many couples this is the single biggest change they can make, and it gives your spouse back some independence, because they can get up on their own when you are in another room.

When choosing a lift chair, a few things matter most:

  • Seat height and depth that fit your spouse’s body, so their feet rest flat and they are not sliding forward

  • Controls they can see and operate easily

  • Size that fits the room, with space in front to stand

These details are different for every person, which is why it helps to try chairs in person before you buy. With a doctor’s prescription, Medicare may help with part of the cost of the lift mechanism, and our team can explain what applies. (Link: Lift Chairs page)

Give Them Something Solid to Push Up From

Many people can stand more easily, and more safely, when they push up with their own arms instead of being pulled. A few inexpensive aids make that possible around the house:

  • Grab bars and bed or chair safety rails, installed into wall studs or secured to the furniture (towel bars and suction-cup bars are not built to hold a person’s weight) (Link: Grab Bars & Home Safety page)

  • A raised toilet seat or toilet safety frame, which shortens the distance to stand and adds armrests (Link: Bathroom catalog category)

  • A firm seat cushion to raise a chair or couch that sits too low (Link: Cushions catalog category)

If You Still Help Them Stand, Protect Your Back

When you do need to help, how you help matters as much as what equipment you use. A few simple techniques make a big difference:

  1. Stand close, with your feet about shoulder-width apart.

  2. Bend at your knees, not your waist, and keep your back straight.

  3. Have your spouse scoot to the edge of the seat and lean forward, “nose over toes,” before standing.

  4. Count together so you both move at the same time.

  5. Let them push up from the armrests. Never let them pull on your neck or shoulders.

Ask your spouse’s doctor or physical therapist to show you both the safest technique for their situation, including whether a transfer belt would help. It is a short conversation that can prevent a serious injury.

Signs It Is Time for More Help

  • Standing up takes more than one try

  • You have felt a twinge or strain in your back or shoulders while helping

  • Your spouse has had a fall or a near-fall

  • You are skipping outings because getting up and down is too hard

  • Nighttime bathroom trips have become stressful for both of you

Any one of these is a good reason to look at equipment now, rather than after someone gets hurt.

Taking Care of Yourself Is Part of Taking Care of Them

If you are injured, you both lose. Using equipment is not giving up. It is how many couples keep caring for each other safely at home for longer.

South Bay Home Health Care has helped South Bay families since 1983. You can try lift chairs and standing aids on our Torrance showroom floor, and we deliver and set up at home. If you are not sure where to start, call us at (310) 618-9555 and tell us what is happening. We will help you figure out what fits.