Stair lifts?

[beaujolais]

Stair lifts - anyone have one or try one, even?

I so very foolishly made the mistake of renting a house with stairs. Then, after a few months, I learn my patellas are a bit arthritic and are now miserably symptomatic. :eek:

I had them injected last week. They are bit better now. I had my bedroom moved to the main floor, too. I hate stairs - never, ever, ever again. With this kind of problem, just btw, stairs will not make me stronger, it will just make it worse. I am going to PT and doing knee specific exercises at the gym. I am middle aged and thin, just btw.

I only have a few more months in this house so am not going to buy or rent one but am just wondering if anyone has any experience with stair lifts. They seem like a great thing. Thanks.

[beaujolais]

@beaujolais

Stair lifts - anyone have one or try one, even?

I so very foolishly made the mistake of renting a house with stairs. Then, after a few months, I learn my patellas are a bit arthritic and are now miserably symptomatic. :eek:

I had them injected last week. They are bit better now. I had my bedroom moved to the main floor, too. I hate stairs - never, ever, ever again. With this kind of problem, just btw, stairs will not make me stronger, it will just make it worse. I am going to PT and doing knee specific exercises at the gym. I am middle aged and thin, just btw.

I only have a few more months in this house so am not going to buy or rent one but am just wondering if anyone has any experience with stair lifts. They seem like a great thing. Thanks.

[csaper58]

A neighbor has a stair lift.

The down side is the thing is slow. If she is up stairs and someone comes to her door, by the time she rides down the person has gone away. She has missed UPS a few times.

The stair lift also takes up 1/2 the width of her stair so able body visitors have to go up and down sideways

But it is the only way she could have access to the second floor of her house.

Hope your next house is all on one level, so your knees last as long as possible!

[beaujolais]

Thanks so much, CS. My next house will Absolutely, Absolutely, Absolutely be on one level! I had no idea these things were so crazy hard.

Well wishes to your neighbor!

[Where_sMyWhite]

beaujolais, yup, stairs are hard :eek:

And the older and/or more "dis"abled one gets, the harder they get.

One of the contributing reasons I relocated a few years ago; from a home with a walk out basement (that I couldn’t get to anymore as stairs are basically problematic for me now) to a one story, no basement… and no snow/cold either

[cayuse]

The assisted living facility I used to work at had one installed in the portion of the building that was an old Victorian house. It worked very well and kept many residents who resided in the older part of the building able to stay in their room much longer than without it. It did take up ALOT of room in the stairway. But it was an older house and maybe the stairway was a bit more narrow than those built today. It really was a handy thing to have. I used it to bring up things to the second floor if I had a lot to carry, just piled it on the chair and sent it up saving myself an extra trip.
It did not work if the power went out. It would go down on gravity, but no going up.

[beaujolais]

Thanks so very much, WMW and Cayuse.

("dis"abled) - Insightful emphasis with the quote marks!

Twenty years ago I had an apartment with stairs. I found it quite a pain (meaning inconvenience) back then but I adjusted. Now, forget it, it’s impossible. Why, oh why, would anyone want stairs. Even if you can handle it, I believe it wears on your knee cartilage, the possibility of falling down them aspect and how hard it is to move things around and clean.

Thanks for explaining, Cayuse, that having a “tram” does work pretty well.

I am so glad for you, WMW, about your lovely and user friendly desert home. I love the southwest scenery, too.

I now take 75 mgs. of Voltaren, twice a day, Voltaren topical gel and cold or hot packs a few times a day. The ortho said I have pockets of inflammation behind the knee caps. I really DESPISE stairs. I was relatively sound when I got here, no more though. :no:

[cayuse]

This is off topic a bit but my hubby uses a TENS unit on his knees when they kick up and finds it helps a lot to take the edge of while the Advil take effect. It sounds like your knees are much worse than his but I thought I would mention it as every little bit of relief we can get helps.

[beaujolais]

Thanks so much, Cayuse! I’ll look into it. Well wishes to Hubby.

[KathyR]

We have 2 for my husband. Handicare Minivator. Now he can get upstairs to his office area and downstairs to the basement. Lifesavers for both of us!

[Zu_Zu]

[B]Stair Lifts make a huge difference in people’s lives ~ I have witnessed this for years.

My mother had one and it was wonderful
and SAFE !

I highly recommend them ~ and no it does not tear up the house when a stair lift is installed ~ will just be a bonus to the person benefiting from this convenience ~ IMHO[/B]

[beaujolais]

Thanks again, dear friends.

​​​​​While we are at it, for those of you familiar, are there any brands you’d recommend or would avoid? I guess the manufacturer has their own installers(?) so - any that can get them installed quickly and well? I am out of this stupid house fairly soon, thank goodness but, with the patellas I have (chondromalacia, worn patella cartilage), having as much information/knowledge as possible is a good thing.

They say you put the equivalent of 4X your body weight on your knees when going up stairs. I’m fairly thin but 4X that is :eek:. Even for those with o.k. knees, that will wear on your knee cartilage, which doesn’t grow back.

Just btw, I got a few of these - for the outside front door step and some other areas. They are great. A lower step is far less impact on the knees.

https://www.amazon.com/JIIJR5919-Job…/dp/B004K9PAOS

Thanks again.

[Zu_Zu]

Sorry no help on brands - used local company that was recommended by hospital.

While it never required repair … we felt it was important to keep local repair/ parts available.

Good Luck …

• adding when it was taken out at a later date there was no damage nor evidence the stair lift had ever even been there.

[beaujolais]

^^ Excellent!! I was wondering about Exactly the info. you provided above. Thanks again.

[cayuse]

I can’t remember the name of the stairlift company my job used. I’ll ask my husband, he is an EMT and sees a lot of stuff like that.
OK, I just asked and he said someone who he knows from frequent calls to their house has an “Acorn Lift” and it works well.

[beaujolais]

^^ Thank you, so very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very much, Cayuse!

COTHers are truly the best. :yes:

[cayuse]

You’re welcome!