No More Shower Chair: Steam Showers for Bad Backs, New Knees, and Aging Parents

The short version. If getting in and out of the tub has become the hardest part of the day, the usual answer is a walk-in tub. There's another one that nobody in that industry will mention: a walk-in steam shower unit, with a bench built in, a low step, and warm wet air that people with stiff backs and new knees describe as the best fifteen minutes they get. It costs less than most walk-in tubs, it installs in a day, and it's a normal shower the rest of the time. This is what owners, and the sons and daughters who bought one for their parents, say about it.

I sell steam showers. I did not expect, when I started reading what owners say about them, to find a woman who'd broken her back.

"I broke my back last year, major surgery, a tub was impossible to get in and out of. I have a gaudy shower chair. Looked into a walk-in tub, when we came across this site and ordered the Mesa. It's perfect for me. No more chair in my bathroom."

That was a review of a unit I sell. I've read it a dozen times now. It's the clearest description I've seen of a problem an entire industry sells a $10,000 answer to, and here's a woman who solved it with a $4,000 shower that also happens to make steam.

So this article is for her, and for the people who wrote the accounts below: bad backs, replaced knees and hips, parents in their late sixties and seventies, and the adult children trying to buy them something that helps.

The problem, plainly

Around the time a back or a hip or a pair of knees starts to go, three things happen in the bathroom.

The tub becomes a hazard. Stepping over the side, lowering yourself down, and getting back up is the moment most bathroom falls happen. So the tub stops getting used, and the bath that used to help the stiffness stops with it.

The shower gets a chair. It works. It also turns a private thing into a medical thing, and most people hate it. "I have a gaudy shower chair" is the whole sentence.

And the gym, or the pool, or the hot tub that used to loosen everything up gets harder to reach. From a patient forum for a joint condition:

"The steam room is a godsend, wish I had one at home. Can't believe how much less stiff I am after one, I think I would live in it if I could."

The industry's answer to the first problem is the walk-in tub. It's a real product and for some people it's the right one. But it's expensive, it takes fifteen minutes to fill and drain while you sit in it, and it does nothing for the third problem. And, as the woman above found out, it isn't the only option.

What a walk-in steam shower unit is

An all-in-one steam shower is a complete enclosure that arrives on a pallet and sits where a tub or a shower was: acrylic base and walls, glass doors, a built-in seat, a rainfall head, a handheld sprayer on a slide bar, and a small steam generator built into the unit. An electrician runs a circuit, a plumber connects it, and it works that day. The units I sell run $2,600 to $5,500 delivered, about $3,100 to $6,700 installed, free shipping.

For someone who's stiff, sore, or unsteady, four things about it matter more than the steam.

1. The step in is low. Most units have a threshold of a few inches, not a tub wall. Some are lower than others, and I'll tell you which if you ask. One retiree, replacing his fifteen-year-old unit with a new one, said his first requirement was simple: "We're getting old and prefer the zero clearance access."

2. There's a seat built in. Not a chair you add. A molded bench, part of the unit. You sit for the steam, you sit to wash your feet, you stand when you want to.

"We plan on getting rid of the tub and putting in a double steam shower with a built-in bench. This way, if you wanna sit, you can sit, and if you wanna stand, you can stand."

3. The handheld is on a slide bar. Sit and shower. Nobody needs to reach up.

4. It's warm before you get in. The steam takes a few minutes to build, so you turn it on, do something else, and step into a warm enclosure instead of a cold tile shower. For anyone who's cold all the time, or whose joints hate a cold bathroom in January, that alone changes the morning.

Grab bars are not built into most units. If you need them, and many people do, have the installer add them where you'll actually reach. One woman's family did exactly that:

"This shower has helped my arthritis so much. My kids suggested I have one and they are absolutely right. It's comfortable and safe, we even had a small safety bar placed in mine."

What the warm air does, and what it doesn't

I'm not going to tell you steam treats arthritis, because it doesn't, and I'd be crossing a line I don't cross. What people with arthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia and replaced joints say, in their own words, in communities where nothing is for sale, is this:

"The combination of the heat and steam really help loosen up my joints in the mornings."

"I go to the sauna and steam room as much as I can and I think it's the heat that relaxes it."

"The steam room or sauna were the places to go to leave me mobile."

And one owner, simply: she loves it whenever she's achy or stiff, and wonders why she doesn't use it more often.

Warm, humid air and fifteen minutes of sitting still is a comfortable thing to do with a stiff body. Stiff bodies move more easily when they're warm. That's the whole claim, and it's true of a hot bath too. The difference is that a lot of the people reading this can't get into a hot bath anymore.

A few honest limits. People with COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, or a heart condition should talk to their doctor before regular steam use, and people with poor circulation in their feet or Raynaud's should be careful with heat. I put the full list in another post. One eight-week post-knee-replacement patient reported a swollen knee after a steam session; if you're fresh out of surgery, ask the surgeon first.

The adult children who buy these

A pattern in the reviews I hadn't expected: a good share of these units are bought by sons and daughters for their parents.

"My husband and I got this shower for his parents as a way to keep them active. They use it every day. My husband installed it in their basement."

"My husband and I were looking for a good gift for his parents when we found this website. I then asked our family doctor if this would be good for my in-laws (they're in their late 60s). He approved and recommended it."

"After years of just taking showers, it's nice to take a real bath again without worrying that I may fall every time getting into the shower. My son-in-law installed it easy."

If that's you, here's what I'd tell you on the phone.

Measure the doorway and the space before you fall in love with a unit. The enclosure arrives on a pallet and may need to come in in pieces. Send me a photo of the bathroom and the ceiling height and I'll tell you what fits.

Get the electrician's and plumber's numbers first. The unit needs a dedicated 220V circuit and a drain where its drain sits. In most bathrooms that already have a shower this is a half-day. If the bathroom has never had a shower, get the quote before you order.

Plan the assembly day. Two people and most of a day. The instructions are thin; I send the manuals and the videos. Most families hire a handyman for that day and are glad they did.

Add the grab bars. Where the person will actually reach, not where the diagram suggests.

Try steam with them first if you can. A hotel, a gym, a spa day. If they come out saying "I want that at home," you've got your answer. If they find it close or hard to breathe in, you've saved a lot of money and a lot of awkwardness.

Who this is right for

• Getting into the tub has become the scary part of the day.
• There's a shower chair in the bathroom and nobody likes it.
• The gym, the pool or the hot tub that used to help is now hard to reach.
• Warmth helps. Cold mornings hurt.
• You're replacing a tub or shower anyway, or you're planning the house you'll retire in.

Who should look elsewhere

• Someone who can't step over a few inches or stand at all. A roll-in shower is the right answer there, and I'll say so.
• Anyone with COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, or on oxygen. Humid heat makes breathing harder for most people with those conditions.
• Anyone whose doctor says no to heat.

The bath you can get out of

One of the units I sell is a steam shower with a jetted tub built in: a corner unit with a deep soaking tub, a low entry, and the steam enclosure over the top of it. For someone who misses baths, it's worth a look. But for most of the people who wrote the accounts above, the plain walk-in unit with the bench was the answer. A warm shower you can sit in, that doesn't need a chair, that you can get into and out of without help, and that does something the shower chair never did on a cold morning.

If you want to know which unit has the lowest step, or whether one will fit in your parents' bathroom, call or text me at 917-334-6022. I pick up, and I'm happy to talk to whoever is doing the buying.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a steam shower good for arthritis or a bad back?
People with arthritis, back pain and replaced joints commonly report that warm, humid air and a seated fifteen minutes loosens them up and makes the morning easier. It doesn't treat the condition. It's comfortable in the same way a hot bath is, for people who can no longer get into one.

Is a walk-in steam shower an alternative to a walk-in tub?
For many people, yes. An all-in-one steam shower unit has a low step, a built-in seat, a handheld sprayer, and warm air before you get in, usually at a lower cost than a walk-in tub, and it works as a normal shower every day. A walk-in tub is still the better choice for someone who specifically wants to soak and can wait for it to fill and drain.

Can an elderly person use a steam shower safely?
With a few conditions: a doctor's OK if there are heart, lung or circulation issues, grab bars added where they'll be reached, short warm sessions rather than long hot ones, and someone else in the house. Several buyers in their late 60s and 70s use theirs daily; their families bought and installed them.

Do steam shower units have a seat?
Most all-in-one units have a molded bench built in. The seated position is also how you'd use the steam. Ask which units have the lowest threshold and the deepest seat if that matters for you.

How much does a walk-in steam shower cost?
The Mesa and Platinum units I sell run $2,600 to $5,500 delivered, with free shipping; an electrician and a plumber add about a half day each, so figure $3,100 to $6,700 installed. Walk-in tubs usually cost more than that installed, often a good deal more.

Who should not use a steam shower?
People with COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, or on oxygen; anyone whose doctor advises against heat; and anyone fresh out of joint surgery until the surgeon says yes. People with asthma or heart conditions should try steam briefly elsewhere first and ask their doctor.