Change your loo to help cope with arthritis

Many of Britain’s 9.25+million arthritis sufferers could find their daily life easier, just by changing their toilet.

Arthritis Research UK has produced guidance on using the bathroom, and maintains therein that equipment such as an automatic - or wash & dry - toilet can help.

Clos-o-Mat is the only British manufacturer of, and brand-leader in, automatic / wash & dry toilets. A Clos-o-Mat toilet looks like, and can be used as, a conventional WC. In-built douching and drying mean it also washes and dries the user, so they do not have to grasp and tear toilet tissue, nor contort and grip to manually clean themselves.

The floor-mounted Palma Vita can be tailored to individual needs with alternative operating devices, support arms, seats etc; the wall-mounted Lima Lift is height adjustable so can be raised and lowered to assist the user getting on and off if they have limited mobility in hips and knees.

Rose Thom says of her Palma Vita, “I’m very pleased with it, it’s no effort to use the touch switch with my thumb. Otherwise I would be dependent on someone helping to wipe me. My husband uses the Clos-o-Mat too, though as a conventional toilet, so it works for both of us.” Adds Heather O”Brien about her Lima Lift: “When it first arrived, I thought ‘what the heck do I do with this?’. Now I think it’s fantastic, brilliant! Because the Lima Lift can be easily lowered by finger-tip control it means I can easily get on and off the toilet without help, setting it at a perfect height for me. And with my arthritis, I struggle to grasp toilet paper: the washing and drying facilities mean I know I am properly clean, again without having to get my partner to help me.”

Appreciating people may need to ‘see and feel’ to understand the concept, Clos-o-Mat has a number of demonstration units available across the UK. A fully-searchable map on its website - www.clos-o-mat.com - enables people to find one most convenient to them. The website also includes a raft of information about the range of products, including specification guidance, user comments and case studies. Clients are supported by full in-house technical and after-sales support, reinforced by the family-owned company’s 50+ years’ history and over 50,000 toilets having been sold.