What we do not recommend

We earn a commission when someone buys through a link on this site. That gives us a reason to link to as much as possible, so it is worth being clear about the things we have decided not to link to at all.

Sixteen categories of product are blocked. Not “we happen not to have one picked yet.” Blocked, in the code, so that a product in one of these categories cannot be added to the site even by mistake. Attempting it fails the build.

Some of these are things families ask us about constantly. A few of them sell very well. That is rather the point of writing this page.

Where a hazard is real but the answer is not a purchase, our assessment routes you to a person instead. Ten findings work that way.

Bed rails and bedside assist bars

This is the one we feel most strongly about.

Adult portable bed rails are subject to a mandatory federal safety standard, and they have been associated with hundreds of entrapment deaths over the past two decades. The mechanism is that a person slides into the gap between the rail and the mattress and cannot get themselves out. There have been repeated recalls, and units that do not meet the standard have been sold on major retail sites very recently.

The risk is concentrated in exactly the people these get bought for: someone frail, someone confused at night, someone who cannot reposition themselves.

The regulatory definition is deliberately broad. It covers any rail, bar, handle, cane, or transfer aid intended to be installed on, against, or next to a bed. So a product marketed as a “bedside assist handle” is in the same category whatever the packaging says.

Instead: start with why the rail seemed necessary. If it is about getting out of bed, the problem is usually bed height. When the person sits on the edge, their feet should be flat on the floor with knees at about a right angle. Removing a box spring or adding a mattress topper often fixes that for nothing. If it is about rolling out of bed, that is a question for an occupational therapist.

An occupational therapist who has assessed the person, the bed, and the gap may reach a different conclusion, and they are in a position to. We are not. We have never seen the bedroom, and a link on a website cannot account for mattress fit, cognition, or whether the rail meets the current standard. So we do not link them at any price, and if a professional who has seen the home recommends one, that is their judgment to make and it is better informed than ours.

Suction-mounted grab bars

They hold by vacuum against a smooth, non-porous surface. Grout lines, textured tub floors, and soap film all break that seal. They fail suddenly rather than gradually, and the failure happens in a bathtub.

They can serve as a light balance reference for someone who is basically steady. They are not a substitute for a bar fastened into structure, and they should never be installed for anyone who might put real weight on one.

Instead: a bar anchored into wall studs, or into anchors rated for at least 250 pounds of lateral pull. If you are not confident you have hit framing, pay a handyman. It costs very little.

Clamp-mounted tub rails

Same reasoning. Anything that grips rather than fastens can let go, and the consequence is identical.

Step stools

A step stool removes one hazard by adding another. Standing on any raised surface is a poor idea for someone with balance concerns, and it is worse when the surface is small, movable, and next to a bathtub.

Instead: remove the reason to climb. If the problem is a high tub wall, a transfer bench lets someone sit down outside and slide across, which eliminates the single-leg balance moment entirely. If the problem is a high kitchen shelf, an afternoon of moving everyday items down to reachable height solves it permanently, and a long-handled reacher covers the rest.

Canes, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs, and crutches

Height and fit matter enormously, and the wrong one causes falls rather than preventing them. A cane set two inches too tall changes someone's whole gait.

These need a person who can watch the individual walk. They are not a thing to click.

Instead: ask their doctor for a referral to a physical or occupational therapist. This is often covered.

Subscription medical alert devices

We think these are genuinely useful for some households. We still will not link them.

The right device depends on things a website cannot know, the service contract matters more than the hardware, and a device that is left on the nightstand does nothing. Recurring billing attached to a life-safety dependency is not something we want to be earning a commission on.

Instead: if they already own a smartwatch, check whether it has fall detection and whether it is switched on. Many people have this and do not know. Beyond that, a daily check-in call at a fixed time is free, and for some families it is genuinely enough, because a missed call is itself the alarm.

Stair lifts, platform lifts, and bath lifts

Installation is the safety-critical part, and it is not a thing to order online.

Instead: get quotes from a licensed contractor. Before you do, ask an occupational therapist whether a lift is the right answer, because a remodel that solves the wrong problem is expensive and hard to undo.

Permanent ramps, tub cut-outs, and walk-in tubs

Anything requiring a licensed trade. Same reasoning as above.

Supplements, vitamins, and anything swallowed

Not our field, and interactions with existing medications are a real risk that we have no way to assess.

Instead: their doctor or pharmacist. A medication review is one of the more useful things available for someone who has been falling, and it is frequently overlooked.

Pain creams, CBD, lidocaine, and similar topicals

Same reasoning.

Blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, glucose meters, and thermometers

These produce numbers that need interpreting. We assess houses, not people, and a device that generates a reading nobody knows what to do with is not help.

Hearing aids, amplifiers, and personal sound devices

Fit and fitting matter, hearing loss patterns vary enormously, and the regulatory line between categories is confusing enough that we would rather not add to it.

Instead: an audiologist. Worth mentioning that hearing loss is associated with falls, so this is not a side issue.

Automatic pill dispensers and locking medication devices

Medication management is clinical territory. The consequence of getting it wrong is not a fall.

Instead: their pharmacist or doctor. Many pharmacies offer blister packing or dose organisation as a service.

Weighted blankets

Marketed heavily to older adults for sleep. We are not comfortable recommending anything that makes it harder to get out of bed unaided.

Compression garments, braces, orthotics, and therapeutic footwear

Fit again. These are prescribed and sized by professionals for a reason.

Instead: on footwear specifically, there is a free version that helps: shoes with a back, a firm fit, and a non-slip sole are safer indoors than loose slippers or socks. That is a change of habit rather than a purchase.

Anything prescription, or normally billed as durable medical equipment

If insurance might cover it, buying it retail is usually the wrong move financially as well as clinically.

Instead: ask about coverage first. Their doctor, their plan, or your local Area Agency on Aging can tell you what qualifies. That call is free.

Products we do link, with conditions

Six categories are permitted but carry mandatory warnings, because they are useful and they can also be got wrong: shower chairs and transfer benches, toilet frames and raised seats, anchored grab bars, handheld shower heads, low threshold ramps, and bed or chair risers.

For each of these we display the weight capacity and tell you to check the fit. For anchored grab bars we say plainly that the bar is only as strong as what it is screwed into. For risers we point out that raising a bed also raises how far there is to fall from it.

Why this page exists

Most sites in this space link to everything, and the categories above sell well precisely because they are marketed to frightened families. Publishing what we will not sell is the only way to make our recommendations mean anything.

It is also a check on ourselves. This list lives in the code, not in a policy document, and the site will not build if a blocked product is added. That is deliberate. Good intentions drift; a failing build does not.

If you think we have got one of these wrong, we would like to hear it.