Bed Rails

Bed Rails With Legs
This type of bedrail has two vertical legs that stand on the floor. When a user stands up and exerts pressure on the bedrail, the weight is transferred down through the legs to the floor. It is further equipped with a horizontal rail or board that slips between your mattresses. The weight of the mattress helps stabilize the bed rail and hold it in place. This kind of bedrail is a good consideration if you are able to walk and just need a little extra “oomph” to get up.

Legless Bedrails
No surprise here, a legless bedrail is just a bedrail with no legs. It has an L-shaped design: The longer side of the rail slips in between the mattresses and the shorter side extends vertically upwards providing a supportive handhold. Because the rail is stabilized by the weight of your mattress, this type generally works best when it is being stabilized by a heavy, queen or king-sized mattress. If you have a lightweight, single, or twin-sized mattress, be aware that when you exert pressure down on a legless bed rail, it could cause the mattress to lift up and the rail to tilt forwards,which is not ideal!

Bed Rail Handles
Bed Rail Handles take up less space and usually have a sleeker more low profile appearance. Some models are designed for use with standard beds and others for use with hospital beds. Due in part to their narrow design and the fact that models are often secured in place by only a single fixed point, a Bed Handle may wiggle a bit when being used for support.

Bed Rails With Cross Bars
Bed rails equipped with multiple horizontal cross bars provide three helpful benefits: extra handholds for use when rolling in bed, different rail heights to select from to push yourself up to standing, and when they are designed correctly they can assist to prevent entrapment or suffocation from.

Fold Down Bed Rails
This type of bed rail (aka Swing Down Bed Rail) easily folds down out of the way to allow for easy, unimpeded access to the bed. Heads up! These rails swing ‘outwards’ and down, so for this type of bed rail to work, there must be adequate free space beside your bed to swing the rail down and up. This type is a good consideration if a second person will be present to assist. If your intent is to use it independently, keep in mind: You must have the skills to be able to reach down and swing the rail back up after you are on the bed. Two notable benefits: It makes it possible to sit down closer to the top of the bed (preventing the need to wiggle yourself up the bed further after you lie down) and makes it easier to position a wheel tray table by the bed, if you eat meals in bed.

Adjustable Height Bed Rails
Bed Rail models equipped with an adjustable height handle are more versatile and will allow you to experiment with different heights to determine which grip height works best for you. They can be found in both legless styles and models with legs that extend to the floor.

Adjustable Length Bed Rails
Some bed rails have a telescoping rail that slides back and forth horizontally, providing you with the option to lengthen it when you are in bed and to shorten it when you are ready to transition into and out of the bed. This type is a good consideration if you have a tall bed and want a physical cue to help prevent yourself from rolling unexpectedly out of bed and/or you would benefit from an extra hand hold for some “oomph” when you are standing up.

Dual Bed Rails
As the name implies, a Dual Bed Rail is simply 2 bed rails (aka Double Sided Bed Rail). One rail gets installed on either side of the bed. Cross bars resting underneath the mattress join the two rails together, assisting to hold the rails more firmly and securely in place. Dual Bed Rails come in both half and full-length styles and can be found in different sizes to suit different mattress widths. The half-length models are a good consideration if you share the bed with a spouse and both of you would benefit from a bedrail for support.