Guide to Frequently Asked Questions on Prosthetics Part II| Frequently Asked Questions for Newcomers

As soon as the prosthesis is put on, problems such as swelling, abrasion, blistering, even cracks in the scars, constant bleeding, and unbearable pain will occur. It can be said that old wounds have not healed yet new wounds have been added. This is caused by a variety of factors: on the one hand, the blood circulation of the residual limb is poor; on the other hand, the residual limb has not yet been finalized; in addition, the residual limb cannot quickly adapt to being squeezed and restrained in the hot and humid prosthetic tube for many years, and may even cause friction due to loosening of the socket (inner sleeve); in addition, there are thermal expansion and contraction reactions caused by changes in hot and cold weather and the differences in the cold and hot temperatures of our bodies, etc.

​Mitigation methods:

1. There is no need to leave the prosthetic limb from morning to night. When the swelling and pain are severe, you can temporarily stop wearing it or wear it at several intervals every day. Gradually increase the wearing time to gradually adapt.

2. Sometimes you may feel that the limb tube (i.e., the socket) is sometimes tight and sometimes loose. You can adjust the tightness with the help of the thickness of the socks, whichever is appropriate (comfortable and painless).

3. Walk more, stand less, and stretch your legs or raise your legs more. From the perspective of benefiting blood circulation, if you can walk, don't sit, if you can sit, don't stand. Be as active as possible. It is swollen when sitting and easily numb when standing.

When sitting, you can make sure your legs are stretched flat. In addition, the sitting posture should be high rather than low, but sitting on the sofa is a different matter. Because it has a backrest like a chair, it can relax the body better. If you want to sit on a low stool for a long time, you can straighten your lower limbs and stretch them as much as possible, and be careful not to put the weight of your upper body on your lower limbs. This will facilitate the return of blood to the lower limbs. Because the longer you sit, the more swelling or pain you will feel when you stand up.

Generally speaking, the condition of limbs is: better in the morning than in the afternoon, and better in the afternoon than in the evening. What never changes is that there are many problems on the head of the residual limb (the broken end), with swelling and pain being the most common.