We list the essential elements for those who adapt to a new prosthesis:
1) The patient should be standing and the waist and knee should be straight. The patient should not have the sensation of leaning forward or backward.
2) The origin of the force on the supporting body must be uniformly distributed. This means that after the prosthesis is placed, the knee area in the mouth of the prosthetic socket, including the lower part of the prosthesis, should not have obvious pain in any area, even if it is rubbed red, even if there is a small amount of pain, should be evenly distributed.
3) Ankle side test: shake back and forth several times while standing with the prosthesis stable as a pillar. If you have free range of motion forward, this is essential for going up and down stairs along with going up and down hills.
4) Walking depends mainly on the knee. However, if the stump is long, it swings along with the prosthesis. This will make your stride more stable and natural.
5) Pay attention to the heel level. When changing footwear, the patient should try to maintain the initial height of the prosthetic device. If you haven’t mastered the self-tightening techniques for your artificial limb, don’t easily change the heel level.
Visual methods: After putting on shoes, the patient stands at a 90-degree angle. The prosthesis should extend slightly forward, that is, the degree between the leg and the foot should be about 80 degrees. This is more suitable for starting to walk.
Heel adjustment method: If the heel is low, the body will always feel as if it is moving backwards. Walking and standing for a long time will stretch your knee too much and it will feel painful after walking a long distance. At this time, it is appropriate to thicken the heel with some thick moleskin (cut into semi-circles about the size of half the heel. You can use AB glue to make sure it sticks firmly and effectively). If the heel is high, then the body’s center of gravity will always involuntarily move forward. The knee obviously cannot stay upright. At this time, the patient should replace his shoes with those with a lower heel.
Also, the first suggestion is to select a slightly larger shoe that is easy to put on and take off. The second is that you should put more emphasis on choosing a shoe with a firm, wear-resistant sole. The part of a prosthesis most susceptible to wear and tear is the sole of your shoe, while the upper of the shoe is very durable.
Special reminder:
All new prosthetics are like when you buy new shoes. Initially they are very hard, not particularly soft and require break-in. When you switch to a new prosthesis, you obviously feel that the old one is better and easier to remove and put on. So remember:
Do not use a new prosthesis for travel (of course, except for new prosthetics). This is because the stump will change slightly over the course of several years (artificial limbs have a life cycle). The old prosthesis and the new one will have a certain degree of difference. Therefore, you cannot immediately adapt to the new prosthesis. Once you leave your house, when you feel that there is any discomfort (such as a painful rub), there is no way to avoid it, you will have to live with this pain until your stump adjusts to the new prosthesis.
Advice:
After the initial prosthesis installation, the stump will atrophy fairly quickly (especially if it is a recent amputation). Therefore, the patient must replace the first prosthesis within one to two years. It will reduce the financial burden on the patient if, when installing the second prosthesis, you can consider replacing only the upper half of the prosthetic socket. This will help to maintain the different parts of the prosthetic socket as much as possible. This will save you a lot of money.
Three years later, the stump will essentially become fixed and immutable. The progression of the atrophy will also be relatively slow, while the stump will change only slightly.
Adults with moderate daily activity (excluding growing children and adolescents along with strong workers) can wear a prosthesis for 3-5 years without any problem.
In general, after the initial stage of adjustment, the patient has already become accustomed to the prosthesis. There should not be any pain or discomfort during a long walk. Thus, it is possible to naturally maintain a correct gait. In other words, the best situation is if the body shakes as little as possible while the patient is walking.