Last post Thu, May 22 2008 11:15 by xFragx. 9 replies.
My names christian and im sixteen and have had a prostetic leg for just the past three years as a result of a amputation by my choice in hoping of allowing myself to lead a more comfortable life while walking. I am only mising my foot, I even still have my ankle. The first leg i got was giving me problems becuase of how little space we had to work with, so we decided to go back into surgery to have it resized. The newest leg im on, it has a custom gel liner and wasnt giving me much problems up until the last few weeks. It seems like if its not skin irritations its bone soreness. What prompted me to write on this forum asking for any help or advice is that I had my junior prom last night and problems with my leg prevented me from dancing and enjoying myself as much as i would have liked to. I just wanted to know if this is something that happenes to everyone still in the first few years of there prostetic legs or if i need to seek new methods. If anyone can be of any help or give any advice it would be appreciated greatly.
I admire your decision to shorten the leg some, but what were they thinking in the first operation? In your quest to be pain free you have to understand it is a process, there are many options to consider, even if you need to go to another prosthetics place. The squeaky wheel gets the oil you know, I wear mine all day until bedtime at night, but the later in the day it is the more sorer it gets. If you want to be out late, take a break in the middle of the day.
Hey Christian! I'm a right BKA and had my leg amputated three years and three months ago. I've only had a prosthesis for two years and three months though, because I had to have several operations on my stump. I know all about the leg problems. In fact, I have an appointment to see my prosthetist this Thursday, because I'm experiencing discomfort. It feels as if I'm walking on a big blister or irritated spot right under my kneecap. I don't know what's causing that, but it sure is uncomfortable. It may be because I started using anti-persperant on my stump a few months ago. It really works on the sweating, but my skin is really dry. What I do for the irritated dry spot is to goop on a bunch of moisturizer/lotion (believe it or not, I use bag balm, like they use on cows!), rub some in, but goop it on there, cover it with a Kleenex, then I put on two of my old larger stump nylons (the kind you can wear under your shrinker) and then an old larger stump shrinker. Using the Kleenex and nylons helps keep from messing up your bedding. This works for my really dry skin. I can't get rid of it entirely, but it helps. I have a silocone liner too. Oh, make sure you wash your leg and liner every night too. Lot of work being an amputee, eh?
I had a lot of muscle removed from my stump, so I can't spend a lot of time on my leg either. The thing that has helped me in the past, when I have had to spend a lot of time on my leg for one reason or another, is to take the leg right off, liner and all, and keep it off for the evening and night. Do you wear your stump shrinker? If not, you should to get all the swelling out of your leg during the night.
Do you get air in your liner? I do. It's better with the anti-persperant, but I still get it. If you get a lot of air in your liner, you should re-apply it often. I find that helps with the discomfort.
You might want to ask your parents about ibuprofen, Advil or naproxen, some kind of longer acting anti-inflammatory for discomfort. I take narpoxen, and that helps me.
I wish you all the best. Let us know how things are going with you. Feel free to send me a message and/or ask a question at any time. Hope this helps!
Becky
hello christian, i am happy to see you join us here. i am an amputee too but i am paralzed so i don't walk. i wanted to say hi and welome you. i hope you had some fun at your prom though.
Well i had fallen ill to bacterial meningitas when i was two and was lucky to originally still have all of my limbs. But as i grew older my left leg wasnt growing, at the time of the amputation there was a three and a half discrepancy between my left and right leg, so we decided to amputate. And being doctors during the amputation they tried to save as much as possible. So that left me having hard times finding a good leg fit. So over the last summer i underwent the re-shaping surgery. And i would love to take a break during the day but im so busy lol. I work two jobs and have school all day, so its kinda hard to take a break. And at night i take everything off and leave the compression socks off because i have very sensitive skingraphs that need to be aired out at night. One day it is skin irritation and another it is bone sorenes. I'm working with my prosthetic guy to find a more comfortable fit, hopefully we will be able to figure something out. Also i really appreciate all the kindness you guys are showing, it is nice to have other people to talk about things like this and that can relate. And yes i did have alot of fun at my junior prom =) i just wish i could have danced a little more, luckily my date was amazingly cool about it.
Wow, you are a busy guy! I hope things get better for you with this new prosthetic guy. You might want to hang onto your prom date. She sounds like a good person! Glad you got to dance some.
At sixteen, your stump probably hasn't matured yet. It will change often, especially the more you walk. Adjustments are a fact of life in the early years of wearing a leg. Make an appointment to talk to your prosthetist. Make sure to go over all the problems you are encountering.
It probably woldn't hurt to keep a journal, so you can give him/her exact feedback on where it hurts, when it hurts, what makes it worse, etc.
You may even have to go back to the surgeon for some follow up. Not necessarily more surgery, but at least have it looked at if the prosthetist can't find a problem to address.
Hey Christian. I agree, it seems foolish to have even tried to leave you with the ankle in the first place. I am now a bi-lateral AKA but have been both a single and double below knee amputee since 2000. It seems to me when I visit my Disabled Service Centre that ALL amputees have these bone rubbing problems as the muscle naturally atrophies from not being used. I certainly did and like you I ended up with a gel liner. I wonder whether you are aware that there are different thickness available. I begun on a 3mm thickness and progressed due to difficulties to a 5mm which was a lot more comfortable. Having taken many appointments advice from different centres of prosthetics, namely one of the best in the UK at Dorset, they told me that the best solution to this is to have a polypropelene one which molds better to the skin and doesn't lose it's vaccuum the same as the type you mention. Ask about those, they are readily available but obviously more expensive and do not get given out lightly because of this...well not in the UK anyway! The other thing to try is called a 'distal cup' which is nothing more than a disc of thick gel which is applied to the sore part of the limb giving extra comfort.
Hope this helps, good luck and take care
Dawn
For all with the sore, dry irritated skin thing going on may I recommend creams/lotions by a UK company called Hygieia.co.uk ......the ONLY thing that works. Here they recommend vaseline which sucks, I have never found anything so effective as an emolliant and healer for irritated skin. Try the 'Daily' for normal dry skins and the 'Ultra' if you are suffering MRSA or any other related infections. NOTHING works better than this for me. Well worth checking out I promise!!
Thankyou for all of the help you guys. I plan to try out all the hint and tips until something works well! It has been better the last few days, ive tried a few different things and it doesnt get as sore as it used to and the skin is still ehh but getting better. Im looking forward very much to this summer and getting the hell out of school =). Hopefully ill be able to stay as active as id like to.
