Skin Care
- Reducing the over-sensitivity of your stump skin after amputation:-
Most of your skincare to make it friendly for a prosthesis starts immediately after the removal of sutures, most of you might feel hesitant to touch the skin by other people or feel some kind of phantom pain, in order to make it friendly for any foreign touch you have to begin with rolling over your stump with a very soft fabric followed by a light massage. You can also use massage oil to make your residual limb skin soft and scar-free as per your physician’s recommendation.
You can also use a soft brush eg. a shaving brush and slightly massage over your stump from bottom to top. All of these exercises should be done under the supervision of a trained therapist.
2 Taking care of the scars after amputation.
In most of cases with amputation, there is a tendency of scar tissue formation which takes a long period to heal even though the exterior of your skin may look healed. It may take up to one to two years in complete healing of scars which restricts the flexibility of the skin, Involving your treating therapist may help you understand the process of keeping your skin moist and clean through various exercises.
A flexible skin assists the comfort of the prosthesis
Physical Exercises to prevent contracture
There are very high chances of developing a flexion contracture followed by amputation, a timely correction, and maintaining your leg in a desirable position for prosthetic fitment to help you to walk with less energy expenditure and cosmesis of the leg would be good.
working on muscle strengthening and stretching exercises in close coordination with your therapist and prosthetist will help you walk with a much more natural pattern with the prosthesis.
Your Physician or Prosthetist may advise doing certain exercises based on your physical assessment in order to achieve the right equilibrium of your muscle required for an ideal prosthetic fitment.