So first question first...is there too much room or too little room in your socket?
Too much room: you need to add socks. If you have socks on make sure you increase your number but are keeping to as few socks as possible. If you have 3 socks on of the same ply can you use one sock of a thicker ply? It reduces the chance of wrinkles and therefore can reduce the chance of pressure where you don't want extra pressure or get a sore from localized pressure for hours. If you have 8-10 ply of socks on have you reached out to your prosthetist or if you are actively in PT, please make sure your physical therapist knows. Rule of thumb for most sockets at 8-10 ply we need to start making arrangements for a new socket.
Too little room: if you have socks on take some off. If you don't have any socks on, do you have a flexible inner liner (typically white) that is able to be removed from your prosthetic, is so pull it out. If you do this you may need a sock ply or two on as this increases room quickly. If you don't have a flexible inner liner that you can remove try some seated cardio or if you have access to equipment get on an arm bike or recumbent bike/stepper. Helping circulate your blood can help your body reduce edema/swelling.
Both scenarios above are pretty common. The first usually comes as your body changes after amputation. Muscles atrophy, swelling from surgery decreases, the shape of your limb changes and this process is called limb maturation. This is expected and it is the reason why you were given a "big" bag of socks when you received your leg from the prosthetist. The socks help you manage comfort and proper fit until you have changed enough for a new socket, which could be 4 months after you received your first prosthetic or it could be a year after.
The second scenario is usually due to swelling in the limb. Honestly you can be doing everything right and wake up one morning and your leg can be tight, think about from a jewelry perspective, some mornings you wake up and your rings are tight (most likely during the summer, especially here in Maryland) and some mornings you will wake up and your rings will spin around your fingers. If your rings on your hands are tight, your leg/arm may be tight. If your liner will go on get your liner on, but also reflect back on other things that you have done or eaten. Did you have foods high in salt the last couple of days...chips, pasta, seafood with Old Bay, beer? Did you drink enough water? Yes I did just type that, if you are swollen you may not have drank enough water, our bodies need water to process waste products out of the system properly. When we are dehydrated are bodies don't work efficiently. Coffee, iced tea, lemonade, diet sodas...none of these counts towards keeping you hydrated. Water is the bulk of what we are made of and it is the bulk of what we need for hydration. For those of you telling me that you don't want to have to run to the bathroom more, think about it this way, the darker your urine color is the more concentrated the uric acid the more it irritates the bladder. If you drink more water it will decrease the acidity levels and thereby help decrease it as a bladder irritant. Next possibility is, have you been wearing your liner or your shrinker over the last couple of days, if not than this may be your culprit. As above, get your shrinker on if nothing else, but preferably getting your liner on is better since it is typically a little less stretchy than the shrinker. It also controls the shape of your limb better and will help it return to the shape needed for a good socket fit.
If the above information is unable to help you problem solve your situation, please reach out to your prosthetist as a new socket may be needed or your socket may have the ability for minor alterations that your prosthetist will have you come into the office to address.
Please feel free to comment or leave suggestions for new topics.
No comments:
Post a Comment