A mistake Amputees should stay far away from!

Has your stump decreased to half its size and is going further? Does your prosthetic leg become looser day by day? This may be due to the lack of proper bandaging – a common mistake amputees do.

In fact, various studies have shown that stumps can decrease in size by upto 30% in the first few months after surgery and your stump can undergo a great deal of changes either in the girth or the shape in general. 

This happens because your residual limb use has become far less than it used to be before surgery. In more technical terms, a reduction in stump size or shrinkage occurs due to postoperative muscle atrophy, that is your muscle becomes inactive and reduces in size overall.

One more prominent reason for stump size changes is post-operative oedema. It develops as a swelling that results from excess fluid in the stump’s soft tissues. 

Although, this decrease should stabilise almost entirely within 6-8 months after amputation, these size changes can act as a hurdle in terms of rehabilitation and prosthetic socket fitting.This will not only decrease your comfort while wearing a prosthetic but it may even result in the need of a new prosthetic in about 6 months. (i.e. worst case scenario)

Thus, it is significantly important for new amputees to control edema right after amputation and be prepared to get a prosthetic leg. Many amputees are suggested – compression socks, shrinkers, or bandaging for their stump. 

So what exactly you should do?  Don’t worry, we’re here to assist you throughout.

Go through our step by step instruction manual on how to bandage your below knee stump in 4 easy steps. Also, to aid your understanding we have some tips for bandaging that you must take a look upon.

It is really important to start early with bandaging as prescribed. For further queries you can reach out to us and we’ll be there to guide you through-out. It’s time to Step it up with Instalimb – Contact us today!