Care of Your Residual Limb

The single most important thing you can do as an amputee is to visually inspect your residual limb each morning before donning and each evening after doffing your prosthesis.

  1. Inspect the back and bottom of your residual limb with a hand held mirror.
    * NOTE* Report any skin discoloration, chafing, irritation, or other problem to your prosthetist as soon as possible.
    Record as best you can what conditions lead to the skin issue. For example increase in activity level, did you have vacuum, was socket loose, to name a few. The more information your Prosthetist has the better chance the problem can be resolved.
  2. Wash your residual limb each evening using a clear liquid soap or bar soap that is free of additives.
    *NOTE* May sound simple; rinse your residual limb completely and thoroughly.
    Additives to soap such as perfumes, deodorants, and antibacterial agents leave a film on your residual limb, which can become an irritant to your skin within your silicone liner.
  3. If you are going to redon your prosthesis, be sure that your residual limb is completely dry.
  4. There may be times when you will need to place a moisturizing lotion on your residual limb. This is fine to do in the evening prior to going to bed when there will be a prolonged period of time before you redon your prosthesis. This applies to lotions that are not on the list of lotions recommended for use within the silicone liner.]

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