Easy Ways To Prevent An Artificial Limb From Irritating Your Skin
Posted on: 13 December 2019
Functional prosthetics allow people to regain their mobility after amputation or trauma, and many people have had their quality of life radically improved by the use of artificial limbs. However, one common issue faced by people who wear a prosthetic limb full-time is skin irritation. While wearing an artificial limb, your skin receives quite a bit of pressure that it's not acclimated to. This can lead to irritation, sores, and even infection. Thankfully, there are a few easy ways to minimize skin irritation when you're using a prosthetic. Below, you'll find out how to care for your prosthetic limb and your skin in order to cut down on redness and soreness from long-term use.
Allow Time for Your Skin to Acclimate to Wearing Your Prosthetic
If you've just recently received a custom-made artificial limb, it's important that you follow the schedule set by your prosthetist. At first, you won't be able to don your prosthetic limb full-time. Donning your prosthetic limb more often than is recommended by your prosthetist can lead to pressure sores, as your skin isn't used to it. Over the coming weeks, your skin will acclimate to the liner, which will allow you to wear your prosthetic full-time.
Use Antiperspirant Spray to Reduce Sweating
When you're wearing the liner on your limb, air can't circulate around your skin. Due to the lack of airflow, you may experience problems with excessive sweating. Excessive sweating can quickly cause your skin to become irritated.
Thankfully, it's easy to solve this problem by using antiperspirant spray—just spray it on your limb and wait for it to completely dry before you place the liner onto your skin. Antiperspirant spray contains the same active ingredients used in deodorant, but it's much easier to apply to your limb when it's in spray form.
Ask Your Prosthetist to Recommend a Lotion for Dry Skin
The lack of airflow around your residual limb can also lead to your skin becoming dry. Oil or lotion can alleviate your dry skin, but you need to use a product that's specifically made for people who are wearing artificial limbs—oil and lotion purchased at the grocery store may contain compounds that cause the liner to deteriorate. If you suffer from dry skin in the area underneath your liner, ask your prosthetist to recommend a prosthetic-safe lotion for you to use.
Clean Your Liner and Socket Daily
In order to reduce the risk of skin inflammation or infection, it's important to keep your liner clean. Wash out your liner using hot water and soap, then make sure to rinse it well afterwards—soap residue can lead to skin irritation. Make sure the liner is completely dry before you put it onto your limb.
You'll need to keep the socket in the artificial limb clean as well, as it can sometimes pick up bacteria from the liner. As with your liner, you clean the socket using soap and a small amount of hot water. After you've washed it, rub an alcohol swab on the socket in order to further disinfect it. Rinse it well and make sure it's completely dry before you don your prosthetic limb.
Switch to Showering at Night
If you have an artificial limb, it's a good idea to shower right before you go to sleep rather than showering in the morning. This gives you the chance to fully clean your residual limb with antibacterial soap after having worn your artificial limb during the day, which reduces your risk of infection and skin irritation.
Ensure Your Artificial Limb Fits Snugly
If your artificial limb doesn't fit properly, it can chafe against your skin. Your residual limb will slightly change in size throughout the day based on hydration and blood flow, which can affect the way that it fits into the socket on the artificial limb. If you notice that your artificial limb starts to feel too loose during the day, you can improve the fit by wrapping an additional compression sock or bandage around your residual limb. If the fit later becomes too tight, simply remove the sock or bandage that you've applied.
Sometimes your artificial limb may not fit well despite your attempts to improve the fit. This is usually due to changes in weight—a small gain or loss in weight can alter the size of your residual limb enough to affect its ability to fit snugly into the artificial limb's socket. If your prosthetic limb isn't fitting as well as it used to, schedule an appointment with your prosthetist to have the socket adjusted. A snug fit reduces the chance that the liner will chafe against your skin and cause sores to form.
Above all, remember that your prosthetist is available to help you solve any problems with skin irritation that may be caused by your artificial limb. If your prosthetic limb is frequently making your skin irritated and sore, schedule an appointment with your prosthetist to discuss further strategies you can use to reduce irritation.
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