You may be ready to begin using a prosthetic leg once your amputation wound heals. However, the process of adapting to the loss of a limb and placing your weight on a prosthesis can take some time. In conjunction with a prosthetist, a physical therapist will help you return to your former lifestyle as seamlessly as possible.
Gait Training
You won't be fitted for a prosthesis until your swelling is under control and you are strong enough to begin gait training, or learning to walk with it. Once you begin gait training, you will practice walking with a temporary prosthesis as the size of your residual limb stabilizes. Your gait should never alter to fit your permanent prosthesis, but the prosthesis should be fitted to your individual gait. At the beginning of gait training your therapist will help you practice standing up on your prosthesis with support from parallel bars. Eventually you'll start walking slowly with the parallel bars and progress to stabilizer such as a cane or walker.
Strength and Balance
Your physical therapist will help you strengthen various muscles in your lower body to properly control your prosthesis. The muscles you focus on will depend mostly upon what part of your leg was amputated. Developing proper balance is another important part of learning to use your prosthesis. Doing simple activities such as reaching for an object across the table, kicking a ball, standing on one leg and turning from side to side will help you train your brain to connect with your new center of balance.
Upper-Extremity Strengthening
Your physical therapist will also emphasize upper body strengthening exercises such as bicep lifts. You will need upper body strength to transfer in an out of a wheelchair or propel yourself with a wheelchair or walker as you learn to use your prosthesis. Having plenty of upper body strength is also important to compensate for lack of a second leg during activities such as pushing yourself up into a sitting position in bed.
Functional Training
A major part of going through physical therapy with your prosthesis is learning how to live a normal life despite the loss of a limb. Your physical therapist will aid you in doing functional exercises to ease you into day-to-day home and work life. You will practice activities such as walking up and down stairs, handling uneven walking surfaces, going from a sitting position into a standing position, putting on clothing and reaching for objects above your head. Your therapist may also give you a list of "homework" exercises to hasten your progress.
References
- MDGuidelines: Amputation Rehabilitation
- Mount Nittany Medical Center: Learning to Use a Prosthesis
- "Atlas of Limb Prosthetics"; Chapter 23; Physical Therapy Management of Adult Lower-Limb Amputees; Robert S. Gailey, Jr., M.S.Ed., P.T., et al.; 1992
- Senior Step; Keep Moving: Exercises for People With Lower-Extremity Amputations; Melissa Wolff-Burke, EdD, PT, ATC, and Elizabeth Cole, PT; December 2010
- Military in-Step: Reclaiming Your Independence Through Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy
