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Post by kpritchett on Mar 28, 2014 8:14:46 GMT -7
Hi, I have a BK prosthesis. I recently got an OttoBock Vacuum leg. The liner was custom made. If I go to the gym and sweat it comes down in a few minutes. bunches really bad in the front and back. Plus when I am done it is FULL of sweat and lotion. Anyone else have this problem? Everyday use it bunches as well sometimes not as fast, then I am in the bathroom making a mess wetting the liner to get it on again and readjust it. Any advice would be great.  Thank you, Kim |
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Post by allenuk on Mar 28, 2014 9:36:03 GMT -7
Hello Kim.
Just saying hello, but no such experiences. (I DID try a suction socket, briefly, a year or two back, but just could not get on with it. It took a prosthetist kneeling before me to get it on (ridiculous, of course - how could I do that at home, even with my big strong hands!), and used to lose suction within half an hour (never did find out where it was going).
So I reverted to my trusty pinlock.
Some folks here use suction, and like it, so hopefully you will get a better answer than mine.
Have you ever tried pinlock or other alternatives? There are advantages and disadvantages, of course, and no system suits everyone.
Hope you get some answers soon.
Allen.
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Post by cherylm on Mar 29, 2014 2:13:54 GMT -7
Kim, I'm one of those folks who likes their Ottobock vacuum leg...but it took me a looonnng time in fittings to reach that point. (At one point, the leg literally tried to "eat me alive," tearing the skin off of my stump...not the best introduction to the leg!)
A few questions:
Are you truly wearing a custom-fit liner, one where they literally did an initial casting for the liner itself BEFORE doing the casting for the rest of your leg? (That was the solution to my "leg eating me alive" problem...the closest fit when they measured me for an "off the rack" liner--and I did, supposedly "fit" into that "off the rack" liner--left air pockets and the vacuum pulled my skin out to fill those gaps...something like that might also be causing your "slippage" issues.) If your custom liner is a true custom liner, have you by any chance gained or lost any noticeable amount of weight? (Same theory...change in fit could equal slippage.)
Is your vacuum suspension supported by an attached pump, or are you depending on a one-way valve, sans pump, coupled with a ringed liner? (My first experience with any sort of vacuum/suction suspension was based on the one-way valve alone, and it really did NOT work for me!) If you are using a pump, is it electronic or a manual hand-pump? (I know people who do fine with the manual pump, but my electronic pump fits me and my lifestyle, and it automatically makes adjustments to maintain the vacuum when I'm more active.)
Are you a reasonably new amputee? Or, alternately, have you started going to the gym and doing more to make you sweat only recently? If you're fairly new to wearing a prosthesis, you may just still be sweating a whole lot more than anticipated. In that case, if you're really lucky, your body will adjust and your sweat glands on your stump will slow down. (I had massive sweat problems my first year after my surgery...with LOTS of slippage as a result...but it now takes a great deal of activity in very hot weather to get me perspiring under my prosthesis.)
Finally, have you asked your prosthetist and/or technician about your situation and whether or not they might be able to change something in fit, materials, or suspension to make it better? (Hope I'm not offending you with that question, but I know from personal experience that the more you tell them about your problems, the more likely they are to be able to diagnose and fix the situation.)
Having gone through the "sweating and slipping" routine in my past, I do really feel for you! I hope you can come up with a solution...if you can get a vacuum leg to work correctly, it can be a beautiful thing.
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Post by kpritchett on Mar 31, 2014 9:24:18 GMT -7
I have been an amputee my entire life. 36 years.
I have a pin lock one but that one was made by my old prosthesis maker who has since closed. They would make me custom liners for the pin lock leg. Which is good but bad also cause i found a place to make them but they suck and nothing like the ones i had and they had problems with getting the size correct cause the casts had to be sent out.
I then found my new prosthesis maker and he got me a the "store" bought ones, but since my socket was made custom fit, these dont fit too well. it makes my leg a little longer. I got new insurance and decided why not get a new leg, so i figured i would get the vacuum one cause its supposed to be better, etc.
This leg is a few weeks old. I think I only took it home a little over a week ago.
It is a custom liner. i was casted, liner was made and then leg was made.
I really haven't lost weight in my stump, its small and always is small.
It's a harmony p3 pump i believe. I just walk and it pumps up. i am getting full vacuum.
it was fine during the fittng cause i wasn't running around or on an Eliptical. i have been a gym member for a while and actively going for the past year. In my "store bought" liners i would sweat out of them too. Thought that with the vacuum i wouldnt sweat as much really disappointing.
He has ordered me another liner from ottobock. they are making it tighter but I don't know how much tighter it can be without cutting off my circulation.
Do you put on alot of lotion before the liner? he suggested i stop putting the lotion on my thigh. that is where the bunching starts and ends up behind my knee. vacuum always keeps which is good but the bunching really sucks. and then shows through my pants which I hate!
Also how high is your vacuum sleeve and liner up your leg?
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Post by cherylm on Apr 1, 2014 1:34:27 GMT -7
Wow...a lot of things to consider, and it sounds like you've been pursuing all the logical solutions. I can say that the liners for a vacuum-assisted suspension can indeed be a lot tighter than those for a pin-lock system, although mine have never truly cut off circulations! I was in pin-lock for many, many years...and I thought I was doing well with it until we started getting the fitting for the vacuum suspension right. My own experience with the vacuum assist feels soooo much more like having a natural leg than any of my pin-locks did. I'm so fond of this leg that I've turned into a bit of an amateur saleswoman for the system...but I do know of some folks who just don't like the way the vacuum legs cling so snugly. The lotion issue may be part of your problem...it took me several days of applying various amounts of lotion on various parts of my stump until I finally "got it right." I don't put any lotion at all on my thigh...just a narrow ring all around my stump at the bend of my knee, an even more narrow stripe of lotion down the length of my shin, and then a pretty generous application at the distal end (directly on the bottom, with nothing going up onto the sides). In each of those three places, I'm not "dripping" lotion, but you can actually see and feel that it's there. Too much lotion might contribute to your bunching and slippage, so maybe try cutting back on it a little. My liner and sleeve really do not come up too high on me. When I was first fitted, they had me in a liner that was much longer...it came almost two-thirds of the way up my thigh, and then the sleeve was almost another three inches longer. It literally all ended within just an inch of "a highly private and personal place." I have a relatively long stump...my leg ends at just about mid-calf level...so that initial set-up left me covered in a lot of gear. We started cutting it down from there. What we finally ended up with is this: My socket is pretty "standard," with the front at the base of my kneecap, the ears up to the top of the kneecap, and the back cut down far enough to let me fully flex the knee. My liner comes up to about two inches above the socket ears. I wear a gaiter that comes up to cover the ears and most of the liner to protect the sleeve. The sleeve ends about two inches above the liner. That keeps the entire leg about six inches away from that highly private and personal place, which feels a heck of a lot better. The whole fit is such that I can manage to walk reasonably well even if the pump itself happens to be malfunctioning...not that that happens on any sort of recurrent basis, but I did have about a week during the "trying to eat me alive" stage when they suggested that I keep the pump off and just see if I could get along with the fit sans suction. I could, but it didn't feel as "natural" that way...more like a pin-lock as far as stability goes. Anyway....that's my story. I hope that you can find a solution to your issue, and that it will let you love your leg as much as I love mine! |
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Post by ann- on Apr 2, 2014 0:23:58 GMT -7
Hi Kim, Am not using vacuum though have used suction in the past. I do find though I get more sweating if the socket, liner or sleeve is slightly too loose, so not sure if any of this could be the cause. When I get anything new occur with a new prosthesis, I always look at it to see if it is different in any way.
Agree with what Cheryl says about not having the liner too high above the knee because, though you need enough, too much makes the sleeve bunch a bit. Also having enough space above the knee for the sleeve to sort of grab your skin.
The other thing, sounds obvious, but have they given you the right size liner and sleeve, in the past I've been given liners to small and sleeves to big, all caused problems! so it does happen.
I wear different liners on each leg and find that they do work differently and the thicker one definitely bunches from the knee and if that one gets sweaty or loose in any way, it has been known to virtually slip off for me that liner is a trade-off for wearing the type of leg I do so I suppose its getting a liner that has the properties that you need for your particular leg. I never put any lotions or anything on the legs before I put the legs on, always moisturise at night and that gives it a chance to soak in.
You probably know you can get strong antiperspirants and also inner socks/liners to wick up the sweat. Though if you don't usually have the problem it has to be something a bit different with the new leg. I would check every component out, check the valve, materials, liners, sleeves etc.
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Post by vader7 on Oct 24, 2014 18:04:01 GMT -7
Hi, If I go to the gym and sweat it comes down in a few minutes. bunches really bad in the front and back. Plus when I am done it is FULL of sweat and lotion. Anyone else have this problem? Try this wicking sock, I am ordering one too. Should fix the problem. Sweat absorbing sock |
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Post by snarfler on Oct 25, 2014 14:06:07 GMT -7
I've never had much luck with custom liners no matter what the material. In fact, my newest limb uses a DAW liner which is probably one of the least expensive yet easiest to invert. You could try using a sheath but it may become overwhelmed.
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