Alpha liners/pin-lock/blisters

[allenuk]

Lynne raises an interesting point, carrying on from my question about whether Alpha liners can be cut too short.

She wonders if the slight movement you get between pin and socket makes blisters more likely with that system, possibly through a little pistoning. Can't say I've had any trouble with blisters for a few years, but I do currently have a very annoying one, which seems to have co-incided with the shorter-than-usual liner.

Any ideas?


Allen.

[ann-]

Maybe it is Allen.
I don't use the pinlock system with my Alpha Liner and I don't get any blisters at all.

Ann

[lizzie2]

Depends upon the fit of the socket - if there's movement, then there can be blister formation.

You could try putting some prosthetic skin lotion on your skin before you put on the liner.

[stonecutter]

Hi Allen. I went through two or three legs about ten years ago now using a pin lock system. What I found caused problems for me was not actual pistoning but the action of the stump and liner wanting to piston a bit but not being able to due to the pin holding it in place.

The result for me, as I have a very fleshy stump was that fluid was sucked in to the skin and when I took my device off, the skin felt very hard and the skin surface often had wee tiny blistering.

The hardening would go away over night but it was enough of a concern for my prosthetist to get me onto a different system. Now I'm on alpha liners and sleeves.

I miss the feeling of a good fit with that pin system though.