Rehabilitation following amputation.

  • Great Britain. Ministry of Pensions.
Date:
[1954]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Rehabilitation following amputation. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/28 (page 8)
    amputation has been performed, the presence or absence of disabilities elsewhere, together with the co-operation of the patient in the training which will be given in the use of the prosthesis. There is frequently to be found anxiety regarding the amputee’s ability to return to a self-supporting life. A high percentage of those amputated in the lower extremity are able to return to their old occupa- tions. Should there be need or desire for change they should be informed that the Limb Fitting Centres of the Ministry of Pensions are in close co-operation with the Ministry of Labour Employment and Training Bureaux and that the interviews regarding these two points are arranged in the patient’s interest (Figure 21). Rig 2ilc This amputation below the knee cycles to work daily. Every effort should be made by all those associated with amputees to impress upon them that their future will not be a life of crippledom, but rather one to which they can look forward with hope and confidence in their ability to become once more self-supporting citizens. It also should be impressed upon them that not only is consideration given to rendering the patient self-supporting, but by the supply of an artificial limb they are enabled to return to many sporting activities, and take up hobbies with which to occupy their spare time. (2) Physical After a period in bed, following amputation, the general bodily musculature has lost tone, and the remaining muscles of the stump will have atrophied. When the patient is allowed up on crutches or in a wheel chair, certain postures, such as rounding of the shoulders, head flexion and cramped fingers can be acquired which are detrimental to limb wearing; these should be avoided or quickly eradicated. If a patient has been sent for limb fitting in this condition, it is hardly surprising that many find the strain exhausting, and the stump incapable of controlling the limb. The exercises described herein will be found adequate to render the patient fit in all respects to withstand the stresses and strains of limb wearing, and the more competition and humour that can be introduced in carrying out the initial training, the greater will be the co-operation to be expected from the pupils.