making a life changing choice

Post Reply New Topic

I just got casted for my first prosthetic leg this morning!

The first thing the prosthetist did was to wrap my prosthetic liner with cellophane to keep the plaster from sticking to my leg.


Then he put on a cloth sock and marked all of my bony landmarks which will be transferred to the inside of the cast.


Then he wraps my leg with plaster. He makes sure to get a very good mold of my leg, especially around my petelar tendon and around the back of my knee because that's where a lot of the weight bearing surfaces are.


Here's the complete negative mold:



From this, the prosthetist will fill this mold with plaster to make a positive plug the shape of my leg. He'll reshape it for a better weight bearing shape and will make a test socket by molding thermoplastic over it. This socket will be what I initially walk on so the prosthetist can make adjustments. I may go through 3 or so of these sockets before I get my final leg because when I start walking, my leg will shrink more until it stabilizes.

My final socket will be made out of carbon fiber. This socket will be so strong that I'd have to run it over with a truck to break it!