The perfect upper limb prosthesis is the one that truly fits you. Not just your need for function, but your aesthetic, your lifestyle. It will be unique to you. Your prosthesis and terminal device will be determined by many factors: what you want, what your prosthetist recommends based on their years of experience, what you do for a living, your life outside of work, and what your insurance provider is willing to cover.

The first step is assessing your needs. Do you need a prosthesis to help you be independent at home? Do you work and if so, what do you do? Are you looking for a prosthesis to exercise or play golf?

What you need from the prosthesis will dictate what option(s) will be the most suitable. Also, what is relevant for you is going to be based on your limb difference level. Someone missing one or more fingers has different needs than someone with an above elbow difference who needs to decide on their terminal device, whether they want/need a wrist, how they want their forearm frame to look, and what type of elbow to go with.

Prosthetist Andy Sabean, CPLP, works with a high-level transhumeral patient taking measurements of his residual limb

The second step is to learn about what’s out there. We have many people who think that a multi-articulating myoelectric hand would be really cool to wear, but for people who do any type of heavy-duty work, even the toughest myoelectric hand isn’t going to be strong enough. They can also be difficult to get insurance coverage for. Body-powered hooks or myoelectric ETDs are better at standing up to heavy-duty work. For office jobs, sometimes a single-motor myoelectric hand is the best choice, like it is for Kristi, who is also a busy parent. As for people with finger and partial hand amputations, the same considerations need to be made. Are myoelectric fingers appropriate, or would body-powered or passive fingers serve you better? To learn more, take a look at our upper limb prosthetic parts article.

In addition to needs, there are wants. What do you want your prosthetic device to look like? Do you like that high-tech robot look? Do you want a hand that looks like the real thing so that it’s less noticeable? That would mean you’d need a passive silicone restoration. Do you not care what your device looks like, so long as it functions well?

Deciding what you want out of your prosthesis can take time, especially if you’ve had an amputation. We’ve had many patients ask us initially for one type of device, and after learning more about their options, they decided a different type would suit them better. Our center patient coordinator in Minneapolis, Cindy, remembers a patient who was initially fit with a passive silicone restoration for her missing finger. She really wanted to blend in. After a few weeks, she came in for what Cindy thought was a minor adjustment. But actually, she was there to ask for a body-powered device, in purple (similar to the one below). “It’s just me,” she told the center.

Artwork on Naked Prosthetics PIP Driver copy

We’ve also had the opposite. Abram, a patient of ours who lives in Tennessee, knew he needed something heavy-duty so he could get back to work and get back to his hobby of working on Jeeps. He didn’t care what it looked like, he only cared about the function. He went with a body-powered hook and a multi-articulating myoelectric TASKA hand. Fast-forward to a few months later, when he’s at dinner with his wife, or walking through the airport. Everyone is stopping him to tell him how cool his hand is and how did his amputation happen? “And once you tell your story so many times, you’re just, eh — you don’t want to all the time. I just want to be able to blend in with a crowd,” Abe told us in an interview. So, Abe asked for a passive silicone restoration to wear when he’s out and about.

There are also activity-specific devices for those of you interested in weightlifting, exercising, yoga, fishing, hunting, swimming and a variety of other activities. Generally, these unique devices are provided to people who already have a prosthesis for everyday life. Getting your insurance to cover these items can be difficult, but it is possible.

Deciding what prosthesis is perfect for you can be hard if you have just been thrown into the deep end of what is a very confusing and painful situation. You have a lot of new language to learn, processing to do and situations to negotiate. Allow our clinical team and support staff to help you navigate all of this. When you contact us and set up a complimentary consultation, we can walk with you along the path of figuring all this out. We can show you a range of device options and explain all the pros and cons. We can give you examples of patients similar to you in terms of their lifestyle and job, and often even connect you with those patients so you can ask them about their devices.

MiscHands-Featured

Something you may want to keep in mind is being flexible. While we will do everything in our power to get you the device that will suit you best, insurance coverage is going to be a determining factor some of the time. We’ll walk you through what may or may not be covered and help you get the best available option.

If you are at the beginning of your prosthetic journey, you are considering a second device, or you are in the market for a new prosthesis, please contact us. Our upper limb prosthetic specialists have extensive experience in fitting people with a prosthesis that works for them, even if especially if that means designing unique devices. It’s not just about creating a custom-fit, functional device. Our care model means that we have occupational therapists at each center, teaching our patients how to use their new devices as helpful tools at home and at work. Our goal is to help you Redefine Possibility.

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