In April of this year, our team posted an image of a finished prosthesis to Facebook: a shoulder-level setup and a JAWS terminal device. Underneath the post, a Facebook fan had posted “Not made for women!” with a crying emoji.

But, as we commented back, we make prostheses for women all the time! While the shoulder-level prosthesis and JAWS terminal device was for a male patient, our Arm Dynamics prosthetists have been making prostheses for women since our company began. Check out these prostheses we have made for women:

This partial hand device with Point Digits for Angie:

Angie Lott Snowman

These silicone fingers for Mason:

This below elbow prosthesis with a TASKA CX smaller myoelectric hand for Kiersten:

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You can learn more about the TASKA CX and how it’s sized for women and people with smaller hands in our video featuring Angel:

This above elbow frame with a V2P terminal device for Marissa:

Mermaid Arm 14x20

This above custom silicone restorantion for Diana:

Back to Work - Sharif Dakhan

Many prostheses and terminal devices that have been created over the years have been designed for men. After all, according to Science Direct, “Males account for greater than 75% of people with upper limb amputation.”[1] But in the past few years, there have been many devices made with women in mind.

There are several custom devices that are made to exactly fit the proportions of one’s sound hand. All Naked Prosthetics are manufactured individually so that they will fit well on each residual finger. Passive silicone restorations, from finger replacements like the one below up to full arms like the one you see on Diana above, are also created from a mold of the person’s sound fingers/arm.

Cosmetic Finger Restoration - Janice Woods

Point Designs began offering their “Point Digit mini” which is a passive device for people with partial hand differences who do not have any residual finger Point Digits are what Angie is wearing in her picture above, with the snowman.

Other terminal devices, like body-powered devices and some myoelectric devices, aren’t meant to resemble the human hand their goal is function over looks. Check out how proficient Nicole is with her ETD in her patient profile video:

In that video, Nicole also wears her myoelectric multi-articulating hand, the iLimb Ultra. Does it look a little big on her? Well, as mentioned above with the TASKA CX, that’s been solved in the years since that video was made. Most myoelectric multi-articulating hands now come with a smaller option, to better fit women and people with smaller hands. Single-motor myoelectric hands are also made in sizes proportional for women. Here is Kristi with her device:

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While American society is slowly becoming more egalitarian, childcare is still often a task that falls to women. When we receive emails from recent women amputees, they often mention their concerns about being able to carry out their childcare tasks. Many of our patients have incorporated their upper limb devices into the everyday activities of childrearing. You can watch Marissa perform infant-related tasks, read about Kristi interacting with her toddler, watch Wendi play with her 10-year-old son, and of course there’s Nicole with her family in the video above. You can also read our series of articles about being a parent with a limb difference, which begins with our article about parenting babies.

It’s not just making sure women are fit with the correct size of device that is comfortable and allows the wearer to pursue their professional and personal goals our on-site clinical therapy specialists teach our patients how to use their device.

If you or someone you know is interested in scheduling a consultation with our clinical team, either in person or via video chat, please contact us. If you have a comment regarding this article, please leave it below.

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