How to Deal With a Leg Amputation

Leg amputations are one of the hardest procedures to recover from. This comes from not only physical demands, but also the emotional battery of losing a limb. Whether the amputation happened due to injury or disease complications, all those with amputations face many of the same hurdles. Here, we explore basic coping mechanisms and getting firmly on the road to recovery.

Instructions

• 1

  Follow your doctor's orders. Although this may seem trite, it is the number one way to get back to a healthy frame of mind. Whether in rehabilitation or in the hospital immediately following the surgery, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information coming from your medical team. If you can, take notes on what the team says to you. If not, ask a friend or loved one to help with note taking and comprehension of what may seem like complicated advice.

• 2

  Reach out to friends and loved ones. Amputation is a tremendously life changing event. It's likely something that was never even considered previously, and now you're being forced to find your way through life all over again. Your friends and loved ones will be able to help you along, encourage you, give you a shoulder to cry on, and maybe even help hold you up as you learn to walk again.

• 3

  Seek out a support group. In many cases, a group of people who have been through the same traumatic event will be able to help each other along. While your journey is just beginning, it will help you to see others who have come through the worst of it and are, literally, standing on their own two feet again--even if one of those feet is a prosthetic.

• 4

  Work hard in rehab, but take care to not hurt yourself. Rehab brings with it your new prosthetic, as well as learning to use it. This will doubtlessly be a harrowing feat. When you're in "training," be sure to give it your all. Learning to walk was hard work the first time--it will be even harder now--but you can't do it if you don't try. On the same token, be sure not to push yourself too far too fast.

• 5

  Once healed, massage your stump regularly to help with circulation, muscle relaxation, and pain. The stump will be tender for a long while, but keeping the blood flowing and the muscles relaxed will certainly help speed your healing time.