Final day of the week: #amputeeawarenessweek and this was a question I received yesterday.
An amputee with a sleeve and suction system like me has to wear a liner (the light grey you can see next to my skin) and a sleeve – this creates the seal/ suction and holds the leg on. In this picture the sleeve is what I’m holding with my right hand.
There are many different types of liners. When I switched to this one (which is porous to try and help manage the sweat) it was very very uncomfortable, borderline abrasive. My skin has got used to it and now it’s no issue.
There are also lots of types of sleeves, I have used this one for longer than this type of liner. The main issue I get is at the top edge of the sleeve. Sometimes it chafes and causes stingy red lines – along the edge where you can see the mark on my leg. I can’t use cream on my skin in the morning: I found it blocks the pores in the liner faster then I get a yukky sweaty mess inside and the leg starts to slide off. Very inconvenient!!
It seems to be worst if my skin is clammy when I put the leg on (like after swimming) so I have found light talc helps.
In the evening when I take the leg off, if I have had some chafing along the top edge that day, that then does start to itch. My residual limb has a bag of skincare products of its own – specialist products for amputees. That helps manage things, but yes, it’s an ongoing thing that I have to be very mindful of.
Thank you Sarah for this excellent question!
