We had a great meeting at our amputee support group for February and I wanted to share some of the brilliant tips presented by our guest speaker.

Amputees & Falling

Lower extremity amputees fall, right?  It's not if, but when.  Some fall triggers could be:

• Small discrepancies in the floor, like the transition between tile and carpet
• Pets... yes, you, Fluffy. 
• Throw rugs.  They look great and can really 'tie the room together', but you could end up on the floor along with the rug.

Apparently, there is a good and bad way to fall.  The bad way is to tense up and go down stiff as a board (hard to relax when you see impending doom, I know).

The good way to fall is to remain flexible, bend at the joints, and try to protect vulnerable body parts.  It's best to have multiple points of impact, like a car.  Your arms can serve as the bumper, leaving your head and hips to suffer less impact.

Lower extremity amputees should keep focus on upper body strength, because a strong upper body could translate into less injury during a fall.

My favorite words of wisdom from our speaker:

"Your physical therapy is your physical therapy."  You craft those therapy goals, share these goals early on with the therapist, and then take responsibility for setting those goals."

Thank you, Jason Highsmith, CP, PT, DPT