Practice Makes Perfect

Additional requirements are placed on the remaining hand in the event of amputations or malformations on one side. One-handed training is especially important if the later prosthesis will only be a holding hand and not a replacement for the dominant – usually right – hand.

Children with a congenital abnormal development are especially creative with these exercises, since they do not have to first “retrain” themselves.

It is easy to understand that a righty, for example, whose right arm had to be amputated, initially has difficulties training the left side to perform the functions of the formerly dominant right side equally well.

Residual Limb Exercises

This training is intended to help normalize muscle strength (muscle tone). Exercises that require the training
of both arms simultaneously are especially important. With phantom pain, for example, bringing both arms into the same position and tensing them can be helpful.

As opposed to congenital abnormal developments, the residual limb is bandaged after amputations. It must be tightly wrapped diagonally and conically without cutting into the skin.

An alternative for the patient is to put on an individual compression stocking by him/herself to keep the residual
limb in a conical form and support the desired venous backflow. Prosthetic training can begin after one-handed training and the described residual limb exercises. Using an arm prosthesis must be practiced: Putting on a prosthesis and taking it off, using its functions and, last but not least, its cleaning and care, must be learned to take advantage of all its benefits.

The Right Position

Positioning is practiced by doing special exercises: The prosthesis must be brought into the best-possible starting position for it to grip ideally, since poor positioning can be the fundamental reason for imprecise or insecure gripping. Initial training with the prosthesis takes place in front of a mirror.

This lets the patient check him/herself and simultaneously see the positive influence of the prosthetic fitting on his or her entire body posture.

Targeted Training

Training the prosthesis to function with objects includes working with the prosthesis while sitting and also standing. Targeted, secure gripping as well as targeted releasing are practiced with objects and tasks from daily life. Users are taught to handle pegs and cubes made out of wood and other materials, for example, using different degrees of strength and firmness.

If the patient is able to use the prosthesis with enough confidence, he or she can train the controlled use of muscles for gripping. In the process he or she must watch him/herself carefully, since the prosthetic hand cannot replace the lost sense of touch.

Objects such as foam rubber, straws, paper cups and tubes of all kinds will help the patient learn the effect of different amounts of pressure on various materials and rigidity.