My Family

My Family
Summer 2015

Monday, May 7, 2012

Can Prosthetic Legs get wet?

Well,
Why not right?
I mean, they are made of plastic and rubber.  What harm could there be in getting a little wet?

Friends were playing in their sprinkler on Sunday.  They were a little hesitant to invite us because they were not sure if Lucas could get his legs wet.  Since I'm "that kind of mom", I said "why not?"  I couldn't see any reason why it would be a problem.

The thing you need to know is there are basically 3 things he puts on when he puts his legs/feet on.
First there is a sock that goes up over the knee.
Then there is a foam-type tube that slides over his leg.  It has a nylon thing that covers it so that it slides easily into the Hard outer casing.
So finally the hard plastic leg part goes over the top of that.

We got everything on and ready to go...

He ran and played and had a great time for quite a while, until he came to me and said it was getting uncomfortable because it was getting sloshy in there.  So, we attempted to pull the outer casing off first.  Ummmm....there was a bit of suction that developed.  It took quite the prying to get it off.  I seriously pulled and pulled and almost couldn't get it to release.  But, finally it gave a little bit and off it came.
Of course everything was wet and we poured water out of his legs.  He spent the rest of the time running around without any feet.  He was still happy and giddy even doing that.

I knew the inner lining would have to dry overnight before we went to church.  Of course the inner socks were soaked and the socks on his feet--but no problem with that-everything's washable.  The liner was wet, but it dried by morning.
The next morning I went to help him put his legs on for church and as I put new socks on his feet the ankles were getting wet.   Then I heard a sloshing noise and his legs felt "heavier".  That was when I realized that there is a seam where the foot attaches to the leg.  Can you see it?

The foot is actually a really hard "rubber" material where as the leg is hard plastic.  Somehow water got into that seam and filled his foot with water.  I had to squeeze it out through the seem because his regular socks that go on his feet were getting soaked.  It was kind of funny.  I didn't realize his feet were actually "hollow"...lol  Ya learn something new everyday...just when you think you have it all figured out.

The next day he went to play in a sprinkler again with some other friends.  This time we got smart....and gave him "ankle braclets" made out of duct tape...



and that is how we adapt...
No water inside his feet...
another problem solved...

5 comments:

  1. poor puppy...he just wonders what we are doing half the time...lol

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  2. I know I'm 2 years late, but I just read this :). My daughter (8 yrs) has this same problem, as well as sand getting in there from the beach. I just ordered some 4 inch diameter clear heatshrink tubing and a heat gun and will see if it will fix the problem. Let me know if you found anything better than tape.

    -James

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    Replies
    1. Actually, I finally bit the bullet and just ordered him some DryPro covers. We are about to try them in the pool today and hopefully head to a water park someday soon. I'll keep you posted.

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  3. We looking for artificial leg for my father pls can you let me no the pls
    7019919008

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