Sooo true, I have had bad experiences with prosthetists. They really do not know what they are doing and we suffer for it. It has already been 3 years and I still do not have a well fitting socket. Very frustrating, expensive and time consuming. Still searching for a well educated prosthetist. 😵‍💫

Thanks for creating this channel - your videos do help

Hey Chris, I have watched a couple of your VLOGS and I appreciate what you are doing. I will sit down soon and watch the rest. In This particular one, you touched on a very important topic. The Prosthetist. We are thrust into this new world where we really don’t know which way is up. When getting a prosthetic, we have to rely on the expertise of someone who in most cases, has no fucking clue what we are going through. As you said, it is so very important to find the right person. One who asks questions and listens to our answers. Generally, a prosthetist is going to be lifelong relationship if you can find the right one. I probably have no idea how lucky I was to find the right one on my first try. Also, it takes some guts to put yourself out there like you are doing with these videos. Just want to say thanks again.

You’re so right the socket is THE most important part of your prosthetic. The pain and complications caused by an ill fitting socket - infections from sores, rashes, blisters, cysts, neuroma’s and bone spurs can lead to further revision surgeries. If your socket isn’t right the prosthetic feels so heavy and takes more energy to use. You can have the most expensive components (Knee, ankle, foot and arm) but if the socket doesn’t fit you won’t be able to use those amazing components to their fullest and it will cause so many other aches and pains by compensating for it, leading to sciatica, other spine, hip, knee and ankle pain on your sound limb. Getting the socket right may take a few appointments to get it right but stick with it, it’s always worth going back to your prosthetist and explaining where it hurts (if you find it difficult to explain put marks on your socket where it doesn’t feel right or write a list of the problems you’re having) I’m so sorry you’ve had such a rough prosthetist that was clearly only in it for the money and didn’t give you the right care, components or explain how to use the functions and how to maintain it. That’s so wrong! hopefully Karma will come around and show him how wrong he was. I hope your new prosthetist now works with you to keep you comfortable and give you the right prosthetics that won’t hold you back from what you want from life.

Hi Chris, great to see your vlog. I have had many years of poor socket fit. You are right. No amount of money on components such as knees and feet can make up for a socket that does not fit properly. Like you, I have spent countless hours and extravagant amounts of money trying to find solutions which only mask poor socket fit. Thank you for having the courage to speak the truth about challenges facing above knee amputees in particular. Can you recommend a prosthetist?

I just had the operation to go from BKA to AKA and got my first leg. I got the Ottobock C leg for a knee. The socket is new and needs serious adjustment. The socket goes all the way up to the groin but that's not the worst part. There is a piece that comes up in the behind that cuts into me and im realizing that the liner does not even make it that high and its that hard black rubber digging in with every step. There is some pain close to the bottom of the socket as well but I think it could just be the way that it healed. I'm hoping that at todays visit that the prosthetist really listens when I say that that tab in the rear is painful enough that it keeps me from paying attention to walking correctly and putting pressure on your toe to get a proper release from the knee to swing. Been using a walker around the house to prevent falls for now. I'm really tired of sitting around the house in a wheelchair. I want to get back on my 650cc scooter and eventually on my motorcycle. Ill have to figure out a way to shift now. There are so many things that need doing and that are overdue. I have got to get moving. I know a great deal about the pain meds myself. That's another issue. I want my independence back. My prosthetist is a good guy, an amputee himself who lost everything below the hip (well almost everything, he just had a kid) in a boating accident where a family member accidentally backed the boat up onto him. I trust him because he knows what it's like. It just gets frustrating. When I was BKA it was painful but I put that crappy pin lock on and walked right out of that office and got to work.

Thank you so much Chris. It is very important to look at amputees special needs. Quality of life is very Import. my daughter is also visually impaired. we don't need unnecessary equipment. yes they need to listen what your special needs are..you spent a lot of money. and then you don't have money for what you actually need. What is the best foot and leg for visually impaired as well. now we know not to spent money on unnecessary equipment.

I’m not understanding the thumbs down. These videos are very interesting and informative. Thank you Chris for taking time to put these together. My surgery is September 14th..if lockdown dosent postpone it..I’m watching all of your videos.

Hope I wont need a prosthetic, but great talk, Chris!

Chris, bravo for the comments about the socket being most important. You address this point I mentioned in another video’s comment. Perhaps a follow-up point for people just coming into this life is that the adjustments and replacements are a life-long process. I know you mentioned that the relationship with the prosthetist is life-long, but maybe it would be good to clarify to people that this is true even if one has few issues. It sounds as if you have been self-funding legs, too. What is the healthcare system like in South Africa? Thanks again for putting yourself into these videos.

I live in the UK so get a prosthetic centre designated to me (usually by proximity of address) and the socket maker too. The good points are it's all free and you have a team of departments working together to decide what's best for you including physiotherapy, prosthetics, and specialist Doctors. The not so good point is that you have limited choice on products, you are only allowed what the NHS approves (to give you a sense, they only started offering microprocessor knees 2 years ago). If you decide to go private you must buy the socket, knee, and foot, you couldn't take an NHS knee to a private clinic for example and ask them to put a foot on it. Despite this, it's reassuring to know that the centre wouldn't sell something with an alterior motive as they're not profiting if they set you up with something more expensive.

Hey, Chris. I’ve been missing you. Give me a shout, mate! Bo/DAK amp

Chris you still seam in a total pain about your prostheses, and wut you have gone threw , just my observation by listening to you talking, You have vital information so thank you , I am Delwyn Everson, I am an American man and I am 57 years old, I lost my left leg as I had a left below the knee amputation, one year ago and I have been in a wheelchair since as I was in the Philippines when I had a severe gout attack on my left foot, it got severely infected and inflamed and gangrene set in it was a big story but I am stuck in the Philippines, as I can’t afford a leg and it would be very arduous for me to leave with out a leg as to get on the airplane you have to walk up steep stairs just to get in the plane, and you know the complications of being in a wheelchair or being able to just walk , I have been considering making my own leg just so I can leave here as if I get back to America as I’m a Veteran I can get free legs but I have to be in the USA to get that , I’m worried that I will never have enough money to buy a leg just so I can leave the Philippines, I don’t have any family left that cares enough to help me pay for anything, and I have to actually make it to the USA to actually get the help I need ,and the US embassy won’t do anything for me, I do get a little Disability monies that pays for rent and food and utilities, but that’s it , I should have stayed in the USA and never left and I can’t go back to work until I get home first, I know your not a charity but is there anyway you could help me pay for a leg , the Philippines is not a place to be handicap, I have a place to go in the US in Baltimore Maryland with friends to begin with , there is no other place for me to go, I Sincerely thankyou evan for any consideration Sincerely Delwyn Everson, Dumaguete City Philippines ,

i was very much the same having a injury in my ankle which kept breaking down getting infected which went on for years which then went into my heal bone which meant over a year on antibiotics or go for a below the knee amputation, i had this done last June but have been up on my prosthesis since Oct and things seem ok and this has been the longest time i have gone for years without any illness

Great info, Chris. It would be worth noting that length of stump (RL "residual limb" in the politically correct vernacular) makes a HUGE difference in what kind of socket an AK will find comfortable. You have a long stump and get along well with a sub-ischial socket. Knee-disarticulation amps can sometimes weight-bear on the distal end if the patella is grafted on. I have a mid-femur stump and need more ischial support and medial-lateral stability than you do. Short stump AKs have the toughest time getting a good socket fit. I won't even mention volume changes during the day and when we gain/lose weight. Every amp faces difference challenges.

Was the Nabtesco knee issue sorted. Is that the Allux knee. I am a bit lateral one below and one through knee end bearing. 45 plus years active bi lateral. The Allux being Polycentic is best suited for a long residual stump. Parts supply though hugely important

I just got a new leg and the socket is uncomfortable its tight but when I tell them that they don't take it serious I feel I wont get used to it it depresses me.

Sorry to bother you. What is ones options to get the funds to do amputation. The state hospital in my aria is very bad and I am battling to get the 80,000 to have it done as soon as possible.

Because I don’t know anything as to why things arent right I don’t know what to do is there any way to know if my leg person has me lined up right? They say I will never feel perfect there’s always going to be discomfort. Yet I can’t stand up straight easily I tend to bring body forward. Plus my hip is forward one hip .. I tend to have back aches. I have struggled to get the right length. I am above knee

I know this is not a recent upload, but your advice is incredibly valuable to us, Chris. There is so little information on the Internet about knees and even less about sockets. And rarely any info on prices. I've been an AK since 1974 and, like you, had many prostheses, some good and bad prosthetists, and made some poor choices. I often wonder if I should spend big money on a microprocessor knee like the Rheo XC (US$50k?) or stay with my Blatchford KX-06 (US$5k, leaks fluid, and needs replacement every few years). I have been thinking about the 3R60 you showed in this video. If you had to go back to a mid-priced hydraulic knee, would you recommend it?

I would also like find is there amputees thar have extra legges that help new prostec but can't avored them 🙂

Excellent video Chris. Im an aka and need an adjustable socket. Thanks

I'm also from South Africa. I emigrated to America and discovered they can't do legs right here. I've had several prosthetists in the USA and it seems as though they are not able to get stability, ability, function and pain management right all at the same time. I have a new prosthetist AGAIN, and AGAIN having to do my own research online to try to help my new prosthetist, who again takes it personally when I give any feedback. It's almost as if American prosthetists are trained to make a leg and send you on your way and if you want them to do any more than that, like pain management, then you are made to feel as if you're being difficult, or even insulting their workmanship, made to feel like you've become a noose around their necks. South African prosthetists seem to have been trained that during and after the leg is made, that's when the real work starts to balance pain management with functionality, with ability, with stability. All this is done within weeks, not months. I've had a leg made in Europe too, made within weeks. I've never had as much trouble with prosthetists as I've had since coming to America and I've been an amputee for 54 years. On my American leg, four prosthetists later for one leg, and two years plus, I can't do all the things I used to be able to do and they just tell me that because they just met me they can't take me on my word for it that I used to be able to sit with my legs crossed or closed before or dance, or whatever. In a round about way they're telling me that they don't believe me that previously I was able to do this or that and with no pain. That's a real insult. The main thing I find very frustrating is that American prosthetists lie a lot to your face. For instance over and over my current prosthetist promised me that the new socket will be soft and flexible around the brim, but it turned out hard and unflexible. He offered to make a second (hard) socket now, but he's making me feel guilty that he has to do it again. Its going to be another hard socket again, which is why I'm busy researching to find ways to alleviate brim pain. There's a gap /vacuum at the hip causing farting sounds with each step. I now have to research to help him know how to fix that also. Never in all my 54 years have I ever had loss of abilities, pain and alignment issues until I came to America. When I asked for leather on the brim (pig skin, I had before), they either say they can't get it, or tell me to source it myself, or do the fake leather for me but align the thick join by my soft tissue groin area instead of the hip and don't smooth or taper the edges. Every step of the way I must guide /teach them. I pay them lots of money to have the knowledge and expertise, I'm no expert, but having to become one online. I've never had to do that in my life before. My first South African prosthetist died decades ago, but he took such personal pride in everything he did and was respectful towards me, never making me feel like I'm a problem, or wasting his time. He made my legs including pain management within 2 weeks. He improvised a lot, using his basic common sense and imagination, was friendly. Over two years later, I'm still not getting what I've been promised and paid for in America. When I ask them in a nice way to please deliver on their promises, they get angry and offer me a refund. WHAT??? Here in the USA two years plus and four prosthetists later, I'm still struggling just to get one leg made right. American prosthetists are easily triggered and take any form of feedback extremely personally, no matter how softly or gently you deliver the bad news to them that the socket is hurting or you've lost certain abilities, or whatever. So friend, I truly FEEL your anxieties and frustrations after watching your videos and other videos uploaded by you. I wish you and I could get together to lean on each other for support, because even though America provides support groups, they are more for new amputees and these groups are not attended by prosthetists, who don't get to participate and hear group feedback. They would probably just offer more bs and excuses if they did attend. I seasoned amputee knows when they are being bs'd and this the American prosthetists don't foresee. My leg made in Europe also was perfectly aligned, functional, didn't make me lose any basic abilities, never broke my skin, did not cost the earth, I was not made to feel like I'm wasting their time. My own time and excess insurance money, many many months just to make one leg, big bucks and a lot of work days off, losing tons of money and time, severe pain and embarrassments, no longer able to do my very physical job to the same standards anymore without pain and still leg not right, is what I'm busy experiencing here in the USA, been lied to like you can't believe, even tried to sell me badly broken demo components in the USA, so much to tell ... If I had to calculate all the money I've spent on wound dressings here in the USA and all work hours lost just to make one leg, I could take that money and get another leg made. Sorry for the rant, but you're someone who will not hold it against me. You'll GET it. It's not an advanced complicated leg I'm asking for it's the most basic leg you can get. I've got other off work day responsibilities that need to be attended to, instead I find myself having to neglect what I should be doing instead, to do research for my prosthetist, who has already in his mind moved onto the next client he is busy helping, my needs are just a hindrance and waste of his focus and time he wants to spend on his next client. I wish you only the best my friend. Boy, do I GET you!

I'm a veteran that lost my left leg due to an accident and my first leg is giving me some major problems what can I do

When are you able to have a socket that doesn't go to the top of your hip

Great day sir can I ask someone hu can help me to have prosthetic leg ,thank you

good day sir. sir may i ask if you know some sites that sell 2nd hand parts because its expensive to buy new part here in philippines or if you know some groups who donates some parts. tia God bless

Hi Chris, where did you get your leg made? Could you share the address?

I need one

Just asking... how much is the price?

I. Need this leg please help me

How much prices of your Prosthesis??

hi Chris, great video mate. A very touching and personal journey for you and am sure it has provided comfort and hope to lots of people facing a similar predicament. I've been an amputee now for 35 years and have been walking on crutches all these years. My stump was way too short for a socket type prosthetic. This year after having osseointegration I'm now walking on a prosthesis without a socket... no rubbing, chaffing or blisters. I've been watching 1 of your videos on gait training and have gained a lot from it. Here's how I walk now kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pp-AhNmqvdaXlas.html

I am an amputee and am having big problem in selecting the right company to have a prostatic leg would you please help me

send me specs on battery i have look here in Sydney

I can I communicate to you

Ohh amputee only do abroad Philippines cannot expenssive

I have been dealing with pain for 17 years . I made the choice to have an above the knee amputation. It is set to happen Feb 21st and I think it is the best thing I can do. I can not walk right now the longer I am up the more I hurt . I am tired of not being able to live life. My biggest worry is sex after amputation . Can anyone help with these questions or be willing to talk with me? Any male that has an above the knee amputation please help me.