So, first off-why do you need to wear a prosthetic sock? Throughout your life, the size and shape of your residual limb will change. Your residual limb will shrink after the swelling from the surgery goes down and as your muscles atrophy. After this initial shrinking occurs, your residual limb will continue to change more gradually as your body ages and gains or loses weight.
Wearing a prosthetic sock adds cushioning, reduces friction between the residual limb and the socket, and helps replace lost volume in the socket due to shrinking of the residual limb.
Unlike a shrinker, you will wear your sock with your prosthesis. Your sock goes over your residual limb inside the socket of your prosthesis. These socks are generally made of knitted nylon, cotton, and/or wool, and are shaped to fit your residual limb.
To maintain a proper fit of your prosthesis as your residual limb changes, you will add or remove prosthetic socks. Prosthetic sock thickness is rated in “plies.” You can add a thin sock over an existing sock or replace an existing sock with a thicker one.
How to Customize Plies
By counting sock plies you can add thickness in measured amounts. If you are wearing a prosthetic sock & the socket feels a little loose, you simply add more ply. You can do this by adding more socks or adding one thicker sock.
For example:if you are wearing a 3-ply sock & you want the socket to fit a little tighter, you could add a 1-ply sock for a total of 4-ply. If this still feels a little loose, you may either add another 1-ply (for a total of 5-ply) or you could remove the 3-ply & both of the 1-ply socks & don a 5-ply sock.
We recommend that you take a 5, a 3, and two 1s with you everywhere you go! That covers every combination possible
One important tip to note: It is better to wear a thicker sock than many thin socks to avoid getting wrinkles in the sock. Wrinkles cause higher pressure in the area of the wrinkle & can rub on & injure skin.
Care for Your Socks
Your prosthetist may give you socks of varying thicknesses so you can manage your socket fit. It is important to wear clean socks each day. Carefully follow the washing instructions that come with your prosthetic socks & keep the package or label from your socks so that when you need to replace your socks, you have a record of the type of socks you use.