My i-Limb Hand

I picked up my final socket for my i-Limb hand a week back, from Rich at Diablo O&P . He had lovingly created a carbon fiber socket with a blue fleck running through it based on the test socket he had made earlier.

We decided to move the electrodes up higher to try to resolve the issue, where, previously the holes in the liner were too low and let air in and so didn’t keep the socket secure on my stump. It was a bit tricky trying to work out where the holes should be cut in the liner (the liner costs $500 a pop, so don’t want to make a mistake), but we guesstimated as best we could and it seems to be working for now!

I’m starting to wear my new arm a little at a time, I have pretty good control of opening and closing the hand, although rotation is going to require a bit more work to master. It’s amazing how easy it is to control, I just contract the muscles I would normally use to open/close my hand, just in a more exaggerated motion. Rich did a great job creating the socket and dealing with the bulky battery. If I wear a long-sleeved top you really don’t notice it, the length and angle of the socket is perfect…I bet you’d probably not even notice my hand wasn’t real at first glance!

The socket is a little lighter than my test socket, but the overall prosthesis still weighs just under 3lbs, which will take a bit of getting use to. Also, the weight of the hand causes the socket to move around a little on my stump, since it isn’t secured above my elbow as would normally be the case for this type of device. This caused a blister the other day where the electrode touches the skin on one side…so still some teething issues to iron out.