Striking a Balance Balance and proprioceptive training are crucial to recovery from a lower extremity amputation. By Jonathan Bassett Recent evidence has shown that balance deficits have a profound effect on functional performance. While traditional orthopedic rehab has focused primarily on musculoskeletal structures, therapists are now incorporating balance and proprioceptive training to achieve superior clinical outcomes. When a patient has had a lower extremity amputation, balance training takes on added complexity. But it cannot be ignored.
Fitness is a crucial contributor to overall vitality.
Many amputations are performed as a result of health conditions such as diabetes or vascular disease. Fitness for these people takes on added importance to help manage their condition. When Gigi Murphy, PT, staff therapist at Memorial University Medical Center, Savannah, Ga., works with patients with amputation, she usually sees them for a few sessions immediately after surgery, then doesn't see them again until after they are fitted with a more permanent prosthesis. Typically, patients with a lower extremity amputation undergo minimal weight-bearing therapy while still in the hospital using an immediate postoperative prosthesis, which consists of a cast, metal pylon and prosthetic foot. This offers a psychological benefit for the patient, who wakes up from surgery with a limb in place, and a physical benefit of acquainting the patient with the strange new sensations of a prosthesis.