Although I’ve been devoted a bit of writing to how my prosthesis was made, what it feels like, and how it works, I haven’t really explained how I actually put the thing on each morning. So here’s a tutorial on how to put on a leg…

By the way, I also haven’t written much about the variety of styles of prosthetic legs and the suspension systems for keeping them attached to you. I use a roll-on suction socket with silicone liner, but many amputees use another suspension system called supra-condylar suspension. Briefly, you insert your stump (with prosthetic socks on, if needed) into a stiff liner made of Pelite, a foam rubber material. The Pelite liner has wedges on the left and right sides that rest over the condyles of the knee, hence the name supra-condylar. You then insert your stump with the Pelite liner into the socket of the prosthesis, and the supra-condylar wedges lock you into the socket. If anyone out there reading this uses a leg with a Pelite liner and SC suspension, I’d love it if you’d be willing to contribute a tutorial on how to don and doff your leg.

In the meantime, here’s how I put on my leg…

[1] [2] First, I need to turn the silicone liner inside out so I can roll it onto my stump, so I stick one hand inside it and turn it inside out with the other hand. You need to be careful to not use fingernails here as they can tear the silicone.

[3] [4] [5] Then I center the the bottom of the liner on the end of my stump and roll it on. The goal is to end up with the pin exactly centered over the bottom of my stump, so that it will fit right into the lock in the bottom of the socket of the prosthesis. I often have to repeat this step a few times, especially first thing in the morning before I’ve had a cup of coffee.

[6] Here’s what the liner should look like when I’ve rolled it on correctly.

[7] [8] Next, I pull on the prosthetic sock. I poke the liner pin through the hole I’ve cut in the prosthetic sock and pull it on over the liner. If I need more than one sock to fit into the socket correctly, repeat as necessary.

[9] [10] [11] Then I insert my stump into the prosthesis and push down until the pin clicks into the lock in the bottom of the socket. (Some people prefer to use liner pins with a series of ridges, like threads on a screw, because they give you auditory feedback — you can hear the pin go click-click-click into the lock when you step into the leg.) Voila! I’m wearing my leg.

[12] [13] [14] To take it off, I just depress the lock button until it clicks and releases the pin, and then pull my stump out. Stripping off the sock and liner is the reverse as putting them on.