Question
What are some common comorbidities that you often see with a prosthesis?
Answer
Great question. It is not uncommon for me to see some carpel tunnel, elbow tendonitis in the opposite side. Not uncommon for me to see diabetes and patients having to utilize insulin pumps, and then also having paresthesias in their intact hand, which is not uncommon and becomes even more common if the individual has been a long-time user of prosthesis use or even a long-time non-user so that they really have overuse going on. They may develop thoracic outlet syndrome, rotator cuff injuries and a lot of shoulder problems.
I often see patients who have neck pain, shoulder pain and asymmetry so I do try to get them on a Pilates program as soon as possible. Another thing that I always send them home with, or often send them home with if they're going to be using myoelectric technology is exercising their myocytes, but also engaging them in core strengthening and deep breathing because I can find that to be incredibly helpful with controlling some of these signals during the management phase.
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