Hey, this is Christina the Amputee OT and today I'm going to talk about shrinkers.
*machinery and welding sounds*
The shrinker as you've probably guessed is a device used to shrink things.
Specifically it's a device that is used to shrink your residual limb.
There are a lot of reasons that you want your residual limb to be as small as possible.
When you first have your surgery your limbs swells up. A prosthesis usually consists of a socket that goes over your residual limb and
you want that to match the size of your residual limb as closely as possible,
so that you have a good fit between your limb and your prosthetic. One of the ways that
prosthetists get as close a fit as possible is by making sure your limb is at a stable volume before
they cast you for your first prosthesis.
One of the ways to do that is through what's called a shrinker or a shrinker sock. There are more or less
two main types of shrinker socks. You have this long kind that has a ring in the center that can be slid up and down
or you have this kind which is more
form-fitting and shaped to your limb.
There are different ways to use each. They also come in different sizes
to adapt for the different shapes that you have in your residual life.
You don't have to wear a sock when you use your shrinker, but I like to because the socks are comfortable.
I like to wear a sock under my shrinkers,
but you don't necessarily have to. I usually do just because I think it's really comfortable. When you're using a shrinker first thing you want
to do is, if you're using a sock, to put on your sock and make sure there aren't any wrinkles or creases
in the end of your leg before you put it on. Now this kind
put on like this and
you can bring it up here or you can bring it all the way down to here depending on your preference and
then, you take this little ring at the end and you and you pull it down tight,
then you put the other end over.
Now it might sound like a really good idea to maybe use some extra layers or to use shrinkers that are maybe a little bit
too small so that it can fit really tight, but you don't really want to do that.
These shrinkers are designed to deliver a certain amount of pressure and any amount of pressure over that is not
therapeutic and can actually be detrimental because it can cause skin breakdown.
This is the other kind. I find this kind a little harder to get on because it's harder to get the wrinkles out
of the very end.
Kind of have to work it on there. There that looks good.
Those are the main two types of shrinkers. This is a liner. The liner is used as an interface between your
residual limb and your socket. There are different kinds, but this kind has a fabric cover on the outside, and there's gel on the inside.
Put a liner on by reversing it.
Put it--
Pressing it on to the end of your leg and then rolling it on,
making sure there are no air bubbles.
And then, you put your pants back on that you had to take off because you
couldn't get your line or off, without taking your pants off.
There are a couple of important things to remember when you're using liners
and shrinkers. First, if you wear a sock
underneath your shrinker you'll want to change your sock at least once a day even if it looks and smells clean.
If you're using shrinkers. You'll want to use your shrinkers only for one night
and then clean them the next day. Hopefully your prosthetist will give you more than one, otherwise
it would be kind of hard.
And you'll definitely want to rotate between your shrinkers if you've got more than one, because they kind of wear out really fast.
They're sort of made of elastic stretchy material and the more you wear them the more they stretch out and the easier
they are to put on, but the less therapeutic they are, because they don't offer quite as much compression. These ones
wear out really fast
compared to these ones. If you're wearing a shrinker
and you notice that your limb is starting to hurt a whole lot
then there might be too much pressure from the shrinker on your limb and
the best thing that I found is take everything off and wait 5 or 10 minutes and then put back on. Sometimes
it just is kind of pulling on your leg in a certain way and it gets uncomfortable,
but I generally find that these things are really comfortable to wear. The only other problem
I have with these things, is that they tend to slide off my knee
so I've woken up in the middle of the night and had my
shrinker almost entirely off of me which obviously kind of defeats the purpose.
Which is why, now that I'm able to tolerate a liner, I
prefer to wear the liner all the time. If you're a new amputee, I cannot stress this enough.
No really, look at me in the eye, I cannot stress this enough. You need to wear your shrinkers all the time.
Like if you're taking a bath,
you shouldn't wear your shrinkers,
but basically whenever you're not taking a bath you need to wear your shrinkers that will get your limb
down to a manageable size as quickly as possible so that you'll be able to get fitted for your prosthetic as quickly as possible
and I know you want to get fitted for your prosthetic as
quickly as possible because who doesn't? My prosthetist and my doctor are both very impressed with the way my limb looks and I
contribute it to wearing my stump shrinkers at all times unless I'm taking a bath. And really it's not like they're that uncomfortable.
So just wear them. It's important. Alright guys,
that's all for now. If you have any questions,
please feel free to ask them below in the comment section.
Also, if you're so inclined you can subscribe to my channel where I try to put out videos every week sometimes two weeks.
So have a good one!