Headbands and Prosthetics – A Team Effort
I’m a bit obsessed with Jordan’s long term comfort and health. We use prosthetics mainly to give her shorter limb a rest. If you hang out with her, you’ll quickly see how easily she uses her little arm to do any and all things. It is not a passive short arm. When you step back and think about it, you’ll also realize she’s using her shoulder like an elbow. And shoulders aren’t made to be elbows.
After a while, all that overuse is going to lead to repetitive injuries. I don’t want to see Jordan in pain. So I have her wear prosthetics to give her shoulder a break. And my other weapon against shoulder overuse: Wide headbands for her hair. I started buying any and all wide hair bands to hold her hair in place. It is also a pretty cool style.
Fast forward to this week and we had a perfect storm. Jordan broke her helper arm on the playground. It’s not the end of the world… She’s broken arms before. Her prosthetist, David Rotter, has said before that a broken arm means she’s wearing it. We’d rather have a broken arm than an unused arm. So I’m working on figuring out how to fix it. But add to the broken arm, this was the week where Jordan grew tired of wearing her super cool thick headbands.
Yesterday, she went off to school with a fancy bow on a clip in her hair. It pulls her hair back, but it falls out easily. She spent a lot of the day putting it back on and brushing her hair out of her face. At bedtime, Jordan started complaining about pain inside her shoulder. So we had a talk about ways to limit her shoulder movement just to give it a break.
I’m hopefully going to get her helper arm fixed as soon as possible to get that daily shoulder break. But I’m also encouraging Jordan to get those headbands back on and be a bit more mindful about how often she moves her shoulder. I think she’s now overthinking every movement she makes. But hopefully it will help stop the pain she’s feeling.
I have a few ideas on ways to help prevent future pain. I need to get Jordan doing a few pilates exercises each morning to strengthen her core. I’d also like to get Jordan back into swim lessons so she can work on equal strength on both sides of her body. I’d appreciate any additional ideas in the comment section on ways to help prevent ongoing pain!
Great post! I am fascinated by the quirks Jordan faces because of her short arm. I have quirks with my amputated leg, but arms/shoulders are so different. It’s interesting to see into her unique world.
I’m happy, with you, that she’s using her helper arm. People dont realize how perfectly our bodies are designed to NOT get repetitive injuries.
I sometimes leave my leg on when I’m laying in bed at night, reading. If I want to lay somewhat flat, and bend my knees, and dont have my artificial leg on, I dont have any way to make my ‘short’ side do that, and it lays awkwardly flat on the bed. If I have my prosthetic leg (with a shoe on it) on, I can bend both more comfortably.
Just like if we’re driving a long distance and I take my leg off for comfort, with no foot to touch the floor, my left leg hangs awkwardly and makes my hip hurt. I have to prop it up on something (usually my leg socket) to make it match the level of my sound leg.
Just the quirks that come with living with a prosthetic, that many never see. Thanks for sharing so candidly about Jordan’s little quirks and how you help her solve them.
Hope the helper arm is up and running soon! 🙂
Judy
justonefoot.com
The body is an interesting beast, Judy. Thanks for sharing the little things you do to help your body’s balance. It makes so much sense!
Sounds like she’s getting an impingement in her shoulder. If she were my patient, I would really work on flexibility, especially stretching her pecs, biceps, and muscles of her shoulder (rotator cuff) really well.
@Nicole – I’m working on finding a new OT and/or PT to focus on new exercises.
Check out this group. I trained with them years ago. If we were local to each other I would TOTALLY be doing yoga with Jordan. http://www.specialyoga.org/Home_Page.html
You might also contact any local yoga teachers who do kids’ classes and talk to them about having someone who will need modifications in the class. Could be GREAT for her if you find the right teacher.
@Rachel – I’ve been thinking it would be really cool to take a beginning yoga class with Jordan. I think yoga blocks could be helpful and give her a chance to do most things… We’ll see what kind of plan we can come up with.