News

How to Prevent Cracked Heels
How to Prevent Cracked Heels
  Cracked heels might seem like a small problem, but they can be painful. Those tiny cracks can also make room for a bacterial infection. To stay active, mobile, and... Read more...
6 Secret Skincare Tips for Individuals with Limb Loss
6 Secret Skincare Tips for Individuals with Limb Loss
  Skin care ranks high on the list of things individuals with limb loss need to stay active and mobile. As Greg Mannino, a prosthetist and 22x Paralympic champion, says,... Read more...
Peloton Riders — How to Stop Painful Chafing and Saddle Sores
Peloton Riders — How to Stop Painful Chafing and Saddle Sores
  The Peloton is the ultimate way to get a class cycling experience from the convenience and comfort of your home. As more people have turned to home cycling workouts,... Read more...
Hikers: How to Prevent Chafing, Itching, and (Foot) Odor on the Trail
Hikers: How to Prevent Chafing, Itching, and (Foot) Odor on the Trail
  The mountains call, and you must go. However, a serious case of chafing could make you rethink your decision pretty quickly. Chafing comes from the skin either rubbing against... Read more...
Ingenuity in Prosthetics: New Technology for Better Mobility and Function
Ingenuity in Prosthetics: New Technology for Better Mobility and Function
  An estimated 1.6 to 2 million amputees live in the United States, and each year another 185,000 people join those numbers. Only one in ten of those amputees use prostheses.... Read more...
More Than Skin Deep - Featured Article on our Creator, Dr. Paul Dean.
More Than Skin Deep - Featured Article on our Creator, Dr. Paul Dean.
More Than Skin Deep By Adama Dyoniziak INGREDIENTS:ONE WORLD TRAVELER. International health interest, CDC epidemiology experience, Master’s degree in public health. Mix all ingredients vigorously, and liberally add vibrant watercolors.... Read more...
10 Ways to Live Well With Diabetes
10 Ways to Live Well With Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic illness, but it doesn’t need to get in the way of living life to the fullest. However, individuals with diabetes have to be more careful about... Read more...
5 Tips to Manage Stress and Worry Less
5 Tips to Manage Stress and Worry Less
Stress and worry are a natural part of life. Your body’s response to stress can keep you safe in dangerous situations or act as motivation when you’re under pressure. However,... Read more...
How to Deal with Phantom Pain
How to Deal with Phantom Pain
Phantom pain is real and a fairly common side effect of limb loss. It can range from annoying to debilitating on the pain scale. However, there are many treatment options... Read more...
Diabetic Athletes: How to Take Care of Your Skin While Training and Competing
Diabetic Athletes: How to Take Care of Your Skin While Training and Competing
  Individuals with diabetes frequently participate in athletics, from youth sports to Olympic-level competitions. Diabetes complicates any type of athletic injury, including small wounds to the skin. Chafing, scrapes, and... Read more...
How to Prevent Calluses When You Have Diabetes
How to Prevent Calluses When You Have Diabetes
  In general, calluses aren’t a serious medical problem. However, the unique effects of diabetes on the nervous, circulatory, and immune systems make calluses a potentially serious health issue for... Read more...
6 At-Home Upper Body Exercises for Individuals With Limb Loss
6 At-Home Upper Body Exercises for Individuals With Limb Loss
  Limb loss comes with changes in body mechanics and strength that, if not addressed, can lead to mobility issues down the road. Whether your limb loss is in the... Read more...
What’s Your K-Level and Why Does It Matter?
What’s Your K-Level and Why Does It Matter?
  Limb loss comes with a vocabulary all its own. A term that gets tossed around—K-level—affects your medical coverage and access to different kinds of prostheses. However, K-level parameters aren’t... Read more...
The Do’s, Don'ts, and Powerful Benefits of Residual Skin Care
The Do’s, Don'ts, and Powerful Benefits of Residual Skin Care
  Mobility and independence are two of the most powerful and prevalent goals of individuals with limb loss. Caring for the skin on your residual is a necessary and important... Read more...
How to Reduce Painful Chafing Around Your Residual and Prosthesis
How to Reduce Painful Chafing Around Your Residual and Prosthesis
  For people with amputations, the combination of a prosthesis with heat and perspiration equals chafing. Whether it’s a change in the weather or an increase in daily activity, painful... Read more...
Simple but Important Differences Between T1 and T2 Diabetes (Do They Affect Your Skin?)
Simple but Important Differences Between T1 and T2 Diabetes (Do They Affect Your Skin?)
  When you have diabetes, it affects the body’s major systems and organs, including the skin. However, the two types of diabetes, type 1 (T1) and type 2 (T2), are... Read more...
Why Do I Chafe So Easily? (and How to Prevent Chafing with Skin Care)
Why Do I Chafe So Easily? (and How to Prevent Chafing with Skin Care)
  Chafing is not a pleasant experience, and it can catch you off guard. Weather conditions, clothing, and hydration are only a few of the conditions that affect your skin... Read more...
How to Identify and Prevent Diabetic Skin Fungal Infections
How to Identify and Prevent Diabetic Skin Fungal Infections
  High glucose levels (hyperglycemia) put diabetics at higher risk for fungal infections. For diabetics, these infections are more than uncomfortable. Diabetes also compromises circulation and the immune system, making it... Read more...
7 Heat-Related Skin Problems for Amputees (and How to Solve Them)
7 Heat-Related Skin Problems for Amputees (and How to Solve Them)
  When the heat starts building, things can get uncomfortable. For people with limb loss, skin discomfort can get in the way of wearing a prosthesis and eventually interfere with... Read more...
How Perspiration Affects the Fit of Your Socket (and What to Do About It)
How Perspiration Affects the Fit of Your Socket (and What to Do About It)
  A little (or a lot of) extra perspiration is very common after limb loss. Loss of cooling surface area, heat trapped in the socket and liner, and the extra... Read more...
Limb Loss and Sports: How to Get Active and Find the Right Prosthesis
Limb Loss and Sports: How to Get Active and Find the Right Prosthesis
  For individuals with limb loss, activity maintains mobility and, ultimately, independence. That doesn’t mean you have to run marathons or run at all. Staying active can be as simple... Read more...
6 Stress Management Tips for Better Skin and Blood Sugar
6 Stress Management Tips for Better Skin and Blood Sugar
  Stress isn’t fun, but it's not all bad. This physiological response releases hormones that change how the body functions. It keeps you alive in survival situations and motivates you... Read more...
How to Get More Out of Your Moisturizer
How to Get More Out of Your Moisturizer
  Your skin can get dry for any number of reasons—dry climate, frequent bathing in hot water, harsh soaps, aging, and various medication conditions (including diabetes and limb loss). Dry... Read more...
Diabetes and Limb Loss: How to Care for the Skin on Your Residual
Diabetes and Limb Loss: How to Care for the Skin on Your Residual
  In previous posts,  we’ve discussed ways to prevent limb loss due to diabetic complications. Diabetes is responsible for over 60 percent of all non-traumatic lower-limb amputations, according to the Diabetes Council. Twenty-five percent of all... Read more...
Diabetes and Limb Loss: How Skin Care Helps Prevent Limb Loss (Part 1)
Diabetes and Limb Loss: How Skin Care Helps Prevent Limb Loss (Part 1)
  For individuals with diabetes, skin and foot care are an integral part of monitoring the body for health complications. Of those with diabetes, 25 percent will develop a foot ulceration,... Read more...
How to Prevent Itchy Athlete’s Foot When You Have Diabetes
How to Prevent Itchy Athlete’s Foot When You Have Diabetes
  Diabetes causes a wide range of changes in how the body functions, including cardiovascular issues that affect the skin and feet. Those changes make you more susceptible to the... Read more...
5 Exercises for Better Core Strength as an Amputee (and Why You Need It)
5 Exercises for Better Core Strength as an Amputee (and Why You Need It)
  Amputation takes away the body’s natural symmetry. Prostheses help, but retraining the muscles and developing the strength for the new movement patterns that come with limb loss take time.... Read more...
How to Increase Mobility with Gait Training
How to Increase Mobility with Gait Training
  The loss of a limb changes how your body moves. Gait training is an integral part of gaining and maintaining mobility through muscle strength, balance, and correct movement patterns.... Read more...
O&P Almanac - Members Spotlight
O&P Almanac - Members Spotlight
  Skin Care Solutions  California company offers products for individuals with amputation, diabetes, and other conditions    AFTER GRADUATING FROM MEDICAL school, earning an advanced degree in public health, and becoming... Read more...
Early Diabetes Warning Signs on the Skin
Early Diabetes Warning Signs on the Skin
  5 Foot Care Tips for Active Diabetics The skin acts as your body’s protective layer. Yet, it can also be a warning beacon of processes happening (or not happening)... Read more...
5 Tips for Summertime Amputee Skin Care
5 Tips for Summertime Amputee Skin Care
  Seasonal changes — spring to summer and summer to fall — present unique challenges for amputee skin care. Skin care plays a pivotal role as you maintain independence and... Read more...
Do You Dare To Bare?
Do You Dare To Bare?
  First published in CosiTalks by Cosi Belloso There are many questions I receive from patients in their first visits for physical therapy.  Questions such as “Will I ever walk again?” or “How... Read more...
Advances in Socket Technology: A Better Fit for Amputees
Advances in Socket Technology: A Better Fit for Amputees
  A prosthesis’ socket directly interfaces with an amputees’ residual, making fit one of the most vital components of its comfort and functionality. Socket design and technology are changing with... Read more...
Prostheses Abandonment: Time to Pay Attention to Skin Care
Prostheses Abandonment: Time to Pay Attention to Skin Care
  A large percentage, up to 46% in some cases, of amputees experience prosthesis discomfort due to skin irritation. Considering that each amputation is unique with one-of-a-kind fit needs, it’s understandable... Read more...
Diabetes and Skin - What to Look For and How to Care For It.
Diabetes and Skin - What to Look For and How to Care For It.
  The effects of diabetes reach far and wide, including one of the most visible organs—your skin. Your skin can often be the first indicator that diabetes is on the... Read more...
How to Use Strength and Posture to Reduce Amputee Lower Back Pain
How to Use Strength and Posture to Reduce Amputee Lower Back Pain
  Amputations affect how you move and use your muscles. Consequently, between 52 to 89 percent of lower limb amputees and 52 percent of upper limb amputees experience lower back pain. That pain interferes... Read more...
Why Do Amputees Sweat More? (And How to Reduce and Control It)
Why Do Amputees Sweat More? (And How to Reduce and Control It)
  The amputation of a limb brings monumental changes, but there’s one that catches some amputees by surprise—excess perspiration (aka, too much sweat). Amputees often report that they perspire more... Read more...
How to Care for Delicate Residual Skin as You Age
How to Care for Delicate Residual Skin as You Age
  Amputation puts forces on your residual’s skin that it was never meant to withstand. A dedicated skincare routine is an integral part of preventing the potential irritation and infection... Read more...
3 Fitness Areas (and Exercises) to Get Amputees Back in Shape for Summer
3 Fitness Areas (and Exercises) to Get Amputees Back in Shape for Summer
  Cold winter weather can chase even the most active amputee indoors. If you manage to stay active, an injury or illness can sideline you for weeks or months at... Read more...
How to Clean (and Maintain) Your Prosthesis Liner
How to Clean (and Maintain) Your Prosthesis Liner
  The environment inside your prosthesis liner can either help or hinder your comfort and mobility. A prosthesis liner stays in close contact with the skin for hours. During that... Read more...
How to Stop (and Treat) Chafing When You Run
How to Stop (and Treat) Chafing When You Run
  Running and chafing go together, unfortunately. The heat, sweat, and friction of physical exertion combined with the repetitive motion of running put delicate skin to the test. Chafing can... Read more...
Introducing VitalFitSR
Introducing VitalFitSR
  VitalFitSR, The First Preventative Skin Care System for Individuals with Limb Loss and At-Risk Skin, Launches Dermatologist-developed skin care system addresses the needs and challenges of individuals wearing prosthetics,... Read more...
6 Tips for Healthier Diabetic Skin From the Inside Out
6 Tips for Healthier Diabetic Skin From the Inside Out
  Diabetes can cause blood vessels to shrink, resulting in poor circulation and blood flow, leading to everything from dry skin to more serious problems like nerve damage. The skin is also... Read more...
How to Make Stretching Part of Your Day (And Why You Need It!)
How to Make Stretching Part of Your Day (And Why You Need It!)
  Remember stretching for the first few minutes of PE class? It might have seemed unnecessary then, but try to think of stretching as a valuable tool you can pull... Read more...
How to Build an At-Home Exercise Routine to Maintain the Fit (and comfort) of Your Prosthesis
How to Build an At-Home Exercise Routine to Maintain the Fit (and comfort) of Your Prosthesis
  Your activity level may go down for reasons out of your control like seasonal weather changes, illness, or mandated stay-at-home restrictions. Prolonged inactivity can alter the fit of your... Read more...
How to Relieve Itchy Diabetic Skin
How to Relieve Itchy Diabetic Skin
  The high blood glucose levels associated with difficult to control or uncontrolled diabetes affect the cardiovascular system. Your skin gets all of its nutrients through the blood, so cardiovascular... Read more...
5 Footcare Tips for Active Diabetics
5 Footcare Tips for Active Diabetics
  Walking, biking, hiking, swimming—regular exercise is an important part of diabetes management. The type of activity doesn’t necessarily matter as long as you do it regularly. To keep up... Read more...
Amputee Skin Care 101: How to Care for Residual Skin and Stop Skin Problems Before They Start
Amputee Skin Care 101: How to Care for Residual Skin and Stop Skin Problems Before They Start
  Skin care plays an integral role in an amputee’s independence and mobility. Whether on the lower or upper extremities, the residual’s skin has to maintain its integrity for the... Read more...