The socket doc is in
Here is the result of my own socket adjustment; this is the part that fits inside the carbon fiber shell. I removed some of the blue material over the tibial tuberosity (tt) that is meant to cushion the areas that receive more loading. Using my old Dremel Moto-Tool I took down some of the plastic as well.
The area of indentation between the tt and the top of the socket is what is causing the friction and pressure that is leading to swelling. My leg changes shape but the socket is static and does not, causing the difficult fit problem. There are some new socket designs that may help in the future, especially for more active prosthetic users. Here is a link to a PDF from Biodesigns.
I will try my adjusted socket out in an hour or two, but it will take some time to see if it helps since I already have swelling. Tomorrow's long run should be doable, but any skin breaches have to be avoided. Larry and I will look at changes on Monday, and hopefully this issue will be behind me in a few days.
No one said this would be easy. The running part that is.
Hope you get a long-term fix for this as the marathon training steps up now. Sure you'll break past it and kick on harder now. All the best.
ReplyDeleteIan, I've decided to take a couple of days off to let the swelling go down and calm the irritation. I've built in some extra time into my plan to mitigate these "gotchas." Might need some more tinkering but within a week or so we should have it worked out. Hope to do some hilly workouts this weekend, something I could not do on the old foot.
ReplyDeleteMy hats off to you. The TT issues are probably one of the more painful things. I would have thought you would be over these things by now! Be careful, otherwise you'll have to take up....swimming!
ReplyDeleteHey Earl,
ReplyDeleteI think this one had been flying under the radar a bit but we have missile lock on it now. I had previous issues at the patella bar where the skin was rubbed raw so I'm glad to have avoided that.
Man the humidity is so thick here it is like swimming sometimes, can't get any more soaked that's for sure.