Body Power: Pushing the Functional Envelope

Power has a variety of meanings. It refers to the ability to have influence, authority, or control over people, circumstances, or events; the ability to act or to do something; a force or energy that can be applied to work; and physical or mental strength. When an accident results in upper-limb loss, all of these definitions may come into play, leaving a person feeling powerless and out of control. Upper-limb loss can deprive individuals of much of their ability to participate in areas around which so much of life revolves-family, work, recreation. Even everyday activities such as eating, combing hair, and dressing can become difficult or even impossible. Regardless of the cause, learning to be functionally independent with upper-limb loss is a challenge for the patient and his or her healthcare team. For the prosthetist, restoring quality of life through improving function involves creating a prosthesis with the largest functional envelope possible within the parameters of the amputee’s circumstances.