While it is not a total solution, this technique significantly reduces the unpleasant side effects of wearing a suction socket and sweating into it. It may help with other types of sockets as well, but I've only got the one.
Take a thin adhesive panty liner -- yes, you read right, a panty liner; got it, men? -- the kind with "wings." Peel off all the paper to expose all the sticky parts, and then paste it into your above-knee suction socket horizontally, so that the lip of your socket (which might currently chafe upon your sweating thigh/buttock, cutting and blistering it until it bleeds -- kinda like what mine does to me) is covered by a thin cushion of absorbent material. Make sure one of the wings wraps outward around the lip to anchor it. Press every other bit of adhesive hard against the dry and clean inside of your socket so that the entire pad is unfolded and uncreased -- and really firmly stuck on. You may need to use more than one panty liner to cover longer expanses of socket lip.
The brand of panty liner I use is "Natracare Ultra with wings," which I buy at my store. (Natracare actually classifies it as a full-on pad, but it's so thin and light, not like a maxipad or something.) It is unbleached and made of 100% natural, biodegradable ingredients, and should prove nonallergenic for just about everyone. At the end of a six-hour shift, standing up, in the summer, after walking there in 90-degree weather, I do not have tablespoons of sweat pooling in the bottom of my socket. Meanwhile, the pad is so thin that it doesn't interfere with the socket's fit or suction. It provides extra cushioning and reduces (but does not eliminate) blister-causing friction between the plastic and my moist, sweating flesh while also absorbing much of the sweat before it can travel elsewhere, causing problems that include messiness and wet spots on clothing.
Check it out! Seriously, it works! I do not make this stuff up.
Desperation is the mother of creativity, or something like that.
I so wish this would work with a roll-on liner, but I don't think it would stay put. In the summertime I often have to pour the sweat out of my leg a few times/day. Whenever I mention this as a problem to my prosthetists they look at me as if I'm some kind of sweaty freak. But really, I could tolerate heat so much better if my leg didn't sweat so much (who knew that thighs have such overproductive sweat glands??)!
Posted by: pilgrimgirl | April 25, 2007 at 02:36 PM
Jana, I don't know why they look at you like a sweaty freak. This is a very, very common problem for amputees. For many including me, it can actually be kind of dangerous, because the amount of sweat we produce in our hot sockets can make our sockets slip around a lot.
I don't really know what roll-up liners are like, but I can guess how the lip might not hold a panty liner. However, check out my solution for socket farts, which are a really common problem for suction socket wearers specifically. Maybe just plastering parts of panty liners inside your liner the same way I do for this other issue will help, as long as you stick to thin ones that won't mess with your fit.
Please note: DO NOT use conventional brand name panty liners because the adhesive that these manufacturers use is some sticky-ass stuff that will not come off plastic with anything less aggressive than turpentine. You could ruin your liner if you don't stick with the natural brands, like (but not limited to) Natracare. Maybe if you can test one on some similar thing, like a toy plastic bucket from the drug store or something, you can find out what's going to leave behind what kind of mess.
I hope some form of this works for you. I feel your problem, totally.
Posted by: Sara | April 25, 2007 at 03:54 PM