Upper extremity amputation preparation is about more than just receiving a prosthetic—it’s about understanding your options, setting realistic expectations, and knowing what lies ahead. At MCOP, our expert prosthetists guide you through each step with clarity, compassion, and the most advanced prosthetic technologies available. Below, we outline the stages of your preparation and care, ensuring you feel confident from your first consultation through final fitting and follow-up.
This initial meeting is a critical part of your upper extremity amputation preparation. We take time to learn about your lifestyle, daily activities, work responsibilities, and goals. This helps us determine the best prosthetic approach tailored to your life.
You’ll also receive information about what it’s like to live with an upper limb prosthesis and the types of prosthetic devices that may suit your needs. We’ll cover available technologies, pros and cons of different systems, and match them to your personal goals.
Once your surgery is complete, we’ll schedule your first clinical assessment. Here, we evaluate your residual limb, review your prosthetic goals, and begin working through your insurance options to determine the best path forward.
Prosthetic services can often begin within two weeks of surgery. Depending on your healing, an immediate or early post-operative prosthesis might be suitable. Ideally, fitting begins within 30 days to ease your adaptation to the device.
Once we’ve agreed on a direction, we’ll help navigate the pathways to obtain insurance coverage for your device. If you have a work-related injury, we will work with your workmen’s compensation case manager to obtain the best device for your needs. We may determine that multiple devices are required to allow full function based on your goals. Whether you have private or government insurance, VA, Tricare, or Medicare/Medicaid, most insurance companies offer multiple options for upper extremity prosthetics.
Following this decision, our prosthetic insurance experts will work to obtain pre-authorization from your insurance regarding the products that are best suited for your lifestyle. We will also check your benefits to make sure that there are no exclusions in your insurance policy.
Once the pre-authorization has been obtained, we’ll order components and have you in for an impression. For a partial hand restoration, we use silicone. For higher level amputations, we opt for a plaster impression. At MCOP, we prefer plaster and physical molds over digital/3D imaging because it allows us to feel and plan for the prosthetic need – sometimes there are differing densities, bony prominences, neuromas, and more, and we find that plaster allows us to create the most comfortable, best fitting socket to meet your needs.
We then create a test or “check” socket for you try to test comfort and range of motion. For myoelectric prostheses, we’ll also evaluate the EMG (electro myograph) sites at this stage to test the strength and intensity of the signal. We’ll also create a diagnostic setup of the final prosthesis to determine length, alignment, and more. This is important because once the socket is weighted with the device, you may notice a change of fit.
With your custom laminated carbon fiber prosthesis ready, we fine-tune the device for functionality. Initial prosthetic training is provided, and we coordinate with your occupational therapist for long-term success and rehabilitation.
Your journey doesn’t end at fitting. We schedule a follow-up 1–2 weeks post-fitting to monitor limb changes and comfort. Ongoing appointments every 3–6 months help maintain your prosthesis and adjust as your needs evolve.
It’s never too soon to start preparing for an upper limb amputation, even if that means just talking to one of our licensed prosthetists.