Secondary Injury Prevention and Farming with a Leg
Amputation
During 2006-2007, the National AgrAbility Project Staff conducted a focus group
and interviewed five farmers who experienced a leg amputation. Farming with a
leg amputation, other limitations, or disability can be more physically and mental
demanding and can lead to additional injuries. Often these additional injuries,
which we call “secondary injuries” are related to the limitation and/or occur when
performing work tasks that exceed his/her limitations or failure of a prosthetic
device that does not adequately accommodate the farmer/rancher.
A secondary injury might be as simple as a cut, or as severe as a bone fracture
requiring medical attention and time off work. Farming with a leg amputation can
also lead to added back or joint pain resulting from overcompensating or by
repetitive overuse of your “good leg,” both of which could also be a secondary
injury.
The following are Issues that these five farmers with leg amputations discussed
during the focus group/interviews. Some of this is reported in their own words,
so please keep that in mind when reading.
These five farmers who had leg amputations, reported a variety of
secondary injuries that had occurred while performing farm tasks.
The most common issues reported by these farmers included:

Getting the prosthetic device caught onto something;

Back pain;

Repetitive stress injury or overuse injury of the opposite limb;

Injuries or sores to the stump;

The prosthetic device breaking;

Phantom pain, and;

Slips and falls;
The following is a list of comments or suggestions made by the five
farmers who had leg amputations, which may help others better
understand their day-to-day issues and/or help in preventing
secondary injuries.
.

Most everyone here has experienced back pain, and would agree that is
the single most common issue when you have a leg amputation. When
walking around the farm or ranching, you run into all kinds of surfaces,
and that is hard. Very few (less expensive) prosthetic devices now
available can accommodate uneven surfaces, hills or slopes. Some of us
use an old lawn tractor, or utility vehicle just to get around. This not only
saves us from some back pain, but also reduces the chances of other
issues caused by slips and falls on uneven surfaces.

I use a cane, and have found that alternative cane tips, such as the Sure
Foot Cane and the Able Pod cane tip can help provide more stability when
walking on uneven surfaces. These cane tips can handle changes with
even surfaces and help my stability.

I have learned that when dismounting from the tractor, truck, or utility
vehicle, I need to remember to do so in well lit area. Others here have
said they too have fallen when getting off of the vehicle during nighttime
hours. The problem is you can’t see what you are stepping on, nor can
you feel what they were stepping on with our prosthetic leg. I bought a
small inexpensive flash light and attached it to my cane to help me in the
darkness.

It is easy to get your prosthetic entangled. Walking on uneven surfaces,
walking in the tall grass or weeds, walking in the barnyard across the
manure areas, all can cause the prosthetic to get caught if you are not
paying attention. The problem with my prosthetic foot, the front of the foot
cannot sense or dropped forward to release, so when it catches on things
like weeds, I may end up tripping or fall.

I find that walking up the hillside or down a hillside with an above knee
prosthetic device can be very difficult, and was looking for assistance or
ideas.

I’ve learned to save my energy as much as I can, to prevent overuse
injuries to my good leg. Therefore I have installed automatic gate openers
and automatic hitching devices to lessen my need to get on and off my
tractor. I also look for other ways to reduce the amount of walking
required around the farm.

I try to carry some kind of communication device with me when ever I walk
around the farm. That way if I have a problem with my prosthetic, I can call
and ask for help. I use a cell phone, but others here have told me that
they don’t have good coverage on their farms and still use a two-way FM
radio. Either way, I also bought a second battery, so I always have one
charged and ready to go.

I have discovered with my above knee amputation, that having extra parts
for the knee unit is essential to keep me farming. Guess that’s not like any
other piece of farm equipment. I also repaired my socket once with
guerrilla tape!

You have to take time to take care of your stump. Farming where I do,
extreme temperature swings can lead to injuries of the stump. Excessive
perspiration during the summer months causes my stump to slide inside
the socket, resulting in sores on my stump. Likewise, during the cold
winter months, I need external insulation around the outside of the socket
to help keep my stump warm. Sitting in the tractor for long periods of time
during the summer has also resulted in blisters to my stump. As much as
I don’t like it, taking a break seems to help.

Something we all need to think about when you have a leg amputation is
to “slow down and take time to think things through. Reacting too fast,
like you still have “two legs”, usually results in a fall!