Preparing to walk with a prosthesis may seem complex and sometimes perplexing; however, the underlying factors that determine a person’s readiness to receive a prosthesis are relatively straightforward. A person must be healthy, with a minimum level of physical fitness, and have a well-healed residual limb, or stump. As simplistic as this may seem, in many cases, amputating a limb was a lifesaving measure because of disease, tumor or a severe traumatic accident. As a result, it is common that complications associated with the amputation affect overall health, physical fitness and healing of the residual limb.

© Amputee Coalition. Local reproduction for use by Amputee Coalition constituents is permitted as long as this copyright information is included. Organizations or individuals wishing to reprint this article in other publications, including other World Wide Web sites must contact the Amputee Coalition for permission to do so.