Few injuries horrify people the way that amputations do. The idea of suddenly losing a body part makes most people feel incredibly frightened and uneasy.
Modern medicine has advanced to a point where injuries that may once have resulted in amputations no longer do. Those who do lose a body part have access to better care and prosthetic devices after the procedure.
The treatments and prognosis for someone after an amputation will largely depend on why the amputation occurred. Generally, amputations happen in one of two ways.
Traumatic amputations
When people think about limb loss, it is almost always a traumatic amputation that they imagine. They picture someone losing a hand to a machine pressed in a factory or a leg after a serious car crash.
Traumatic amputations occur when an injury severs a body part. These extreme injuries can be fatal if someone doesn’t receive quick care for both the trauma and the blood loss they suffered.
Surgical amputations
Surgical amputations involve the removal of a limb or extremity during a medical procedure. Surgical amputations fall into two distinct categories.
One has to do with non-traumatic medical necessity. Diabetics often require amputation of toes and even feet as their condition progresses, for example. The other kind of surgical amputation occurs when doctors hope to save a damaged or partially-severed body part and later realize that it is not possible to do so.
Regardless of how an amputation occurs, it could mean years of recovery and thousands of dollars in both lost wages and medical bills. Those adjusting to life after an amputation may require financial support through an insurance or personal injury claim to help them adjust to the changes in their lives.