Amputee Life — Sweat Control

How do you stay cool when you're wearing a prosthesis?  In most situations, sweat is unable to evaporate from the skin and instead begins to pool inside your prosthetic socket. The good news is that there are strategies that you can do to reduce the amount of sweat.

Internal and external changes, like intense physical activity, hot weather, certain medications, and fever, affect the human body's temperature. The average body temperature is around 98.6 °F (37 °C), but it's common to have a higher body temperature on a sweltering day or after intense physical activity. 

Athletes and fitness enthusiasts swear by sweat-wicking fabrics to keep them dry and odor-free. Prosthetic users also rely on the same material—made of high-tech polyester—to keep themselves comfortable while wearing a prosthesis for hours.

Experts at the Advanced Platform Technology Center at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center are working together with their colleagues at the University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University to develop a new socket material that can better absorb and channel the sweat that tends to build up inside your prosthesis. Should this development become available to everyone, it would significantly improve daily life for many prosthesis users.