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O&P Library > Orthotics and Prosthetics > 1954, Vol 8, Num 2 > pp. 29 - 29

Orthotics and ProstheticsThis journal was digitally reproduced with permission from the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA).

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Stump and Socket (II)

Gabriel Rosenkranz, M.D. *
  1. There are only two prostheses in the world: The comfortable and the one in the closet.
  2. A knowledge of muscles is the beginning and the end in prosthetics (after Sir Arnold Keith).
  3. There is no correct alignment that by-passes the mind.
  4. The happily aligned leg will tell you so: "I ain't kicking."
  5. Fitter (staring at the unyielding roll of flesh protruding over the medial rim of the socket):

    "O! that this too too solid flesh
    would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a
    dew"

    (Shakespeare, Hamlet I. 2)

  6. When stump edema calls for relief:

    "Never put off until tomorrow, What should have been done Early in the Seventies"

    (George Ade, the Third and Last Call)

  7. The 3-D prosthesis of the inexperienced spells: DISCOMFORT, DISAPPOINTMENT, DISCARD.
  8. Knee.

    "The human knee is a joint and not an entertainment."

    (Percy Hammond, quoted by Mark Sullivan in Our Times, III).

  9. Mechanical joints: Position is everything in life.
  10. A healthy individual has a pair of legs, an amputee has two legs.
  11. I recall a case of persistent stump edema in which a sudden crack in the wall of the constricting socket changed the whole picture immediately for the better. A "wise-crack" if there ever was one.
  12. Amputee, calling up the man who sold him the "ultra-magic" prosthesis: "I am desperate. Please, tell me once more something good about the prosthesis."
  13. Prof. Einstein's formula E=MC2 has its application in prosthetics, too: The excellence (E) of a prosthesis is determined by the multitude (M) of its wearers and more so by the comfort (C2) it affords.
  14. Criticus: "Now what in the world good can this new device ever be that calls for so much watchfulness, understanding and devotion?"
    Foresight: "Well, my friend, of what use is a newborn baby?"
  15. A good prosthesis is a thing of joy and glory, and the less conspicuous its presence, the more sparkling its beauty.

* See also "Stump and Socket; a New Fifteen Points" in the Sept. 1953 issue of this Journal.


O&P Library > Orthotics and Prosthetics > 1954, Vol 8, Num 2 > pp. 29 - 29

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