Bending the Silverware

[Duncan Love]

Hi all
Karen Robb wrote
This is also a more general rule: don't be afraid
to alter reality a little to make things easier
for you.. In life as in restaurant eating, don't
hesitate to bend the silverware!

I am a rbk with a flexfoot variflex II who likes to get out bush camping and climbing. I don't have to much problem with the up hill, but walking down hill really smacks the tibia head into the front of the socket. If the incline is only slight placing the prosthetic on the ground with a slighty bent knee reduces this but as the incline gets steeper one has to put the heel down first and the have the foot(and therefore knee) snap forward down the hill. Quite wearying after a while. Well I discovered recently that if I try to put my prosthetic down so there is a rock or tree root or lump under the toe it mimics the effect of an ankle. I can't adjust my foot to the terrain so I use the terrain to adjust my foot. I do the same on scree or tallus fields by ensuring that the heel is on one rock and the toe is on another adjacent one. The increase in stability is enormous, as are the energy savings. In short I can walk further, faster and in more comfort. My way of  Bending the Silverware so to speak.
Duncan
Adelaide 
South Australia

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