The innovation offered by ExpHand prosthetics is certainly one of the things that separates what we do here from the products and ideas that many of today’s other prosthetic makers provide. That innovation is of course seen as a big plus point by our team, and it’s one of the reasons why the ExpHand continues to win awards and garner lots of coverage in the media too – but it’s not the only reason why the ExpHand is amongst the very best prosthetics for children today. In this article, the ExpHand team will take a look at some of those other plus points, the other ‘big little things’ that make ExpHand’s prosthetics for children the right choice for children and young people with limb differences. Let’s take a look…
ExpHand prosthetics offer both mental and physical health benefits
A prosthetic is much more than just a useful medical device that can 'stand in' for a lost or differently-functional limb. They can make a remarkable impact on the lives of limb-different children, offering a range of benefits that enable them to live a full life. They provide support, stability, and mobility, and can be crucial for a child's physical and emotional development.
With the right prosthetic, limb-different children can also participate in activities that they might not be able to otherwise. These activities could be a sport of some kind, other forms of recreation like trips out with friends, anything really - even something more practical like making a drink for themselves without needing help from someone. By itself the feeling of independence that this can bring really can mean a lot, but it also boosts their confidence and self-esteem let's not forget, So, by taking all of these various benefits into account, it's not hard to see how the right prosthetic can really improve a limb-different person's overall quality of life too.
ExpHand prosthetics grow alongside your child
Today’s prosthetics are more advanced than they’ve ever been, as this piece on the history of prosthetics shows. However, there is one problem that remains to be solved - in the vast majority of cases prosthetics for children are still a fixed shape and size, they cannot grow as a child’s biological arm would. This means that limb-different children need to have their prosthetics replaced at regular intervals, get used to how they fit, how they work, and essentially learn to use their arm again each time this happens.
At the same time, Mum and Dad have the worry of finding the money to pay for these new prosthetics when they are needed. It's no small financial investment, and while here in the UK we have services like the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care who can support with what is essentially government funding, we're equally aware that limb-different children and their families in other countries may well have to bear the cost in full out of their own pocket.
However, Exphand’s prosthetics for children are different. Our prosthetics include the capacity for length adjustment and width adjustment, and so they can grow alongside a limb-different child. This capacity for growth brings with it a number of advantages too – the child can get used to their ExpHand’s fit and the feel and mechanics of using it, and stay with what they know for a lot longer (the service life of an ExpHand is measured in years rather than months). At the same time, their family have the peace of mind of knowing that they won’t have to pay all over again for a replacement in a relatively short space of time.
Exphand's prosthetics for children are sustainable
Unlike other prosthetics for children, the ExpHand is 3D-printed using Polylactic Acid, (or 'PLA'). This means that each ExpHand we make is 100% recyclable – once an ExpHand is no longer needed it can essentially be melted down and the PLA re-used to 3D-print another item, whether that’s more prosthetics for children or something else entirely. In addition, PLA itself is much more environmentally friendly than other materials with similar properties, such as plastics made from fossil fuels.
ExpHand's prosthetics for children are customisable
An extra advantage of using PLA to create our prosthetics for children, is the freedom that it offers when it comes to customisation. From a more practical stance, four different hand sizes are available and can be switched out to match the wearer’s biological hand as it grows.
However, we think the part that the children will be more interested in is the range of colours – ExpHands are available in red, blue, pink and purple as standard, and other tones are available, allowing the wearer to pick something that they like. It’s also possible to mix and match colours between the hand and the arm, and all of these things mean that no two ExpHands ever need end up the same. Each one really can become an extension of the wearer’s personality, which only adds to the confidence boost and mental health benefits that the right prosthetic can bring.
Learn more about ExpHand
If you’re ready for more information about our prosthetics for children, our business and our founder Kate Allan, or about life with a limb difference, the ExpHand website is the right place to be. Any time you want to reach out to our team you can do so using this link to our contact us page, or through social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, At the same time the ExpHand blog is also a valuable resource, providing the latest news from the prosthetics and limb difference communities, but we hope you'll also enjoy the inspirational stories of a number of famous and inspirational limb different figures that we've published there too.
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