Programs & Services

At our Prosthetics Clinic, you will meet with three specialists in the same visit: our orthopedist, a certified prosthetist and a physical therapist. Together, we will evaluate your child’s health and well-being and perform a gait analysis to watch how your child walks and moves the body.

For children who already have prosthetic devices, we will look at how they use both their natural and artificial limbs. For example, is the child swinging the leg? Does the prosthesis still fit properly?

Depending on the condition of their limbs, some children may be good candidates for limb reconstruction surgery, rather than a prosthesis.

Our experts will assess your child’s needs and recommend a prosthesis that will help your child move well, function as independently as possible and participate in activities they enjoy. The solution may be an upper limb prosthesis, a lower limb prosthesis, a foot prosthesis or something else. Some children will need surgery to prepare their limbs for a new prosthesis, while others may not.

At Phoenix Children’s Prosthetics Clinic, we counsel families about all the options. As a result of our teamwork, our providers will collaborate in developing an individualized care plan that will address the future needs of your child.

Through our Prosthetics Clinic, your child has access to many types of prosthetic devices for the upper and lower extremities: artificial arms, hands and fingers, as well as artificial legs, feet and joints. Our orthopedist and physical therapist will work together with a certified prosthetist from the renowned Hanger Clinic to ensure your child has a prosthesis created specifically for your child’s unique needs. 

Passive Prosthetics

Some families choose a “passive” prosthesis to replace a missing finger, leg or foot. Passive prosthetics do not provide active joint movement, but they can be made to look like natural limbs. Your child also may use a passive prosthesis to improve balance or to help stabilize an object such as holding down a piece of paper when writing.

Active Prosthetics

Your family may choose an “active” prosthesis. Active prosthetics provide joint movement and allow children to move and function independently at home, school and play. Some children have activity-specific prosthetics that are designed to help them perform certain activities, such as:

• Walking
• Running
• Swimming
• Riding a bike
• Fishing
• Rock-climbing
• Playing piano or other musical instruments
• Playing sports (swinging a baseball bat or kicking a soccer ball, for example)

Older children may have different prosthetics that they switch out to perform different activities.

Advanced Prosthetic Technology Helps Your Child Move

Active prosthetics work in several different ways.

• Body-powered prosthetics use the child’s body to operate the device. For example, a harness system may hold the prosthesis onto the body and use the motion of the child’s shoulder and upper arm to operate the hook, hand or elbow joint.
• Myoelectric prosthetics use battery power or electricity generated in the muscles to operate devices that are attached to the body. (“Myoelectric” refers to the electrical signals in the body that stimulate the muscles to move.)
• Hybrid prosthetics use both body-powered and myoelectric techniques.

Our multidisciplinary care team will work with you and your child and will recommend a design that best fits your child’s specific needs.

When you visit the Prosthetics Clinic at Phoenix Children’s, you will find a child-friendly, family-oriented environment. Our child life specialists work to ease any fears or anxieties our young patients may have and make the experience as fun and stress free as possible. They explain what’s happening using words that are easy for children to understand. If needed, our child life specialists also provide play opportunities for the child, so that parents can talk freely with the orthopedist, prosthetist and physical therapist.

To offer you the very best care, we also provide these services:

• Thorough instructions about the use of your child’s new limb, how it operates and accessories you may need or want
• Education about how to care for your child’s prosthetic limb
• New prosthetics and modifications for growing children
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation services, as needed, to improve function
• Second opinion services – If your child has been elsewhere, we will evaluate your child and offer recommendations to help you make informed decisions.
• Information about limb reconstruction and limb-lengthening surgery, if recommended
• Care conferences with primary care doctors and other medical providers
• Virtual visits, as needed
• Psychological services – If needed, we offer counseling to help children and families adapt to life with a prosthetic limb. 
• Family-to-family conversations – We will put you in touch with another family whose child has a similar condition so you can learn about their experience with artificial limbs. 
• Specialty camps – We will give you the names of programs where children and families can meet others with limb differences and learn to develop a healthy, happy, independent lifestyle.
• Parent support groups – If you like, we will refer you to parent organizations that support families and offer education about how to successfully handle any special needs a child may have at home, at school or in the community.

A Note About Insurance and Grant-Writing Services for Prosthetics

Insurance does not cover all types of prosthetics, particularly activity-specific prostheses. However, Phoenix Children’s Prosthetics Clinic can provide your insurance company with documentation from our experts about your child’s unique needs. In some cases, we can work with organizations to help families find grants to cover activity-specific prosthetic devices, such as prosthetics to play sports or musical instruments.