Rachel finds her shinfinTM fins great for moving better in the water, and for exercising her residual limb to build strength ready for using a prosthetic. She likes wearing one fin on her below knee amputation stump and kicking holding a float in front of her. Kicking with just her residual limb ensures that it does all the work. Furthermore, she finds this technique also builds her core strength because her core strength stops her rotating in the water. When she tried kicking without her shinfinTM fin, she found she didn’t seem to move anywhere! Later, she also started using her shinfinTM fin for front crawl, enjoying going faster. She plans to experiment wearing two shinfinTM fins in the pool, and also to swim in the sea.
Rachel’s tibia is slightly protruding at the end of her stump. So she wears a modified diving sock to pad her stump, to stop it rubbing on the fin. Padding options include stump socks, neoprene knee supports and sleeves, wetsuits, and sleeves cut from wetsuit legs, arms and socks.
Rachel’s review from Oxford, UK
“I’ve been enjoying using the shinfinTM fin, which has enabled me to exercise my residual limb more and to move better in the water. So I wanted to find a way to exercise my residual limb, by increasing it’s resistance in the water, to maintain and build strength ready for using a prosthetic. Swimming with a float, leaving my healthy leg floating in the water, so my residual limb has to do all of the work. Initially, I tried doing this without a shinfinTM fin, but I didn’t seem to move anywhere!”
“You recommend wearing shinfinTM fins on both legs. I haven’t done this yet, because I specifically wanted to work my residual limb really hard. Also, I find when swimming with just one shinfinTM fin, that I am using my core strength to stop me rotating in the water, which is also very useful exercise!”
6 months later: “I’m getting on really well with the fin. I still only wear one and I mainly use it to exercise my residual limb, by swimming with a float and only using that leg. I’ve started doing a few lengths front crawl and I enjoy being able to go faster. I’m slowly increasing the number of lengths I do with the fin. It’s a great product and I’m really glad I found it.”