"Limb loss can occur due to trauma, infection, diabetes, vascular disease, cancer and other diseases. Lower limb amputation is relatively common and has a profound impact on a person's life, regardless of the cause. Feelings of loss and grief, difficulties in learning to walk with an artificial limb, and readjustment to an interrupted life all pose considerable challenges. Nevertheless, there are countless stories of people who have successfully overcome these problems. This book provides the practical knowledge needed to cope with the life changes caused by lower limb amputation. It demystifies the medical process and technical jargon by using plain, easily understandable language. And it is the first book to combine medical, prosthetic, and psychosocial factors in one convenient volume, including: • Causes of lower limb amputation, especially diabetes, and ways to prevent further amputation • Surgical techniques for lower limb amputation • Learning to walk with a prosthesis • The unique challenges faced by children and elderly people living with an amputation • Exercising and sports with a lower limb prosthesis • And much more! The outlook of this book is ultimately an optimistic one. Well—informed, knowledgeable individuals with amputations are better able to take care of themselves and are more effective self—advocates. This book gives them the tools they need to forge a productive, satisfying, and high—quality life."