There are numerous kinds of amputations. There are traumatic amputations that occur because of an incident, like a machinery malfunction or a car crash. A person could lose a hand or a leg during a collision or while working. These traumatic amputations can result in dangerous amounts of blood loss and nerve damage.
Other people will go through a surgical amputation. They suffer such catastrophic damage to a part of their body that the only way to recover is to remove that body part. A crushing injury to a limb or a gangrenous infection may necessitate surgical amputation.
There are costs associated with the amputation procedure and the aftercare. Many people will need physical therapy. Prosthetic devices are also powerful tools to help people recover after an amputation, but they are not a one-time expense the way that surgery is.
You will need to constantly reinvest in prosthetic devices
What you pay for a prosthetic will depend on numerous factors. The insurance coverage available to you, your baseline health and the body part affected will all influence how much it will cost for a prosthetic device.
Often, for a leg capable of helping people walk up stairs, people can expect a price tag of approximately $10,000. Of course, a single prosthetic may be much cheaper than that or many times more expensive. Regardless of whether someone buys the top-of-the-line option available or crowdsources a 3D-printed prosthetic, the average prosthetic will only be useful for between three and five years.
Most people will need to routinely maintain and upgrade a prosthesis while using it. They will also need to replace it two or more times every decade until they die. In other words, although prosthetic devices can help people regain function that they would otherwise lose due to an amputation, there is a big and ongoing price tag for those benefits.
Why realistic expectations matter after severe injuries
If you look online and discover that you could get a prosthetic leg for $10,000, you might agree to an insurance settlement that will only cover the first prosthesis you ever need and not the multiple replacements you will eventually require.