In the UK, reconstructive prostheses are usually created by specialist licensed professionals working within the medical fraternity. If you require such devices your first point of call should be your GP or appointed medical team. However, there are occasions on which we have been asked to assist with the creation of lifecasts to act as reconstruction or construction aids for a variety of interesting and beneficial purposes.
One example was the creation of a lifecast 'former' of a client's feet to help his bespoke shoemaker design a pair of perfectly fitting shoes. Our client, who had contracted Polio as a child and also suffered severe burns in a fire, had never owned a pair of comfortable, well-fitting shoes. We were able to create a pair of exact copies of his feet in a hard material for him to take to a specialist shoe maker to create his very first pair of comfortable shoes. What an incredible honour!
Another client was facing a double-mastectomy operation and wanted a record of her breasts before surgery, from which she wanted custom made silicone copies made, to fit into her specially adapted bras and swimsuits after surgery to mimic the size and shape of her natural body until she underwent a breast reconstruction surgery.
Although we would recommend prosthetic limbs are always made by a specialist medical professional, we may be able to assist with customising/decorating such devices to express your personality. Our first priority would be to make sure any decoration would not compromise the functionality of the device, but we are happy to discuss your requested modifications with your health team to determine the best solution.
Whatever your casting needs, we will try to help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Although not everything we've been asked to make has been technically possible or practical, we will try to suggest ideas or compromises to make the best of any challenging situation our clients might be facing. New technology is being developed all the time which is making previously improbably ideas totally achievable with the right budget, time and research. So don't be afraid to get in touch with your queries.