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Self-Worth and Upper Limb Loss

Amber Henson
by Amber Henson
Aug 5, 2025

After an amputation, there may be many thoughts swirling around your head. “What is next?” “What will my life look like?” “How will I work?” These are all common and valid questions. There may also be questions about self-worth. Your body no longer looks the way it did for most of your life. You may have lost your dominant hand. You may be recovering and not working. All these things can affect how you see the value of yourself. This is also a common response to an amputation, whether your loss is a partial finger, at shoulder level or bilateral. Any deviation from our self-image of our body — can be devastating.

So, what do we do when we are having trouble with our self-worth? Well, one solution is to seek support. Our patient Ashley, pictured below, lost her index finger in a work accident, and even that “small” amputation really affected her: “I struggled with my self-worth. Not wanting to live and thoughts like that. I spoke with my therapist a lot — they were so helpful.” It wasn’t only Ashley’s therapist that helped her: “My boyfriend kept telling me my hand is beautiful. That helped my self-esteem. Or my dad, he said, ‘Oh, I don’t even notice.' My dad was the first person to say that, and it made me cry happy tears.”

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For our patient, John, he found support in a friend at church. His wife, Deb: “Our old Sunday school teacher, Ed, who we dearly love — he’s retired. He would come in and check on John a couple of times a week, just to talk. They used to meet at a restaurant and play chess.” Just spending time with others, especially people outside our family, can remind us of the joy that life brings, increase our positivity and our feelings of self-worth.

Support can also come in the form of fellow amputees. Our peer support network is offered to all our patients, and that can be a game changer. Speaking with someone who has been through what you’ve been through can make you feel understood. Interacting with a peer who has had their prosthesis longer than you can help you imagine what your future might hold. Even just watching other amputees through media can make a difference.

When it’s possible to get back to work, that is another way to grow self-worth. Our patient Xavier, pictured below, was in a workplace accident and has a below-elbow amputation. “It’s really hard when you first get hurt. You go from having something to do every day to your life just stopping. A lot of times you lose hope. A lot of times you’re mentally broken down. You really don’t know where your life is going or what you’re going to do next.” After receiving his prosthesis, Xavier was able to return to the paper mill where he was injured, though to a different position. “In the beginning I was a little scared to go back to work, because I didn’t know what to expect. But, getting back to work really helped me mentally. My psychologist called it ‘having a purpose’ — going back to work gave me a purpose. It helped me know that I could be successful as an amputee.”

Xavier Feature

Taking control of your body can also help. It may be challenging to get insurance approval for an activity-specific prosthesis, but it can be incredibly helpful for one’s mental health, let alone body fitness. When an amputation has made part of your body look different it’s that much more important to have the rest of your body look how you want. Our patient Claudia, who has an above-elbow amputation due to a workplace accident: “Getting up in the morning and knowing I can go in and get my workout done — that’s going to change my outlook for the whole day, in a positive way.”

It's never easy to hear this, but time is another helper when it comes to bringing your self-worth back from the brink. Time may not heal all wounds, but it can allow your body to mend, be seen by a prosthetist and therapist, be fit with a prosthesis, and learn how to use the device. With time, you can practice positive self-talk, self-compassion and self-acceptance. Claudia, again: “I had to reshape my thinking into saying, ‘You’re not a lesser person because you have one arm. You are useful in other ways. I think that was one of the biggest things I had to learn by myself.”

Claudia Castellanos working out
Claudia at the gym

Getting to a place of strong self-worth may take awhile. Please remember that recovery is not linear: just because you were feeling good yesterday does not mean tomorrow will be a good day when it comes to your mental or physical health. But with support, time, a routine, clear goals, and ways to achieve them, many of our patients recover and thrive.

How do our prosthetists and occupational therapists support our patients? A big part of supporting them is listening. What do you want out of your device? What are activities you’d like to return to, or start up new? Our experienced prosthetists know how to create prostheses that are functional and comfortable. Our occupational therapists teach our patients how to use those prostheses.

If this sounds like the kind of prosthetic care you or someone you know would benefit from, please contact us. If you would like to leave a comment, please do so below.

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