A patient's rehab can be both mentally and physically challenging. From day one, the patient will struggle with overcoming small obstacles that were effortless before the prosthesis. Simple tasks such as walking can be the most challenging.
To begin, the athlete is assigned a personal trainer. The trainer's job is to provide the patient with the specific exercises needed to rebuild muscle mass to strengthen contractions of the leg. The exercises also retrain the neural pathways so that the athlete can work towards achieving the feats of flexion and extension, which allows the athlete to stand and walk. Along with all that, the trainer provides the positive motivation and encouragement that the athlete needs to hear.
The type of prosthesis an athlete uses remains very important. Using a prosthesis for activities that it was not designed to accommodate can cause physical injury to the amputee as well as structural failure of the device (Fergason). There are problems that arise during the rehab phases. Many patients will fall in their first attempts. This can sometimes destroy the limb, costing a considerable amount of money to replace. Also, infections are quite common. Treatment of infection generally consists of removal of the prosthesis, a long course of antibiotics, and, if possible, implantation of a new device (Fergason).