How do prosthetic arms work? A child-friendly guide

If you are a parent trying to explain to your child how prosthetic arms work, here’s a quick child-friendly guide that will hopefully answer their curiosity and get them excited about trying their first prosthesis!

If you’d like to enquire about the Hero Arm for your child, please register your interest and we’ll share more information about how the process works.

Hero Arm Registration for a Child

Kids – meet the Hero Arm

The Hero Arm is a prosthetic arm that allows children and adults with limb differences to use the Hero Arm to do different activities. You can use the Hero Arm ride a bike, help with cooking, play ball, or win a game of UNO!

The Hero Arm is also great if you want to hold multiple things at once like a bag of popcorn, your favourite action-figure, and a comic book.
 

 

 

Who is the Hero Arm for?

The Hero Arm is great for children from 8 years old who have a below-elbow limb difference. If you were born with a below-elbow limb difference, the Hero Arm can be a great gadget to help you do some of your favorite things.

As well as function, the Hero Arm can also give you a bionic boost in confidence, which could be useful if you are nervous about starting at a new school, or don’t want to answer questions about your limb difference.

Bionic Boy

How does the Hero Arm work?

The Hero Arm fits like a glove, and looks super cool. When you put the Hero Arm on, there are small readers in the arm that monitor your arm movements and send the information to your hand which then moves the bionic finger how you want.

Using the Hero Arm, there are four different bionic moves you can do which lets you control the fingers and do different activities.

Watch Tilly pick up small objects with her Hero Arm!

Meet Bionic Tilly

Will it hurt getting a Hero Arm fitted?

No! Not at all. Our lovely Prosthetist will measure your arm to make sure we can build a Hero Arm that’s perfect for you. As we build the Hero Arm we will ask you to try parts of it on to make sure it fits like a glove, it’s comfortable and you can move around freely.

Once you have your Hero Arm, you will have a class with the Prosthetist, he will show you all the super-power moves the Hero Arm can do so you can impress all your friends and family.

Don’t worry if you can’t do all the bionic hand moves straight away, it can take time and strength to harness the bionic power of the Hero Arm, but the Prosthetist will give you everything you need to do that.

Find out more about the Hero Arm

Book an Appointment to Try The Hero Arm

Can I have a Star Wars Hero Arm?

Yes! We have quite a few different Disney Hero Arms for you to choose from. Remember your limb difference is your superpower!

Disney Hero Arm Covers

One Final Thing! Did you know, when you get a Hero Arm, you become part of our Bionic Squad?

We can’t wait to welcome you soon!

Meet the Bionic Squad

I think the Hero Arm has given me a lot of confidence too because everyone asks me about it and talks to me so I can explain what it is – Cameron, 11