transabled.org

Ada, wel done – for trying it, for admiting it.

I really want to try it too but I’m not ready to ask my husband to cope with me doing something like that.

I too want to be paralised, T12 would work for me and I don’t care if complete or incomplete so long as it requires use of a wheelchair and most sensation lost. I love the idea of not being able to feel my legs by touching them and think casts would go a long way to helping me realise my body image without being quite so scary as actual paraplegia (I know, I’m sure I’m wierd, I want it but I’m terrified of it too).

Anyway, all I was trying to say is well done for being brave enough to try and thank you for telling us all.

That is WAY cool, Ada! Congrats.

I started casting in my late teens, and have done it a lot: legs, arms, torso, neck (umm, be REALLY careful with that one). It always came back to my left leg as being best of all. The urge to cast diminished greatly after I got leg braces.

I’d very much like to do a double hip spica, which I’ve never done, and I still have a big box of supplies. I’ve only done a single hip spica before.

Thanks for sharing that, and be sure to tell us about next time.

Oh, one of the things I’ve done is to cast the legs together. Ah, yes, then there’s casting both thighs with a spreader. There’s no end to it. Have fun!

I just love the idea of being cast in ‘wheelchair position’ so that I genuinely can’t just stand to reach sstuff or to transfer. I wouldn’t look paraplegic but I imagine that I’d feel far more like one casted and in a wheelchair than just in a wheelchair.

It’s been a bit of a dream of mine to break both legs (doens’t matter if I really do or just cast so people think I have) and let my muscles atrophy. I could then drag it on and on and tell people that it was worse than first thought and they won’t heal or whatever, then be a wheelie full time forever. It’ll never happen but sometimes I dream it.

Y’know, that seems a good way in.
Why doesn’t anyone just cast their body parts & let things atrophy?
I like braces myself, so I’ve never casted, but I have often thought of long-term casting as a way for some of you to get things somewhat right.
But I don’t know…

FWIW, while you would get a good amount of atrophy by casting, you would never actually lose feeling or ability to move…

From experience I know that 6 weeks in a cast (for a broken metatarsal) indeed produces a decent atrophy and corresponding weakness. I have to wonder if several months in bilateral llc would not produce more, and strictly refraining from weight-bearing unless braced wouldn’t maintain it. Sensation of course would stay but there are some of us are not interested in losing that. I’ve often fantasized along those lines.

Atrophy starts in a cast at about 4 weeks. Yes, staying longer in a pair of long leg casts would cause a lot of atrophy. But you wouldn’t be weak enough to not be able to move your legs. It would be somewhat meaningless atrophy.

My legs were definitely relaxed and it was easier not to move them straight after casting, but beyond that I didn’t notice any difference afterwards.

What I need is not so much total inability to move as inability to walk unaided, so it might work for me if I was ever in a situation where I could try it.

I’m with Brice on this one. As a physiotherapist I know exactly what the effects of longer term casting would be (i.e. atrophy and weakness but no loss of neural control and sensation).

For me, my ideal disability would probably be an complete or incomplete spinal injury somewhere in the T10 – L1-3 region. I need to need a wheelchair for mobility but have my upper body totally unaffected. The specific disability is not as important. I would want sensory loss but at the same time a significant level of atrophy causing enough weakness would probably work for me. (Though I’ll admit that I’m not totally sure I’d be able to get quite enough weakness just through casting)

I’m never likely to be in a position where I can try it anyway so I should quit dreaming.

@Beth, and as someone who has repeatedly done long term casting, I can testify that the effects of long term casting are nowhere near the point of being unable to walk. Atrophy, yes. Weakness, yes. Unable to walk/stand unaided, not really. Unable to move, not by a LONG shot. Although perhaps I wasn’t in the casts long enough (~20 weeks)

I think 20 weeks in casts would be more than enough for me. It’s not being casted that I want but the after-effects.

I’ll be stopping that dream then as it sounds like it wouldn’t even be close to working for me!

Once again, thank you Sean for sharing your experience for us comparitive newbies!

@Beth, you’re welcome :) I didn’t really want to be casted. I enjoy “recreational casting”, but the two primary motivators to stay in casts so long were to a) force myself to be unable to stand/walk and b) cause atrophy and loss of mobility post-casting.

@Sean. Those would be the same reasons that I would want to try it but if it’s not going to do anything very helpful for b then I’d rather just appear paraplegic and choose not to stand/walk.

is there any other way to achieve atrophy ? i have tried not using my legs and staying in my chair for weeks, but never seems to be enough

@snuffy I don’t know if there is another way to achieve atrophy. Just keep in mind that many paras don’t have atrophy because they have so much muscle spasms that their leg muscles stay “fit”.