A lanyard works with a prosthesis as a means to help secure the liner to the prosthetic socket. This helps to secure the prosthesis to the patient because the liner holds onto the residual limb with often times a silicone like rubber material.
The liners can be 3 mm or 6 mm often times and they are usually prefabricated items, however your prosthetist can make a custom liner as well depending on the anatomy / situation presented.
The liner then has to connect with a socket and they have to be integrated together. The socket itself is usually attached to the leg componentry of the prosthesis and the leg is connected to the foot. (This is a general description of course but that is the main idea.)
The lanyard style prosthesis is, in a way, like a two-way Velcro strap. The velcro strap is attached to the bottom of the liner and goes down through the inside of the socket and out of the bottom. After it comes out of the bottom of the socket, that doesn’t mean that everything is connected as well as it can be.
It needs to then travel up the anterior midline of the socket, which just means right up the front center of the socket. (Whether it is a check socket or a laminated socket, you can still use a lanyard style prosthesis.) As the lanyard travels up the anterior midline of the socket, it will then usually insert through a loop and come back down again.
The strap will then adhere to itself in a vertical fashion, and that will help to have the person feel like it’s inside their socket and it’s secure because there is a good amount of velcro there.
The velcro in the strap is referred to both hook and pile. There are several inches of overlap so the hold is usually very secure. Here is just an example of the hook and pile we are talking about (note they can come in different colors as well, such as beige or white). See below for more our example.
Essentially, a lanyard style prosthesis is the mechanism by which the liner is becoming interconnected with the socket. This in turn is the means by which the prosthesis holds onto your residual limb and thus You!
It is one of 3-4 very common styles of attachment that are used in the prosthetic industry today and many patients prefer this style of connection because they can manually help their residual limb feel more secure in the socket.
