Short answer: To measure a prosthetic leg for a cover, take three numbers with a soft tape measure. First, the circumference at the widest part you want covered. That’s usually the socket, measured over your suspension sleeve if the cover will go over it. Second, the circumference where you want the cover to end. Third, the length between those two points. Measure with your prosthesis on, exactly the way you wear it, write the numbers down in inches, and compare them with our size guide.
That’s the whole job. It takes a few minutes and a tape measure, and it beats ordering on a hunch.
One note first: if you’re about to be measured for a new prosthesis or a new socket, that’s your prosthetist’s job. It isn’t a tape-measure-at-home project. This guide is for the leg you already have, and for dressing it up.
What you need
- A soft, flexible tape measure. Use the sewing kind. A metal tape won’t wrap cleanly around a curved socket.
- Your prosthesis, on and put together the way you wear it. That means your liner, socks, suspension sleeve and the shoe you normally wear.
- Something to write on. Your phone’s notes app counts.
- Optional: a friend. Measuring the back of a socket while you’re wearing it is a flexibility test nobody signed up for.
Measure with the leg on. The cover goes on last, over everything else, so the leg as you wear it is the shape it has to go over. A friend or a mirror takes care of the back.
Step 1: Decide what the cover should cover
A Loud Limb cover is a printed stretch tube. It goes on the outside of a below-knee prosthesis, over the parts you want to show off. It never goes inside the socket or under a suspension sleeve, and it never touches the skin of your residual limb. Before you measure anything, decide where the top edge and the bottom edge should sit.
Below-knee prosthesis
On a below-knee leg, the obvious canvas is the socket and the section below it. Choose a top edge that stays clear of the socket brim and of anything your knee bends against, so there’s no fabric behind your knee to bunch up when you sit down.
Above-knee prosthesis
Our covers aren’t for above-knee legs. They’re for the outside of a below-knee prosthesis only, and they never go over a knee joint or anything that bends. A knee unit bends, and fabric across a moving joint can bunch, pull or snag. Some other makers do offer covers for above-knee legs, usually made to measure and ordered with your prosthetist. The cover you pick decides what to measure, so follow that maker’s guide.
If you already have a foam or rigid cosmetic cover
A shaped foam cover gives a stretch cover a calf shape to go over instead of a bare pylon. If you have one, the fabric goes over it, so measure over the foam, both at its widest point and where you want the fabric to end.
Step 2: Measure the widest circumference
Wrap the tape around the widest part of the area you want covered. On a below-knee leg, that’s usually the socket.
- Keep the tape level. A tape that tilts reads bigger than the real circumference.
- Keep it snug and flat. It should lie against the surface without squeezing anything.
- Measure over your sleeve. If you wear a suspension sleeve and the cover will go over it, measure over the sleeve. The cover never goes under it. Cover maker ALLELES Design Studio makes the same point in its measurement guide: a sleeve adds to the overall circumference.
- Measure twice. If the two numbers disagree, take a third and use the middle one.
Write this one down as Widest.
Step 3: Measure where the cover will end
A stretch cover is a tube. Where your leg is wider than the cover’s relaxed size, the fabric stretches. Where it’s narrower, the fabric relaxes and hangs loose. That’s why you need a second number.
Measure around the spot where you want the bottom edge to land. Write it down as End.
Maybe that spot is a bare pylon, the slim tube that runs between the socket and the foot. A pylon is far narrower than a socket, and far narrower than any of our cover sizes, so expect the fabric to hang loose there. You have two good options:
- End the cover higher, where the leg is still wider than the cover’s relaxed size.
- Go slouchy on purpose, like a leg warmer.
Both are fine. Neither should touch the foot.
Step 4: Measure the length
Run the tape down the side of the leg, from your chosen top edge to your chosen bottom edge. That’s your Length.
Leave some clearance above the foot. Makers of rigid covers build in a gap for this exact reason: the foot and ankle need room to move. The ALLELES guide tells clinicians to take half an inch to an inch off the length, depending on how much the ankle moves. LIMB-art’s measuring guide takes 2 cm off to leave a gap above the foot shell.
A fabric cover can’t crack the way a rigid one can. It can still bunch at the ankle, ride down into your shoe or catch on the foot shell, though, so the same habit pays off. Stop the cover a little short of the foot.
Step 5: Compare your numbers with the size guide
Put your three numbers next to the chart on our size guide:
- Widest is the number to compare with each size’s relaxed circumference. The fabric stretches, but the maker doesn’t publish how far.
- Length tells you where the cover will end on your leg. If a cover is longer than your measured length, it will either scrunch up or end lower than you planned.
- End tells you whether the bottom edge will be stretched or slouchy.
If you land between two sizes, email us your numbers before you order. Same if your widest point is over 19 in. Then pick a print from our prosthetic covers.
Measuring mistakes to avoid
Measuring the wrong leg
For a stretch cover, measure the prosthesis, because that’s what the fabric has to go over. Some rigid and 3D-printed cover makers ask for the calf of your other leg instead. ALLELES, for example, uses the widest part of the other calf as the outside circumference of its above-knee covers. Our covers don’t work that way. Follow the instructions of whoever makes the cover you’re ordering.
Skipping the sleeve
If the cover goes over a suspension sleeve, the sleeve is part of the measurement. Leave it out and you’ll size down by accident. And the cover always goes over the sleeve, never under it.
Pulling the tape tight
A tight tape gives you a flattering number that isn’t your real one. Keep it snug and flat.
Using old numbers after a new socket
Sockets change, and new ones don’t always match the old shape. The Amputee Coalition’s prosthetic FAQs for the new amputee explain that the limb can shrink in the early stages after limb loss. That can mean socket changes, new liners or even a different device. New socket, new measurements.
What a cover does, and what it doesn’t
A Loud Limb cover is decorative. It doesn’t cushion anything, it doesn’t hold your prosthesis on, and it doesn’t replace your prosthetic socks, liner or suspension sleeve. If you’re fuzzy on how those layers work together, our guide to stump socks vs. prosthetic socks vs. liners walks through it.
Put your prosthesis on the way your prosthetist showed you, with your liner, socks and suspension sleeve as usual. Then pull the cover on last, over the outside. Never put it under a suspension sleeve or inside the socket. If anything changes how your prosthesis feels or moves, take the cover off and ask your prosthetist. Fit, comfort and anything involving your skin are their department.
Still picking a look? Browse our prosthetic leg cover ideas. It covers everything from printed covers to 3D-printed fairings, including the ones we don’t make.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to measure a prosthetic leg for a cover?
You need a soft tape measure, your prosthesis on and put together the way you wear it (including any suspension sleeve), and somewhere to write three numbers. Those are the widest circumference, the circumference where the cover will end, and the length between them.
Should I measure my prosthesis or my other leg?
For a stretch cover like ours, measure the prosthesis, because that is what the fabric has to go over. Some rigid and 3D-printed cover makers ask for the calf of your other leg so they can shape the cover to match it. Follow the instructions of the maker you order from.
Do I measure over my suspension sleeve?
Yes, if the cover will go over the sleeve. A sleeve adds to the circumference, so measuring without it can point you to a size that is too small. The cover never goes under a suspension sleeve.
How much space should I leave above the prosthetic foot?
Leave some. Rigid-cover makers build in a gap, from 2 cm to an inch depending on the maker and on how much the ankle moves, so the foot can move freely. For a fabric cover, stop a little short of the foot so it doesn’t bunch at the ankle or ride down into your shoe.
Do I need to measure again after I get a new socket?
Yes. A new socket can have a different shape and size, so measure again before you order another cover. If a cover ever changes how your prosthesis feels or moves, take it off and ask your prosthetist.