So. One of my characters gets his hand sorta... chopped off. And, later on, he gets a prosthetic, but I know that there's definitely going to have to be some sort of physical therapy and re-learning how to use the hand. But, I'm not sure how to go about it. Does anyone have any experience writing about this, or just have some insight to share, in general?
What time period? Prosthetics now are mind controlled robot hands, a few years ago, you had to pull wires to manipulate it, and a hundred years ago, you got a wooden leg strapped to your stump. In the future, mind control and micro actuators will continue to evolve. Also, how was it chopped off? Clean 45 degree surgical cut? Ripped off by violence? Cut by light sabre?
It takes place a few years in the future, ten at the most. And, to answer your second question, it was impaled by a fire poker, got infected, and had to be removed. However... the people who lopped it off didn't have access to proper tools to remove it, so they sorta just cleaned off an axe and did the best they could.
I think moderately priced prosthetics ten years from now would be basically like the high end ones now. You've probably seen her in The Hunger Games: http://www.popsci.com/hunger-games-actress-angel-giuffiria-talks-life-cyborg
The prosthetic, though, is futuristic, pretty advanced, works just like a normal hand, partially because it actually is from the future (It's complicated. There's time loops and time travel and crazy shit and other stuff). I'm more interested in the rehabilitation process, how long it would take to adjust to a prosthetic hand, what the process would be like, etc.
In the article I linked to she said it only took her a little practice, but then again, she's been missing that limb since birth, she didn't lose it. I would imagine t would depend on the level of technology. I imagine in the not too distant future, they'll be so connected to the mind and we'll have such a good map of the brain that it'll take little more practice than a baby learning to use its hands.
You're overlooking the problems caused by losing a limb, especially as it's under fairly traumatic circumstances. I'd research Mirror Therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_box to get a better handle on how this MIGHT be handled, and on the sort of issues your character might face.
