What is Phantom Pain?
Phantom pain is the phenomenon experienced by some amputees in which pain is perceived from limbs that no longer exist. According to some doctors, the brain’s retained memories of pain may be so powerful that they reverberate long after an injury has occurred and long after the limb with which the phantom pain was originally associated has been amputated.
Phantom pain is a condition which affects some amputees. When an episode of phantom pain is experienced, the amputee has the sensation of pain in the missing limb, usually at the furthest point in the limb, such as the fingers of an amputated arm. The sensation of pain can be tingling, stabbing, crushing, or searing, and it can be a very intense experience. There are a number of ways to cope with phantom pain, and the problem is common enough that it is often discussed with amputees during the early stages of their recovery. The cause of phantom pain appears to be a rewiring of the brain. When a limb is amputated, the brain is forced to remap itself to compensate for the missing limb, and sometimes this creates a situation in which signals in the brain may misfire. While the pain feels very real, it is in fact entirely in the patient’s mind, although the perception of pain is the same as it is when the pain is real. A closely related phenomenon is phantom limb sensation, in which an am
What does it feel like? How long will it last? Phantom pain is the term used to describe sensations felt by amputees, which may include tingling, itching, twisting, cramping, pins-and-needles, stabbing pains, pressure, a sense of fullness (as if the limb was still there, but slightly swollen), and so on. The ghost-limb sensations can be similar to what a non-amputee feels when his/her foot has fallen asleep to the point of being numb, then sensation comes back painfully. The majority of amputees experience these sensations to some degree. Often the feeling is very localized. An amputee may describe the sensation as being in a specific location, such as on the bottom of the big toe or on the right side of the shin, right below the knee, going down in a straight line. If they were to point at where the sensation was felt, the phantom limb may be shorter in comparison to where the real limb would be. Amputees may feel as though they can wiggle their toes or count on their fingers. The pha
Phantom pain is one type of post elimination occurrence of psychological problem. It is painless phenomenon which is also known as Phantom limb sensation. It may be consist of feelings of cold, warmth, itchiness. Phantom pain is not a constant. The phantom pain is frequently involved arms and legs of patient. But sometimes, it also affect on face, trunk and many different part of body.
Phantom sensation or phantom limb pain occurs when a person has lost a limb such as an arm or a leg. Phantom sensation is the feeling that the lost limb is still there. When the limb hurts or is painful, it’s referred to as phantom limb pain. About 80 percent of people who’ve had body parts amputated have some amount of phantom limb sensation or pain. Scientists aren’t exactly sure how to explain phantom pain. It may occur as a result of painful swelling at the end of cut nerves called a neuroma. There may be a psychologic factor. Children who lose limbs before the age of four rarely have phantom sensations or pain. This suggests an emotional or psychologic painful response to the trauma and loss felt in the body. Neurologists offer several theories about the mapping of sensation in the brain. Nothing has been proven yet. Researchers, doctors, and neurologists have all tried ways to treat phantom limb sensation or pain. For example, ultrasound, medication, surgery, and electrical stimu
