Phantom Limb

Essay #1 - The Phantom Limb The phantom limb is a phenomenon within the body that occurs when a person has lost a limb. It is the sensation that a limb is present when in actuality, that particular limb may have been amputated or is absent from the body for any reason. Up to 70% of amputees even report feelings of pain in their missing limb (Schreinberg, 2010). In order to battle these reports of pain, doctors came up with a possible pain reliever, which is now known as mirror therapy. When subjects first started complaining of pain in their “phantom limb”, doctors were very surprised. How could someone be feeling sensations from a limb, which was completely absent from the body (Lahey, 2009)? Researchers soon found reasoning behind these claims of pain. The nerve endings of the area of amputation continue to send messages to the brain, most commonly in the form of pain, that allow the brain to falsely believe that the limb is still present (Schreinberg, 2010). In addition to this, the efficiency of the pain gates go down, so theoretically, pain that could be emanating from one’s face could actually be sensed as pain coming from the missing limb. Along with pain, several other sensations are felt in the phantom limb such as cramping, tingling, heat, and cold. Basically, every sensation that one would feel in an existing limb could in turn be felt in their phantom limb (Mays, 2009). After performing several tests and conducting countless experiments on subjects suffering from phantom limb pain, many treatments such as heat application, relaxation techniques and physical therapy have become available. However, there is one technique that has proven most effective which is commonly referred to as mirror therapy. Basically, the patient places his healthy limb (the one opposite the phantom limb) in front of a mirror and slowly stretches it out and flexes it. A doctor, then, stands behind the patient and stretches one of his limbs in place of the