Preview

Phantom Limb Pain Research Paper

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
286 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Phantom Limb Pain Research Paper
I have chosen the topic of The psychological and physiological causes, effects and treatments of phantom limb pain.

In this paper I will be discussing phantom limb pain as well as the various causes and effects that amputees experience when suffering from this condition. I first discuss what phantom limb pain is and the way it can disrupt the lives of those suffering from it. Then, I will discuss the causes for phantom limb pain. In many amputees the causes are still unknown but there are several helpful possibilities that help gain some insight into the inner workings of the mind and body.
I will then discuss the three major theories that are causes for phantom limb pain which are the peripheral, central, and psychodynamic theories. Following

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    12. Why did Kathy experience the altered sensation in her lower body? Was there something wrong with her skin? Why couldn’t she stand? Was there something wrong with the muscles of her right leg? (2…

    • 2000 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Phantom Limb Pain

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Firstly, EMG recording was used prior to the fMRI experiment to avoid the patients using muscle activity during the imagine movement task and to get them familiar to what to expect from the study. The training was completed when participants showed a vividness imagination of the movement of the phantom limb and scored four out of a possible six on the scale; this was measured against a rest period to determine the function of the ipsilateral cortex in PLP patients.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Phantom Limb Case Studies

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In conclusion, Phantom Limb pain is a rather common and disabling condition. We have learnt and…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imaging scans like an MRI or a PET, show parts of the brain that were neurologically connected to the nerves of the amputated limb having activity when the person feels phantom pain (Staff, B. M., n.d.). There have also been studies that show the brain may remap the amputated limb's sensory circuitry to another part of the body (Staff, B. M., n.d.). So, because the amputated area is no longer able to receive sensory information, the information is referred elsewhere. For example, from a missing hand to a still-present cheek, when the cheek is touched, it is like the missing hand also is being touched. The result is pain because of tangled sensory…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Phantom Limb Pain

    • 5731 Words
    • 23 Pages

    From central stimulation to mirror therapy, the development of a wide range of treatments available today is due to central mechanisms of phantom limb pain that provide major grounds for research. Other treatments, aside from those related to the central mechanism, are also worth considering in order to improve our understanding. Results of these trials currently suggest that mirror therapy seems to be the most effective treatment based on central mechanisms, with the remaining therapies giving rise to a range of positive to negative outcomes.…

    • 5731 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kathy, a 20-year-old woman, awakens one morning to a tingling, numb sensation covering both of her feet. This has happened to her a number of times throughout the year. In the past, when experiencing this sensation, within a couple of days to a week the numbness would subside, and so she is not too concerned. About a week later, she…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ramachandran, V. S. and Rogers-Ramachandran, D., (2000, March). Phantom Limbs and Neural Plasticity. Neurological Review, 57(), 317-320. Retrieved from http://www.neurosciences.us/courses/systems/CentralPlas/Ramachandran_2000.pdf…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Phantom Limb Pain

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As the scope of care and responsibilities of Physician Assistants’ expands, so does the range of medical conditions to diagnose and treat grow. One medical condition that has become more prevalent in the past decade due to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is Phantom Limb Pain (PLP). With reported rates of PLP in 50% to 85% of amputees (Weeks, Anderson-Barnes, & Tsao, 2010, p. 278) and over 900 amputees as a result alone from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan (Weeks et al., 2010, p. 284), the need for understanding and evaluating the best treatment options in managing PLP in patients has increased. This paper will explain what PLP is, establish the most common treatments for managing and reducing PLP by comparing and contrasting recent studies…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For example, in many cases people who have lost limbs often still have the awareness of a limb that is no longer there. This phenomenon is known as Phantom Limbs. Individuals who experience this will often times try to use their missing limbs without or even feel sensations in said limbs. The reason behind this is probably due to the fact that although the limb is missing the nerves in the nervous system that send signals to the limb are not and there fore there may be a mixing of signals in the brain and spinal cord. Phantom Limbs is one of the most interesting way in which people experience sensation differently.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unrelieved pain can have harmful effects on the various systems of the body. Suggest at least 1 possible response for each area listed when pain is not resolved properly:…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Phantom Limb

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    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…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Neuropathic pain is thought to result when sensory neurons generate impulses at abnormal (ectopic) locations, for example at sites of nerve injury or demyelination. In the peripheral nervous system, in addition to firing spontaneously, these ectopic pacemaker sites are often excited by mechanical forces applied to them during movement. The result is spontaneous and movement-evoked pain. Damage to the central nervous system, such as in stroke or trauma, may cause ectopic firing of central origin, or render brain circuits hyperexcitable. In the ectopic pacemaker theory, ectopic afferent firing is a primary source of spontaneous pain; it initiates and sustains central sensitization that manifests clinically as neuropathic hypersensitivity.1 In addition, various neuropeptides such as the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha, neurotensin,somatostatin are released in response to inflammation, specifically macrophage activation.…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Reflection-Leg Ulcers

    • 2209 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Clay, C.S., Chen, W.Y.J. (2005) Wound pain: the need for a more understanding approach. Journal of Wound Care; 14: 4, 181-184.…

    • 2209 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I have an overwhelming compassion for the plights of other people. Human pain in any form makes my heart hurt, no matter if the pain belongs to a close friend or a stranger. I attempt to take it on myself to help in any way possible. In sophomore year, I become friends with a girl in my Spanish class. She often spoke to me of her depressed thoughts, and her bleak outlook on life. I began to especially worry for her that winter. Two boys who had, at one point, been her friends had turned against and bullied her. They exploited her insecurities relentlessly. One day after school, she confided in me that she felt suicidal, and that I could not tell anyone. I went directly to the closest guidance office, and asked to see any counselor that was…

    • 216 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    Gibbs Reflection

    • 3124 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Sampson, E. Kitchen, G. (2012) North west dementa Centre. Available at: http://www.pssru.ac.uk/pdf/MCpdfs/Pain_factsheet.pdf . Accessed on 25th April 2012.…

    • 3124 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays

Related Topics