Theories Of Phantom Poem Pain

The pain the amputees are complaining about is called phantom limb pain. This pain usually occurs right after an amputation of either an arm, leg, or a different body part (Flor, 2002). Some professionals believe that phantom pain is developed due to the disruption of the nerve activity. These nerves discharge at the place where they were severed during amputation; therefore, causing the amputee to feel the pain (King, 2006). Other theories believe that phantom pain is all made up in the head. The grief created by the loss of a limb, or body part fosters the psychosomatic disorder. This creates the “phantom pain” that the amputee experiences (Flor, 2002). Mirror therapy is a process that psychologist help with this phantom pain. Mirror therapy
is a noninvasive therapy that is used to help relieve phantom limb pain (Flinn, Holte, 2011). The amputee places his or her non-amputated limb in front of a mirror and then their amputated limb behind it. They then move the limb in front of the mirror. This tricks the mind into thinking that their amputated limb is no longer amputated and that it is back to “normal” moving along with the other limb. The mirror’s illusion takes advantage of the brain’s preference for vision and helps reduce the pain for the phantom limb pain patients (Egsgaard, Petrini, Christofferseen, Arendt-nielsen, 2011). A study preformed on stroke patients by Sonja Urška Puh revealed that mirror therapy helped reduce pain intensity, improved hand grip/function, and it also reduced the pain in the phantom limb (Puh, 2013).