Understanding Phantom Limb Pain

Imagine a man - call him John * - I lost his left arm after a bad tractor accident. Shortly after cutting, John began to feel the strange feeling that his arm was there before, the pain of pain similar to that which torn his body. Despite his openness, he felt his arms; it looked very realistic, and he almost believed his arm is still on his shoulder. Is John crazy? Obviously his left arm no longer exists, so why can he feel pain in that vacant space.

Physical pain is a pain in the field of amputation. Phantom limb pain ranging from mild to extreme pain. In some cases, phantom limb pain may be ineffective and lead to lifelong conflicts with chronic pain. Phantom limb sensation usually disappears or decreases over time. If phantom limb pain lasts longer than 6 months, the prognosis of spontaneous improvement is poor.

Patients disconnected often suffer from phantom limb pain, mystical illness, pain, and no pain in the limbs. This phantom limb pain causes severe chronic illness to the patient, making treatment difficult. Various medical and non-medical treatments have been proposed, but in most cases they will not work. However, the group of Swedish researchers found a new treatment using augmented reality. This is very effective in alleviating phantom limb pain, even in the most difficult cases.

To understand the factors that cause phantom limb pain, you must first understand the basics of anatomy and physiology. The first phantom limb pain was the result of mental illness only. However, post-research studies demonstrated the theory behind the mechanism that caused phantom limbs. Various mechanisms including peripheral mechanism, central mechanism and psychological mechanism have been proposed. In the article "What is phantom limbs" from journalism medicine, the theory of peripheral mechanisms that cause pain is taught that neuromas cause irritation at the cut nerve endings. Stimulation is due to the fact that many nerve endings end with the remaining stumps when cutting is done. Then, the inflamed nerve sends a signal to the brain that the brain sees as pain. Based on this theory, treatment is completed, but the result is failure.