It is all in your Mind?

I have received several inquiries lately about the strange thing that happens to most amputees, Phantom Pain... Is it real? How do you deal with it? Why does the medical profession not address this problem? These are the biggest three questions that have come across my desk.

Is it real? Of course, Phantom Pain is real. As an amputee, I have had this strange experience and suffered with pain that seems to come from my amputated limb. Wow, what a bummer, Not only must you deal with pain from an amputation, then you suffer pain from something that is not even there anymore. Doctors gave this strange occurrence the name Phantom Pain years ago. The cause of Phantom Pain is simple. Your nerves run in bundles not unlike electrical conduit. These nerve bundles are cut when you have an amputation. At the point of the cut, you get a short circuit in the bundle and this causes nerve impulses to be picked up by nerves that before the amputation served the lower part of the limb. Therefore, if you FEEL your ankle itching, it is not your ankle, but the nerve that served that part of your limb. This is a very simple explanation, but all medical evidence points to the fact that your nerves still work even when cut.

How does one deal with this pain? It is a very complex, yet simple answer. Retrain your brain. No, I really do not put much faith in biofeedback. However, in this case it seems to work. In a study by the Veterans Administration Medical Centers, hundreds of vets were ask to fill out forms on phantom pain. This study conducted back in the early 1980's. The main conclusion was that Phantom Pain was real, it was manageable with out medications, and it usually goes away. At the time I was in this study, I experienced mild phantom sensations and was in with a group that did not receive any medication or counseling. I never suffered sever Phantom Pain. Most of my "pain" was sensation related. I would itch, or feel like I stepped wrong and twisted my ankle. Sometime it felt like a hot poker would stick me in the foot. This study was to take 5 years and the forms were to be filled out once a month. Over this time, my pain grew less frequent. I would have this sensation, then I would just sit down and remove my leg and rub it. If I were at home, most of the time I would get in a tub of very warm water and soak a while. This seemed to work fine. Then one day I realized the pain was gone. After talking to the doctors, I was released form the study early, It was two years later I received the report and the bottom line was simple, Phantom Pain is real, and it will usually go away. Talking to amputees who have been through Phantom Pain, I see patterns that develop. Active, hard headed amputees usually loose the Phantom Pains with in a year. Inactive amputees, who are not so stubborn, usually loose the pain in two to three years, Some amputees never get Phantom Pain, and there are a few that never get it to leave. Personally, I think Phantom Pain is manageable with just a little help and little or no medication.

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