Amputees often feel phantom pain in the spot where their lost limb used to be. mind is blown. But mirror therapy can help – maybe better than painkillers. The question “Where does it hurt?” It’s not easy for Thomas Frey to answer – the pain in his leg is no longer getting better. Frey lost his leg in a serious accident more than 30 years ago. But almost immediately after losing it, she felt an intense pain – right where her leg used to be.
This is known as phantom limb pain, or simply phantom pain. And this is quite common: more than 70% of disabled people experience phantom pain. People may experience phantom pain after losing arms and legs or other body parts, including breasts, after a mastectomy. Pain often begins soon after amputation, but may take several months to resolve. As in the case of Thomas Frey, the pain is often chronic and can affect people throughout their lives.
Frey said it was like a migraine: “convulsions that last a few seconds. Then it becomes quiet again for five minutes. “This can go on for hours.” The pain is unbearable, Frey said, and restricts him in his everyday life. ,[When I have] Phantom pain, I can’t meet friends for dinner, I can’t go to meetings,” he said. It can be difficult for friends, colleagues and even family to understand and empathize.” I still remember my father’s reaction. He’d say: ‘Don’t make a fuss,'” Frey recalled.
Phantom Pain: A Neurological Condition
Mention of “phantom pain” dates back to the 16th century in medical literature, but researchers are still trying to explain the phenomenon. Thomas Weiss, a physiologist who has studied phantom pain extensively, stated that the current thinking is that “an amputation alters the entire nervous system.”
In other words, neural pathways change in the residual limb, and also in the spinal cord and brain. Some of the most significant changes occur in an area of the brain known as the primary somatosensory cortex. This area senses stimuli such as touch, pressure or temperature on the body, and is therefore also called the tactile cortex.
Each part of the body is assigned its own area in the tactile cortex, and together, they form a kind of physical map. When any part of the body is cut off, the brain area associated with it stops receiving signals. “These areas are underemployed, if you will,” Weiss said. Neighboring areas in the brain then begin to provide stimulation to the unused area of the brain that is responsible for the amputated part of the body. “It’s called functional restructuring, or functional restructuring,” he said.
This is what an adaptive brain does: neuronal networks adapt to new needs. And this is often a good thing. But this doesn’t necessarily bode well for the disabled: “People whose brains are particularly adaptive are more likely to suffer from phantom pain,” Weiss said.
But these changes in the primary somatosensory cortex do not fully explain the phenomenon, Weiss said. Today, researchers are examining other areas of the nervous system to find out how they contribute to phantom pain. They are also investigating its possible genetic causes. This finding is complicated because pain varies from person to person. “Some amputees have no phantom pain, and some have pain so severe that they become suicidal,” Weiss said.
How is Phantom Pain Treated?
In some cases, stronger painkillers can help reduce phantom limb pain. But painkillers can also have serious side effects — an added burden for sufferers like Frey. But research into the neurological origins of phantom limb pain has also led to a particularly successful treatment called mirror therapy.
Frey has tried this method. During therapy, he rotated his healthy leg in front of the mirror. The reflection in the mirror tricks the brain, and movement is associated with the amputated leg. The deformed and pain-causing structures in the tactile cortex partially regress and the phantom pain is reduced.
Frey described his experience by saying, “The moment I do it, I feel the energy start flowing.” This has helped him stop taking strong pain medications. Mirror therapy may also work without mirrors: Apps and virtual reality experiences can produce similar effects. However, also important to Frey is the attitude with which he faces his pain.
“The problem with chronic pain patients is that they declare war on pain and turn it into the enemy,” Frey said. But he changed this attitude by accepting pain as a part of his life: “I had to make pain my friend.”
