Imagine to have a body part amputated and still feel
the sensation that your limb is still there? Can this even be possible? Yes it
is possible, the name of this sensation is called phantom limb.
A phantom limb definition is when you have amputated a limb or missing a limb, the sensation is still attached to the body. Plus, it moves appropriately with other body parts in your body. Even organs with your body for example a appendix also can occur with this syndrome.
According to
Ramachandran and Hirstein, 1998 stated that after performing studies, the
phantom limb would continue on patients lasting days, weeks and even a person
whole life existence. Even though the phantom limb sounds harmless, the range
of pain that a patient can maintain ranges from tingling to intense pain.
Another question I may ask is, what do physicians mean by intense pain? Don’t
you think sense the limb isn’t there, there wouldn’t be any sensation in that
specific area? I find this to be very interesting because this explanation of
the phantom limb just tells us how amazing, powerful and extravagant the brain/mind
can be. Another interesting fact is how the face can relate to the amputated
area within your body. For example if your arm was amputated the axons activate
the cortical area on your face where your amputated limb is located. Why is that? your arm is amputated why
would you continue to feel the sensations on your face, which is completely
located in a different area of your body. Here’s a video describing the phantom
limb in a more detail perspective.
After seeing this video it describes Peter
experiences of Phantom Limb. He still has pain even though his arm isn’t there.
Scientists invented the Virtual Reality Computer program, this is supposed to
relieve pain for patients that is experiencing phantom limb syndrome. The
technique for this invention is distractibility. Even though it’s quite
expensive, this can possibly be the factor to change people’s lives today.
It saddens me that there are hundreds if not thousands of people undergoing these same issues of Phantom limbs. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, their bodies are no longer whole, but the very fact that their brains do not register that they are no longer in tact is fascinating. One would believe that if you do not have a particular part of your body you do not feel that particular part, but instead, for those born with it, you do. Your brain still registers this. Peter's story is one that many others are living, but maybe with this new technology many more can be helped as well.
ReplyDeleteI know that phantom limb syndrome is often experienced by people who are going through some type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is often experienced by individuals who just cannot cope with the loss of a limb and mentally still have an attachment to the limb. Peter's story is similar to a woman's story that I once saw on Grey's Anatomy. The pain appears to be extremely vivid and difficult to cope with. That computer program that you mentioned is pretty much effective for the time it lasts, and then it's back to pain again for the patients.
ReplyDeleteThe cause of Phantom Limb Pain remains a mystery. However a recent research challenged the existing theory of maladaptive plasticity that is supposedly associated with PLP in patients. Tamar Makin (2013) of Oxford University found that there is no cortical remapping after amputation. Cortical remapping is the organization of somatosensory system after the brain has been compensated of something. He instead proposed the idea that the patient's brain is working twice as hard now that the missing part is not there, and therefore the patient interprets this adjustment, as the sensation of pain.
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