Phantom limb pains occur post amputation, where patients experience sensations, such as aching, burning, itching, numbness, pinching, tingling, stabbing, throbbing, and changing temperatures in a limb that does not exist. This may seem unusual, to feel a pain in an area of the body that does not exist anymore, leading to feelings of confusion, embarrassment, feeling like you are losing your mind. People often think that the pain is psychosomatic (physical symptom with a psychological cause) even though the pain you feel is real, this is your body’s way of adjusting to the change.
Literally losing a part of you can be very painful, the brain also takes time to acknowledge the limb is not there. Sometimes you may forget that the limb is not there and try walking on both legs when your leg has been amputated. This is often precipitated by fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression, and blood flow issues. The cause of phantom pains remains a debate, however it is mostly associated with your nervous system. The nervous system miscommunicates signals through your spinal cord to the brain and these signals tell your body to move. The nerves still exist regardless of the amputation and will continue sending sensation to parts of the body that are not there. As your brain adjusts to the physical changes and re – learns how to send signals to accommodate the change, the less severe the pains will be. This might take a day, weeks or even months.
All of this might affect your ability to sleep, participating in activities and often leads to anxiety and depression due to the frustration of not understanding what is going on. In most cases therapy usually works to combat the emotional aspect of the phantom pains in conjunction with mirror therapy where a mirror is placed next to the amputated limb to visually simulate the amputated limb. These techniques assist the brain to re – learn by creating an illusion to convince the brain that the missing limb is still there so that the pain subsides. Massaging and mindfulness can also assist in decreasing the symptoms in conjunction with the medical treatment.
Experiencing phantom limb pains may also affect the grief process of the loss of the body part, usually prolongs grief and makes it difficult for the patient to accept. Family support plays an important role in assisting the patient with grieving and adjustment to the changes in their body functioning. Although the experience of phantom pains can be very distressing, it is a normal part of the body’s process of coming to terms with the loss. There are many professionals that can assist in this process so reach out when you feel it’s getting too much too handle.