Essay On Phantom Limbing

“Losing a leg was like having to learn how to suck in air through the pores of my skin. Somehow I survived, but each breath was painful” (Draanen 157). Jessica, from Wendelin Van Draanen’s The Running Dream, loved to run. Which is why when she lost her leg she described it as stated above, like learning how to take in air through her skin. Her leg was a part of her, something she loved to use, and when it was gone she felt off balance, both metaphorically and actually. I felt this way when someone very close to me died. His name was Zackary, or Zack for short, and he was my cat. When he died of a thickened heart wall and a thrombus collapse at the age of 1 and a half, I felt as if I had lost something vital to me. A body part that was necessary

Over the years scientists have noted many complaints of a strange form of pain called phantom limb pain. This pain is strange because it is located in an appendage that no longer exists. By many of the amputees the pain is described as totally unbearable. Phantom limb pain has even driven some victims crazy. For the amputee population this is a very real problem that definitely needs to be solved.

The first words I had received from the specialist, “sorry”, sorry isn’t going to fix me, sorry, a subconscious response of whomever I’ve met. I was in a world of my own hearing the mumbles of the doctor, until an earthquake shook it, unexpected and life changing, “amputation”. I felt as though my life had reached rock bottom, could things get worse, not only was I afraid of the procedure but the judgment which I would be exposed to in public and the adjustments which will be made to my life.

The author starts off by recalling his personal experiences with phantom limbs. A young boy had a phantom limb phenomenon. The term phantom limb was first used by Silas Weir Mitchell in 1872. Phantom limb seems to occur because of the images created by the images of the body and makes the person always believe that it is all there even after an amputation. The body is basically trying to make sense of the amputation. It is not actually caused by incorrect neural activity. It is actually more built from the part of the brain that creates the mental image of the body. Turns out on 90 percent of amputee actually have a phantom limb experience. Researchers have tried to treat phantom limb with the mirrors and Virtual Reality.

The phantom limb pain the woman is experiencing is described as a painful condition of the amputated limb after the stump has completely healed. It is a chronic pain that occurs in more than 80% of amputees especially those who suffered pain in the limb before the amputation. Theories suggest that phantom limb pain results from redevelopment or hyperactivity of cut peripheral nerves, scar tissue or neuroma formation in the cut peripheral nerves, spinal cord deafferentation, and alterations in the thalamus and cortex. More so, the CNS integration, which involves reorganization and plastic modifications of the somatosensory cortex, effects the receptors in perceiving the pain of the amputated limb despite of the limb itself being absent. In addition,

My whole life has been centered around the field of kinesiology. Since I was about four years old I have been involved in some sort of sport or physical activity and I have never wanted to change that. When I learned that there was a major that could revolve around sports and activity of which I love so much, I decided to throw myself fully into it. I have always been one to throw myself into whatever I am doing and challenge myself and set high goals. Therefore, I have chosen to go to medical school after my undergraduate education and become an orthopedic surgeon. Within the next ten years I hope to be on a hospital staff, improving my skills as a surgeon for sports medicine.

This summary for the final paper will discuss phantom limb pain, including the psychological and physiological causes, effects and the treatment options for phantom limb pain. When a limb is lost whether to traumatic amputation, disease, surgical amputation, or a congenital defect the amputee may experience sensations that the affected limb is still present. Some of the most common sensations that an amputee can experience are tingling, throbbing, piercing, pins and needles, resulting in what is perceived as pain in the missing limb. The exact causes of the phantom limb pain that many amputees experience is still relatively unknown, however, there are three main theories that are seek to explain the sensation of pain in the missing limb/limbs.

Phantom Limb Pain (PLP) is a serious condition that occurs when a person who has lost a part of their body though amputation, trauma (brachial plexus), or loss of nervous connections in an appendage, perceives that the limb is still there and experiences sensations coming from this area. It was first described in 1866 by S. Weir Mitchell, an American neurologist, through a short story published in Atlantic Monthly. While Mitchell may then have wondered if this was specific to wounded Civil War soldiers, it has since been established as quite common (1). Over 70% of amputees report phantom limb pain for years after amputation (2). Several theories have been proposed regarding PLP, although there is still much to be

The earliest hypothesis regarding the cause of phantom limbs and pain was that of neuromas. These were thought to be nodules comprised of remaining nerves located at the end of the stump. These neuromas presumably continued to generate impulses that traveled up the spinal cord to portions of the thalamus and somatosensory domains of the cortex. As a result, treatment involved cutting the nerves just above the neuroma in an attempt to interrupt signaling at each somatosensory level (5). This and other related theories were deemed unsatisfactory because of the fact the phantom pain always returned, indicating that there was a more complex reason.

Prosthetic limbs have been around for centuries, but what is one thing they all have in common? They have all been a nuisance. In recent years technology of the modern day Prosthesis has ventured to new heights, but they have not perfected an artificial limb yet. With the amount of people in need of prosthetic limbs, the demand for a perfect prosthesis is tremendous. The perfect prosthesis shouldn’t feel or even look like an artificial limb. Prosthetics should go unnoticed throughout the rest of the amputee’s life.

Sacks discussed the ideas behind the phantom limb and how they affected many peoples live. The most interesting story was about a sailor that accidentally cut off his index finger. For forty years he thought he would poke himself in the eye whenever he moved his hand to his face. One day he lost the feeling in his entire hand including his phantom finger and his problem was cured (Sacks 66-67). Up to 70 percent of amputees confirmed that they still feel or still thought a missing limb was there. They often feel that they can reach out and grab something. Some won't sleep in a certain way because they feel the missing limb between them and the mattress. The sensations felt stem from the activity of the sensory axons

An extensive matrix of neurons in the brain gives us the sense of our own bodies and body parts. Pain results when this matrix produces an abnormal pattern of activity, as a result of memories, emotions, expectations or signals from various brain centres and not just from signals from peripheral nerves. Because of the lack of sensory stimulation or a person’s efforts to move a nonexistent limb, abnormal patterns may arise, resulting in phantom pain.

Take a second, and imagine your life as a teenager, fresh out of college with, aspiring to get a degree in whatever your heart desires. You’ve got lots of ambition and potential. The world is at your fingertips; you can do anything you set your mind to. But one day, tragedy strikes and the unthinkable happens: you lose a limb. Why is not important, but what the future entails is. Let’s say this limb is your right arm, the one you have used all your life to write, eat, type and play the guitar. Now let’s change the scenario a little bit. Instead you’ve lost your legs in a horrific car accident where both were crushed under the weight of the dashboard as your car collided with the 4x4 in front of you. You wake up the next day in the hospital groggy, barely remembering what happened. Shock is the only thing running through your mind the moment you look down to see your legs missing. Your brain thinks they’re still there because yesterday you were just getting out of bed for your morning jog. All that remains are the stubs where your legs used to be and the unbearable thought of being confined to a motorized chair for the rest of your life.

to the area of prosthetics because of the lack of money they would get from it. However,

Amputation often causes patients to experience sensory illusions that the limb is still present. This is often called a phantom limb. This sense of having a phantom limb is a natural and frequent development during the recovery of an amputation. (1) (2) It is reported that at first, the phantom limb feels normal in size and shape, but in time this illusion of the size of the phantom limb usually becomes smaller.(1)