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A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached. It is a chronic condition which is often resistant to treatment. [1] When the cut ends of sensory fibres are stimulated during thigh movements, the patient feels as if the sensation is arising from the non-existent limb.
Phantom pain should be distinguished from other conditions that may present similarly, such as phantom limb sensation and residual limb pain. Phantom limb sensation is any sensory phenomenon, except pain, which is felt at an absent limb or a portion of the limb. [ 3 ]
The presence of this anatomical incongruence causes telescoping sensations because the body representation system is trying to adapt and reduce such mismatch by shortening the phantom limb, until it disappears. Consequently, the greater the limb telescoping effect, the more a phantom limb decreases.
New study sheds light on the mystery of how people can experience and control phantom limbs decades after losing a body part.
New treatment for phantom limb pain looks promising.
The majority of individuals with both phantom limb and dysesthesia experience painful sensations. [citation needed] Phantom pain refers to dysesthetic feelings in individuals who are paralyzed or who were born without limbs. It is caused by the improper innervation of the missing limbs by the nerves that would normally innervate the limb.
Phantom limb pain is a type of tactile hallucination because it creates a sensation of excruciating pain in a limb that has been amputated. [11] In 1996, VS Ramachandran conducted a research on several amputees to pinpoint the neural reasons behind these illusionary pains.
In some studies, phantom limb sensation and even pain is experienced by the vast majority of amputees. The reason for this phenomenon is that although the limb is gone, the neural pathways ...