Phantom Limb

    There are two different types of phantom sensations commonly felt after an amputation. There is phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain. Both of which occurs where there has been an amputation. It can be a tooth, breast, arm or where any body part was removed. But it most commonly affects the arms and legs.

    Phantom limb sensation is painless. It is where one still feels there missing limb along with feelings such as: itching, tingling, coldness and warmth. They say that often these sensations will go away. Everyone is different, even people born without limbs can feel these sensations. There is nothing more weird than having a itch you cannot scratch!!! It can be quite annoying! I just hold tightly on my arm praying I get the nerve that is causing the issue! lol. When I drink something cold I can feel it go all down my arm it is quite creepy!

    Phantom limb pain tends to be more painful, varying from person to person. They say that if your symptoms have lasted for eight months than your chances to improve are not likely. Symptoms of phantom limb pain are such as: shooting pain, stabbing, squeezing, throbbing, and burning. The limb may also cramp up and twist in uncomfortable positions. As for me I call my hand a bulley because it tends to twist my arm behind my back and torture me. My fingers tend to bend backwards in painful positions. Somehow I feel as tho I get papercuts in my fingers. My phantom pain is almost constant. Just some days are worse than others. After working out or when my heart is racing my arm throbs like crazy! It is just amazing how the brain opperates! After amputaton the nerve endings are still sending signals to the brain, therefore the brain still thinks the missing limb is still there. It has been said that the brain remembers the pain that the missing limb indured. Say if one lost a limb in a painful accident, your brain would still remember that and store it into memory and that would determine ones phantom limb pain. And if one lost a limb due to a scheduled amputation one is less likely to have severe phantom limb pain. 

    There are other factors that can trigger ones phantom limb pains. These triggers are: changes in the weather, stress, anxiety, lack of

sleep and pressure on the remaining limb. Usually I can tell when it is going to rain, my pain will get alot worse, it will be numb, tense and tingly. My favorite side to sleep on is the side where my arm is missing. But due to a bone sticking out on that side it is rather difficult to sleep on. But that habbit is hard to break. When I sleep on that side for too long my brain switches to a painful nightmare in relation to my arm. That is my brains way of telling me to rollover! If I lay on that side too long I wake up in alot of pain! Therefore its just a cycle of restless sleep. And I have learned if I have not had much sleep my pain gets worse. 
    There are several ways to help ease the pain. Such as applying hot and cold therapy, massage and relaxation techniques. TENS units are very beneficial, along with biofeedback. It is also beneficial to wear a prosthetic, the applied pressure is supposed to ease the pain. I have yet to get my prosthetic to experiment, but I will let you know as soon as I do! Accupuncture and mirror therapy have been known to help some, Mirror therapy did not help me due to my level of amputation. Drugs such as anticonvulsents, antidepresents, opiods have been known to help. Neurotin helps me the most! I can tell a world of difference if I dont take it. I also have a topical cream that contains neurontin, and other medications in it, that helps. I also go to a pain clinic where I receive facet shots all in my shoulder, back and neck area to help relieve the pain. I also think it is important to talk to a couselor to make sure your in a positive place and have someone you can vent to, because this right here straight up sucks! Most people do not understand, they see that your healed from surgery therefore you should be fine now. But most likely you are not, so make sure you join some groups so you can talk to people that understand. There are plenty of people willing to listen and help you, check out http://www.empoweringamputees.org/ and http://www.amputee-coalition.org/. Lastly if your pain is severe there are spinal cord stimulators and deep brain stimulators one can see about getting. Also recently I talked to a guy in Louisiana and he had a surgery performed in North Carolina where the nerves in his neck were fused. He claimed it was a miracle surgery! He is now on zero medications! That is something I am getting close to checking into! I hate being on all this medication, it makes me so tired and yet I can not sleep well and the pain does not go away! I just wish my brain would get with the program and realize there is not an arm there! It is funny because my neice will always ask, "What is your arm doing now?" and for once I would like to say I can not feel it anymore! I hope this insight was beneficial, feel free to contact me for more information or just to vent! Stay Strong! We survived for a reason!