All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Phantom pain in the arms and legs
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
[When can phantom pain occur?
Not necessarily after surgery. It happens even years after it.
A pain phantom can disturb a patient either in one limb or in several parts of the body. The sensation of a non-existent limb is so real that patients feel like the hand is squeezed into a fist or unclenched, and the leg can rise or fall. In this case, the limbs are very sore. But these parts of the tala are no more.
To pain in non-existent limbs can join pains in other parts of the body, quite real. They can amplify even from a simple touch.
This is because the nerve endings transmit painful impulses throughout the body.
These pains can aggravate the state of stress, sudden movements, uncomfortable posture. In this case, even strong medical methods such as high-speed drugs or surgery can not change anything. The pain subsides rarely.
How is phantom pain expressed?
Most often this is pain after surgery. For example, after a person is removed an arm or leg. The bottom line is that a person feels pain in a remote limb as if he felt it in the real, real part of the body. But in fact, this limb does not exist, it is a phantom. Hence the name - phantom pain.
A person who feels phantom pain, even senses the dimensions of his non-existent leg or arm. The hand or foot is seen by a person so real that he even tries to manipulate it - to take something or try to play the ball.
Strong and weak pains
They are different, with varying degrees of power. Pains are frequent or rare. The incidence of pain can reach up to 2-3 times in 6-7 days.
Phantom pains are divided into three degrees
- The first is a strong and burning pain
- The second - the pain, similar to impacts of a current, it name a neuralgic
- The third one is like a vice, when a person is driving muscles
Characteristics of phantom pains
They can continue even after the injured tissues and bones heal. Their duration can be measured over the years.
Often phantom pains are similar to those that were before surgery. For example, a patient who has had an arm amputated can complain of pain in the fingers that bothered him before surgery. And such cases are observed in almost half of the operated patients. And quite a long time - not less than two years.
Pain zones can be observed either on the same side as before surgery, or on the opposite side.
And even a slight touch to a healthy area of the body can trigger a severe pain in the head or limbs.
Chronic diseases can also provoke pain in the operated hands or feet. For example, heart disease that disturbs a person for many years after surgery can provoke pain in the phantom limb even a decade after it was removed.
To ease this pain can blockade with pain medication. True, not for long: only for a few hours or days.
Can help (temporarily) the vibrators imposed on the damaged area of the arm or leg, as well as electrical impulses.
Patients with phantom pain are not alone.
This percentage in the world is quite large. 75% of patients with phantom pain are trying to cure them, often only for a while. Only 15% of people suffer from pain during 5-7 years. The rest they remain.