Annotation #1

Phantom Pain is No Phantom/ Jeff Fredrick, MS, CPO/August 2006/The O&P Edge/ http://www.oandp.com/articles/2006-08_03.asp

The article, ‘Phantom Pain is No Phantom’ talks about how pain is chronic in the peripheral nervous system. The article has a great example of how some would trigger phantom pain, as well as showing someone the reality of pain that they are dealing with. Because the pain is so real to the patient and so mystical from a by standard point of view(because of the missing limb); it makes it hard to believe that it is actually true, causing the credibility from the source to erode. The article then proceeds to talk about understanding the problem. And in understanding how the obsession with this pain completely diminishes any doubt of the pain. The article defines pain as a well-develop biological system designed to protect vulnerable, protoplasmic life forms from more molecularity dense object they encounter in their environment. This system is implicitly designed to demand the complete focus of the organism.  Throughout the reading there is articles that illustrate how the nervous system works. Talking about how everything that goes on in your body is electrical, or chemical.

A man by the name of Frieder Kempe patented a light weight cloth designed to shield the wearer from electromagnetic fields (EMF) in the high-frequency range that can cause damage at their cellular level; thus creating relief. It reduces enzymes and works as an anti-inflammatory for the amputated limb. 

I found this article to be extremely helpful. It has great examples of pain and how it is associated with the nervous system. I found that this source is reliable based on the information provided from the Universities and Physicians. The purpose of this article is to show that there is an understanding for the pain and it relevance to life of a human being; that they are coming closer to understand that the pain may not be so much central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), but more about the Peripheral nervous system Spinal cord and it extending nerves stems with neuroglia.

I do not know yet how I will tie this into my research essay. Stay tuned for an updated annotation.

"Brain Changes" linked to Phantom pain.

So I got into the library data base and Boise state Univ. and found and article that was some what interesting. The article "Brain changes linked to phantom pain" was kinda a hard read. I am currently a Biology health major, and i could barely understand what this author was saying. But I got the jest of it.
       This article was based on a study done in both Humbolt University in Berlin and University of Alabama at Birmingham. The article goes on stating that these researchers followed images of the somatosensory cortex ( sensory part of the brain) in patients, 12 men and 1 woman, all amputees. What they would do is watch the cortex of the brain under sophisticated technology, and as they do that they would stimulate the fingers of the intact arm; lets say the left arm. Now, by doing this will stimulate the patients right hemisphere. See your brain is separated by left and right hemisphere. Each side control the opposite side of your body. So if the intact (left) arm sends messages of sensation to the right hemisphere. Then it would be only natural that the right arm would send or stimulate the left hemisphere. But in this research these patients were missing one of their limbs, whether it was a right or left limb. So, what these researchers did is that they held a mirror beside the intact arm to make it look like both arms where intact, while touching the intact hand. this created the illusion the the left hand was being touched as well. What the researchers saw was the amputated right arm was sending messages stimulating the left hemisphere of the somatosensory cortex, as if the arm was really there.
       So not only in one of the other articles did mirror therapy get rid of pain sensation, but article, this experiment acknowledges that the brain thinks and functions like the limb is still intact, when it is not. Why can't the brain make the connection that the amputated arm is not there, when the patients know its not there?

I have loaded a video for preview of how the brain can image something that is not there. It is called "

Brain Mind Lecture 4 Parietal Lobes Body Image Phantom Limbs 

SpotLight on Phantom Pain

          As I mentioned in my last post, there is as many as 80% of all amputee's experience some type of "Phantom Pain" in the amputated limbs, that aren't present anymore. Over half of all these people that have this condition do not get any type of treatment for the pain. This pain can be a debilitating condition. This article called, "SpotLight on Phantom pain" that I just read states that this makes it a Chronic condition. These people are suffering from this condition with no ease of their pain. Now, these sensations can be burning, itching, squeezing, just to name a few. But can you imagine having any of these sensations with any remedy? As stated in the article, this can be a very confusing and even scary sensation, leading some people to believe that they are losing their minds. So how can you feel pain in a limb that no longer exists??
           In the article, it explains some theories about the condition. And although nobody knows why these amputee have this pain, there are some answers/explanations that are believed around the world. One of these that was stated in the article is "Memory Limb Pain". Which to me sounds like that the brain makes a fixed image of the pain, more like an imprint of the pain. Almost as if it was hard wired into the brains of the amputees.          
           An other theory is "Nerve Bundle Stimulation". Reading illustrates that the nervous around the amputation site either misfire or are stimulated, sending messages to the brain as if they were still intact. these are the same nerves that reach all the way to the end of the limb that was once there. These nerves form bundles called Neuromas. As these nerves fire their impulse, the brain interprets the signals as if they have never been served. sending sharp pain to the end of the phantom limb.
           The last theory stated in the article is "Rewiring of the Nervous System" or I would like the phase as it was in the article before this "Brain Remapping". Basically that the brain and spinal cord makes changes that cause the pain to be interpreted differently.
           As far as treatment for phantom pain; well, the article states that it is much like a chronic pain condition. There is no single treatment approach that works for everybody. Only alternative and complementary treatments are out there to attempt to ease the pain, Mirror Therapy is one of them, as mention from the last article. But also Stump stimulation and Cognitive therapies.
          I like that this article touch on some different theories. Gives me more depth about what scientist or doctors are thinking over the past couple of decades.

PHANTOM PAIN: Unlocking a Mystery

         So I just got done reading this article about Phantom Pain. Its crazy to think that people still have sensation where a limb once was. Some people have been said to have pain years, even decades after the loss of their limb. According to this article a physician coined the phrase "phantom limb" shortly after the Civil War. In the article it states that one study with over 7,000 military amputees, over 80 percent reported phantom pain. What is phantom pain exactly? Well it is my understanding that the pain in limb that was once there, is any type of sensation; from touch, to burning, pinching, scratching, even sharp pains. Scientists believe that following an amputation, nerve cells rewire' themselves and continue to receiving messages; resulting in a remapping of the brains circuitry. Is that even possible; to feel a sensation with an extremity? Apparently, three quarters of all people that has a lost limb, have these pains and sensations. But my question is; does every bodies brain remap the same way? Could be worth looking into. I would like to assume, but going to look into it myself.
           In further reading in the article, a man name Richard A. Sherman, PhD, Chief of surgery, discusses a topic of "Telescoping". He briefly touches that Telescoping" is where, for example; a below-knee amputee can at first feel the calf, ankle, and foot. Gradually the foot "Telescopes" into the end of the residual limb as if the calf and ankle have disappeared. However. telescoping does not happen if the phantom pain is still present. Sherman states that, "If the phantom pain occurs even years later after the amputation, the phantom "grows" back to its original shape and vividness. I assume that this is the case with any limb that has been lost.
          Upon the end of the reading I found it touches a little bit on rehabilitate from Virtual and Augmented Reality Technology. Jim Vallino, Software Engineer defined Virtual Reality as "a computer-generated, interactive, three-dimensional environment in which a person is immersed. And Augmented Reality is an area of V.R. in which a composite view is generated for the user. Take for example this: In a Thrandhardt Lecture was a discussion that mentioned experimental induced phantom experiences, such as the "Mirror Box Illusion" used by Ramachandran and colleges. These people with upper-limb amputations were asked to place their intact arm into a box, with a mirror down the mid-line, so that when viewed from off center, the reflection of their arm gave them the impression of having two arms. Thus, reducing pain for most candidates. 
          This article goes on with more intersting facts. I found this article to be very interesting as it touch on the basis of what Phantom Pain is, as well as what science has brought to the table on this subject. Please feel free to read it here.http://www.oandp.com/articles/2004-05_03.asp