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Phantom Limb Pain Case Study

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Phantom limb pain (PLP) is when a person who has had a limb amputated experiences a painful sensation and pain where the limb used to be and this can affect the person’s quality of life as it may prevent them to focus on anything other than the sensation that is occurring.
There are various forms of treatment that can be used to help the individual with the pain that they are feeling. For example: acupuncture, hypnosis, various medication and mirror box therapy.
Acupuncture
David Bradbrook- a physiotherapist- reviewed 3 cases where acupuncture was used to treat PLP and in 2 out of 3 of these cases this form of treatment was successful. Acupuncture works by placing needles in specific areas of the body and the needles stimulate nerves under the skin that will release pain-relieving substances- endorphins . In the first case study the …show more content…
Hypnosis works by trying to, in a sense re wire the brain and make it try to understand that there is no limb where there actually should be one. Hypnosis treatment works on the part of the brain that is tied to instinctual behaviour, by getting the brain to create and re-evaluate the connections tied to the limb that was previously there to try and override the connections that were already made.
A case study of a woman, Diane, who was in a motorbike accident which subsequently led to the amputation of her leg has shown that hypnosis for treatment of PLP is actually effective. In Diane’s case she had initially found some success in acupuncture for treating PLP but as the pain got worse she was prescribe different types of pain relief medication to relieve the pain. However, even through the use of drugs the pain was still ‘barely tolerable’. With Diane she was still suffering through post-traumatic stress disorder which has been known to actually worsen

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