Phantom Limb News and Research

RSS

Phantom Limb is the sensation of pain or other unpleasant feelings in the place of a missing (phantom) limb.

Research may lead to improved treatment option for phantom limb pain

Electrical stimulation on the skin surface at the elbow can produce feeling in the hand—including rare "natural" sensations—according to a study just published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.

3 Sep 2015

Northwestern Medicine researchers evaluate unique surgical method to treat chronic amputee pain

Northwestern Medicine® researchers are leading a new multi-center clinical trial to evaluate a unique surgical method, known as targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), to treat chronic pain that can result from limb amputation. Around a quarter of all amputees develop chronic pain in the remaining portion of their amputated limb, which can include phantom limb syndrome (pain that is perceived in the portion of the limb that is gone), and prevents many patients from using prostheses.

5 Feb 2015

Bilateral shoulder-level amputee controls APL's Modular Prosthetic Limbs

A Colorado man made history at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) this summer when he became the first bilateral shoulder-level amputee to wear and simultaneously control two of the Laboratory's Modular Prosthetic Limbs.

22 Dec 2014

Researchers identify important neural mechanism responsible for certain chronic pain disorders

Pain typically has a clear cause-but not always. When a person touches something hot or bumps into a sharp object, it's no surprise that it hurts. But for people with certain chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain, a gentle caress can result in agony.

6 Dec 2014

Effective treatment for phantom limb pain continues to be elusive

Army doctors in the First World War were helpless to stop soldiers who lost limbs from suffering in pain, according to researchers.

10 Nov 2014

Researchers determine safety and effectiveness of neurostimulation to treat chronic pain

Chronic pain, which persists despite the fact that an injury has healed, can last for many months or years and may affect up to 15 percent of the adult population at any point in time.

13 Aug 2014

Occupational therapist receives $1M grant to develop virtual world programs that help amputees improve skills

Some people use alternate virtual world programs like Second Life- to escape reality, but one researcher is examining whether these same virtual worlds that are used to stimulate the imagination could help amputees develop the skills needed to navigate the real world.

11 Nov 2013

Study: Messages coming from muscle receptors are enough to change the internal body representation

People can be easily tricked into believing an artificial finger is their own, shows a study published today [23 September] in The Journal of Physiology.

23 Sep 2013

NACC recommendations address established pain therapies and preview potential future advances

Recommendations of the Neuromodulation Appropriateness Consensus Committee (NACC), announced at the 11th World Congress of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS), address established therapies and preview emerging and potential future advances.

13 Jun 2013

Evoking illusion of having phantom hand in non-amputated individuals possible, study shows

The sensation of having a physical body is not as self-evident as one might think. Almost everyone who has had an arm or leg amputated experiences a phantom limb: a vivid sensation that the missing limb is still present.

16 Apr 2013

DBS can lead to long-term improvement in patients with neuropathic pain

For many patients with difficult-to-treat neuropathic pain, deep brain stimulation (DBS) can lead to long-term improvement in pain scores and other outcomes, according to a study in the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

14 Feb 2013

Sleep disorder treatment: an interview with Dr Seth Lederman, President and CEO of Tonix Pharmaceuticals

Sleep disorders are a large area. We are focused on one particular type of sleep disturbance called “non-restorative” sleep. People with this problem do sleep, but they don’t wake up feeling refreshed or feeling that their sleep has had the restorative effects of healthy sleep.

29 Aug 2012

Revision surgery improves upper limb amputation outcome

Revision surgery can significantly reduce pain and increases prosthesis use in veterans who undergo combat-related major upper-extremity amputation, US research demonstrates.

24 Aug 2012

Exercise reduces expression of cytokines and alleviates neuropathic pain

Exercise helps to alleviate pain related to nerve damage (neuropathic pain) by reducing levels of certain inflammation-promoting factors, suggests an experimental study in the June issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

2 Jun 2012

Study focuses on role of the brain and mind in chronic and complex pain disorders

Training the brain to reduce pain could be a promising approach for treating phantom limb pain and complex regional pain syndrome, according to an internationally known neuroscience researcher speaking today at the American Pain Society's Annual Scientific Meeting.

19 May 2012

NIMH honors SUNY Downstate professor with MERIT award

Todd C. Sacktor, M.D., distinguished professor of physiology and pharmacology and of neurology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has received a MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for his research on memory.

7 Apr 2012

Peripheral nerve stimulation may help manage neuropathic pain in injured soldiers

An peripheral nerve stimulation technique may be a valuable new approach for relief of severe neuropathic (nerve-related) pain in injured soldiers, reports an article in the March issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

22 Mar 2012

Erasing neuronal memories may help control persistent pain

For some, the pain is so great that they can't even bear to have clothes touch their skin. For others, it means that every step is a deliberate and agonizing choice. Whether the pain is caused by arthritic joints, an injury to a nerve or a disease like fibromyalgia, research now suggests there are new solutions for those who suffer from chronic pain.

13 Feb 2012

UC Berkeley scientists offer treatment hope for patients with tinnitus

Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are offering hope to the 10 percent of the population who suffer from tinnitus - a constant, often high-pitched ringing or buzzing in the ears that can be annoying and even maddening, and has no cure.

13 Sep 2011

Diabetes drug rosiglitazone can reduce development of neuropathic pain

The diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) can control inflammation leading to nerve damage and abnormal pain responses, suggests a paper in the August issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

26 Jul 2011