Phantom Limb Pain: A Case Study

In the article, “Sometimes Pain Is a Puzzle That Can’t Be Solved”, Abigail Zuger, the author, describes her own experiences with pain along with some examples and generalizations about the feeling. She claims that she is “ruled by (her) elbow” and “it is (her) constant companion, whimpering, and tugging at (her) sleeve.” She goes on to say that many people have the same problems, especially when drugs, “like naproxen and ibuprofen” are unhelpful and “might as well be cornflakes.” Finally, she explains how far we have advanced in the medical field, but “ none of (the) knowledge has translated into new treatments,” to help people such as herself.

Evaluation of persons for surgery is generally recommended only after focal seizures persist despite the person having tried at least two appropriately chosen and well-tolerated medications, or if there is an identifiable brain lesion (a dysfunctional part of the brain) believed to cause the seizures. When someone is considered to be a good candidate for surgery experts generally agree that it should be performed as early as possible.

Brain science is hard to understand. Very hard. However, Dr. Norman Doidge describes the current understanding of brain plasticity by using relatable examples and comprehensible diction instead of arduous textbook style writing. In The Brain that Changes Itself, Doidge challenges the age-old belief that the brain's structure is concrete by providing countless experiments that prove the brain to be malleable.

For centuries, our world has developed from agricultural age into a technological era. Nowadays, we are surrounded by all kinds of electrical equipment to serve our work and life with much higher efficiency. There are tons of innovations and new technologies that have been developed recently: Internet, robots, social apps and new treating methods. Those technologies are developing really fast at a speed we could never image before. However, as time goes by, it also brings people concerns, is those technologies going to bring any threat to our daily life? In Lauren Slater’s essay, “ Who Holds the Clicker?”, the author introduced a new method, DBS--Deep Brain stimulation Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)--which is a faster way to treat the patient 's’

How did writing first develop? What was its function? Who invented it? Writing first developed as tokens, which were merely clay pieces about the size of a quarter. The tokens represented an accounting system and were used to record items purchased or sold such as goats, sheep or even bottles of wine. It is unclear whether writing was invented by the Sumerians or the Egyptians. However, what is not disputed is the Sumerians created one of the first and most distinguished forms of writing.

The purpose of my paper is to discuss the history of Congenital Analgesia and its presence in the human body. Congenital Analgesia, also referred to as Congenital Insensitivity to Pain or CIP, is a rare neurological disorder of the nervous system that prevents a person from being able to feel pain. Congenital Analgesia results from the “lack of ion channels that transport sodium across sensory nerves. Without these channels, nerve cells are unable to communicate pain” (Hamzelou, 2015, p. 1). While the body does not respond to extreme changes in temperature or bodily harm and damage, those with Congenital Analgesia can still process normal sensations such as body-to-body contact or joint movement.

Igor Spetic is a volunteer at the research center in the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He uses his left hand, which is his own flesh and blood, and his right hand, a plastic metal prosthetic (a consequence of an industrial accident). The prosthetic in his right hand uses the “myoelectric” device which is controlled by flexing his muscles in his right arm.

This is an exparte case requested Chiropractic, CA MTUS states that it is recommended for chronic pain if caused by musculoskeletal conditions, and only when manipulation is specifically recommended by the provider in the plan of care. ODG states that it is not recommended. Manipulation has not been proven effective in high quality studies for patients with pain in the hand, wrist, or forearm, but smaller studies have shown comparable effectiveness to other conservative therapies. Review of medical records indicates that the patient is s/p left thumb surgery He had neuropathic pain distally. He was unable to hold onto any objects. However, guideline criteria have not been met. The following questions are presented:

Admit the patient using critical thinking skills to assess and prioritise nursing interventions related to Audrey’s.

Due to the presence of the mirror the individual visually perceives that both hands are there and functioning. To release the clenching pain the person clenches both “hands” and releases. Upon the release of the hands the individual feels the clenching pain begin to subside in their phantom limb; therefore, the individual continues to clench and release whenever the pain becomes unbearable again. The second case presented to Ramachandran does not fit with the theory provided. The second case is showing that the brain needs to experience a type of placebo effect with visual stimuli to ease the clenching phantom limb pain. Phantom limb pain cannot just be a reorganization of the somatosensory cortex.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive tool for the electrical stimulation of neural tissue, including cerebral cortex, spinal roots, and cranial and peripheral nerves. TMS can be applied as single pulses of stimulation, pairs of stimuli separated by variable intervals to the same or different brain areas, or as trains of repetitive stimuli at various frequencies. Single stimuli can depolarise neurons and evoke measurable effects. Trains of stimuli (repetitive TMS) can modify excitability of the cerebral cortex at the stimulated site and also at remote areas along functional anatomical connections. Transcranial magnetic stimulation might provide novel insights into the pathophysiology of the neural circuitry underlying neurological and psychiatric disorders, be developed into

Phantom limb syndrome is a neurological disorder that affects amputees and is characterized by phantom sensations that appear to emanate from the missing limb (Rugnetta). The phantom sensations can be painful or nonpainful in nature, so that the individual experiences pain, touch sensations, or changes in temperature (Rugnetta), despite missing the peripheral portions of the spinothalamic pathway and other pathways involved in relaying information to associated regions of the brain, and in particular to the somatosensory cortex. The mechanisms involved in phantom limb syndrome are not fully understood. However, it has been noted that following amputation there is a rewiring of parts of the brain associated with sensation (Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, Hall, LaMantia, & White, 2012), including, “considerable reorganization

Neuropathy is a condition of the peripheral nerves that may cause severe pain in the hands, feet and other areas. The pain can be reduced through a variety of therapies depending on its cause.

The book Phantoms in the brain by; neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran and New York Times science writer Sandra Blakeslee, consists in the explanation of neurophysiology and neuropsychology, the authors also showed some cases of patients with peculiar mental disorders, that some doctors could not diagnose, therefore the patients were declared insane. The reason for this is that not all doctors will take the time to look into different meanings for illnesses; it includes many mysteries of the human mind and the reason why these occur. Ramachandran talks about plasticity in the brain and borderline neurological cases. The author analyzes the cases profoundly regardless how bizarre, empirical, strikingly simple the case can be. The neuroscientist,

In this video Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran explains how the brain works and he began investigation about the “phantom limb syndrome”.