Amputee Life — Pain Management

Most people expect pain after an amputation. However, there are different types of post-amputation pain categorized into two kinds: residual limb pain and phantom limb pain. It’s crucial to differentiate between these types of pain because the treatment and management strategies differ.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and the Veterans Affairs (VA) North Texas Health Care System have developed the latest iteration in virtual therapy for phantom limb pain. The system is called Mr. MAPP or Mixed reality system for Managing Phantom Pain.

Although gait asymmetry and lower back pain are often found together in unilateral below-knee amputees, it is still unknown whether better gait symmetry reduces lower back pain.

As psilocybin has been legalized for therapeutic use in states like Oregon and Colorado, as well as cities like Washington DC and Oakland, will fellow hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) soon have its medical-marijuana moment? Decades ago, it was theorized and tested that LSD could alleviate suffering from phantom limb pain.

Unlike other animals, humans are constantly developing. This is why we need our parents’ protection in the first phase of life. This is also why our experiences have the power to make our brains adapt, change, and modify in function and structure throughout life. This phenomenon is called neuroplasticity, and it plays a part in how people suffering from phantom limb pain can overcome it.