MIRROR THERAPY TREATS PHANTOM LIMB

Amputees often suffer from pain in the missing limb, a limb the amputee still experiences as being present. A new therapy that creates an illusion using mirrors is proving helpful to Iraq war veterans to eliminate this pain, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine and conducted at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

In the mirror therapy, a special arrangement of mirrors allows the patient to "see" the reflected image of the remaining limb as being actually the missing limb. When the patient moves both limbs, it appears that both limbs move. Often the phantom limb pain occurs because the assumed position of the missing limb is one associated with pain. When the patient "moves" the phantom limb into a position that is more comfortable, the pain goes away in most cases,

The researchers believe that the source of the pain is the brain's confusion as to the existence and whereabouts of the phantom limb. The physical sensations and the visual sensations do not match up. The mirror illusion allows for an apparent alignment of physical sensation and visuals as the phantom limb is seen and felt to move into a more comfortable position.