Phantom limb syndrome occurs when people who have had a part of the body amputated continue to feel it , which usually results in painful experiences (it seems that exercise helps to alleviate them).
This phenomenon occurs to 80% of those affected. It also manifests itself with the impression that the limb remains attached to the body and functioning normally, so that everything from pleasant sensations to itching can be perceived.
Experts rule out a psychological origin of the ailment and disagree on its persistence : some people suffer it for a short time after trauma or surgery; in others, symptoms decrease and many require treatment and therapy. The causes of the phenomenon remain under discussion, but the latest research places its origin in the brain , where the areas neurologically connected to the nerves in the area of the amputated limb would generate the sensations consistent with the stimuli that they no longer receive.
In addition, the adjacent regions of the brains would invade those areas that no longer function and would cause them to identify sensations from other parts of the body with those of the absent limb. Also included in phantom limb syndrome are damage to nerves previously attached to the lost limb, surgical scars, and physical memory of pain prior to amputation.
