Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffIt's still unknown why some people develop phantom pain after an amputation while others do not. Some factors that may increase your risk of phantom pain include:
- Pain before amputation. Some researchers have found that people who had pain in a limb before amputation are likely to have it afterward, especially immediately after amputation. This may be because the brain holds on to the memory of the pain and keeps sending pain signals, even after the limb is removed.
- Stump pain. People who have persistent stump pain usually have phantom pain, too. Stump pain can be caused by a neuroma, an abnormal growth on damaged nerve endings that often results in painful nerve activity.
- Poor-fitting artificial limb (prosthesis). Talk to your doctor to be sure you're putting your artificial limb on correctly and that it fits properly. If you think your artificial limb may not fit properly, or is causing pain, talk to your doctor.
References
- Pain: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chronic_pain/detail_chronic_pain.htm. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Dillingham TR, et al. Upper limb amputations. In: Frontera WR, et al. Essentials of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:595.
- Mosaku KS, et al. Psychological reactions to amputation in a sample of Nigerian amputees. General Hospital Psychiatry. 2009;31:20.
- Ramachandra VS, et al. The use of visual feedback, in particular mirror visual feedback, in restoring brain function. Brain. 2009;132:1693.
- Radbruch L. Pain in cancer survivors. In: Walsh D, et al. Palliative Medicine. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/155581031-4/0/2038/259.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05674-8..50258-9--chapter1. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Jeffries GE. Post-amputation pain. Amputation Coalition of America. http://www.amputee-coalition.org/inmotion/mar_apr_98/pain_mgt/page1.html. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Chan BL, et al. Mirror therapy for phantom limb pain. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:2206.
- McNutt S. New paths in phantom limb pain treatment. Amputation Coalition of America. http://www.amputee-coalition.org/inmotion/mar_apr_07/phantom_treatment.html. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Bajwa ZH, et al. Cancer pain syndromes. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Acupuncture for pain. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/acupuncture-for-pain.htm. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Phantom pain: An update. Amuptee Coaltion. http://www.amputee-coalition.org/communicator/vol3no1pg3.html. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Fast facts on amputation/phantom limb pain. American Pain Foundation. http://www.painfoundation.org/learn/library/pain-conditions/amputation/fast-facts-amputation.html. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Giustozzi AA. Chronic pain management. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/155122192-13/876983605/1701/135.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-04134-8..50006-9--cesec586_2770. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Martin DP (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 26, 2009.
