The phenomenon of a phantom limb is a common experience after a limb has been amputated or its sensory roots have been destroyed. A complete break of the spinal cord also often leads to a phantom body below the level of the break. Furthermore, a phantom of the breast, the penis, or of other innervated body parts is reported after surgical removal of the structure. A substantial number of childr...

BACKGROUND Amputation of an extremity often results in the sensation of a "phantom limb" where the patient feels that the limb that has been amputated is still present. This is frequently accompanied by "phantom limb pain". We report here the use of milnacipran, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, to treat phantom limb pain after amputation of injured or diseased limbs in three p...

Phantom limbs refer to the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached to the body. Phantom limbs may be perceived as continuous with the stump so as to resemble a normal limb, or as "telescoped" with the more distal portion of the phantom being perceived as having withdrawn within the stump. Telescoping tends to be related to increased levels of phantom pain, making it a clin...

In mirror-touch synaesthesia merely observing another person being touched will cause the observers to experience a touch sensation on their own body. The current study investigates whether this, normally a developmental condition, might be acquired following amputation. Twenty-eight amputees observed 67 videos of touch events and indicated a) whether the video elicited tactile sensations, b) w...

Phantom limb pain is a painful sensation that is perceived in a body part that no longer exists. To control this pain, many methods have been used such as medication, physical treatment, nerve block, neuromodulation, surgical treatment and mirror therapy. However, until now, there effects have been uncertain. We report the successful reduction of phantom limb pain using mirror therapy when othe...

Between January 2001 and December 2007, we performed vaginoplasty as sex reassignment surgery in a total of 14 male-to-female transsexual (MTFTS) patients [1]. Several complications occurred such as partial flap necrosis, rectovaginal fistula formation and hypersensitivity of the neoclitoris. Just after the operation, some patients feel that their penises still exist, but by several weeks posto...