phantom pain
Absent limb sensation
Phantom pain is pain felt in a body part that has been amputated or no longer exists.
The sensation is real—generated by the nervous system—though the limb is gone: Years after losing his leg, he still felt phantom pain in his missing toes.
The term extends to emotional echoes of past trauma: the phantom pain of a failed marriage.
Manufactured replacement body part
- stumpTrunk base after felling
- residual limbExtremity portion remaining post-amputation
- amputeeOne without a limb
- socketHollow receiving cavity
rehabilitation · recovery · adaptation · physical therapy · occupational therapy · mobility · assistive devices · orthotics
Perceived stimulus or phenomenon
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- presenceState of being somewhere
- proprioceptionBody's spatial self-awareness
- body mapDiagram of physical form
tingling · itching · cramping · clenching · temperature · pressure · vivid · involuntary
Damage to peripheral nerves
- neuroplasticityBrain's self-rewiring ability
- peripheral nervesNeural pathways outside CNS
- neuralgiaSharp pain from irritated nerves
- spinal cordBrain's extension through vertebrae
thalamus · sensory feedback · brain mapping · neurotransmitter · synapse · neuron · desensitization · nerve block
Intense sorrow from loss
- lossBeing without something
- traumaLasting psychological wound
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
- anguishIntense mental suffering
body image · identity · adjustment · mourning · acceptance · denial · frustration · anxiety
Continuing despite difficulty
- intractableImpossible to manage
- unrelentingRefusing to let up
- constantFixed, unvarying quantity
- recurrentHappening multiple times
long-lasting · nagging · throbbing · burning · shooting · episodic · flare-up · management
prosthesis
Manufactured replacement body part
- stumpTrunk base after felling
- residual limbExtremity portion remaining post-amputation
- amputeeOne without a limb
socket · rehabilitation · recovery · adaptation · physical therapy · occupational therapy · mobility · assistive devices · orthotics · disarticulation
sensation
Perceived stimulus or phenomenon
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- presenceState of being somewhere
- proprioceptionBody's spatial self-awareness
body map · tingling · itching · cramping · clenching · temperature · pressure · vivid · involuntary · telescoping
neuropathy
Damage to peripheral nerves
- neuroplasticityBrain's self-rewiring ability
- peripheral nervesNeural pathways outside CNS
- neuralgiaSharp pain from irritated nerves
spinal cord · thalamus · sensory feedback · brain mapping · neurotransmitter · synapse · neuron · desensitization · nerve block
grief
Intense sorrow from loss
anguish · body image · identity · adjustment · mourning · acceptance · denial · frustration · anxiety · depression
persistent
Continuing despite difficulty
- intractableImpossible to manage
- unrelentingRefusing to let up
- constantFixed, unvarying quantity
recurrent · long-lasting · nagging · throbbing · burning · shooting · episodic · flare-up · management · coping
- rehabilitationrehab, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, inpatient rehab
- body painache, aches, pang, throb, soreness
- Hallucinationsvisual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucination, auditory hallucination, seeing things
- neurological symptomsnumbness, tremor, paralysis, aphasia, ataxia
- pain conditionsmyalgia, fibromyalgia, arthritis, neuralgia, neuropathy
- veteran healthPTSD, shell shock, combat fatigue, battle fatigue, combat trauma
phantom painacute pain
Severe, sudden discomfort
localized pain · referred pain · physical pain · tissue damage · physical injury
pain, fantastic, fantasy, penalty, phantom, pantomime, phantoms, phantomlike