Has anyone ever treated a patient who's lost a limb and suffered 'phantom limb' pains?

Are there any articles that anyone can recall? I've looked in the Lesser Writings of several authors and couldn't find any relating to loss of limbs and resulting troubles.

I would like to read up on any old cases if there are any documented.

Regards to all,
Lisa

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"The significance of a fact is measured by the capacity of the observer."
Carroll Dunham

I'm checking around for you lisa. I think there are some articles in homeopathic magazines..check google out..

[ 08. December 2003, 19:38: Message edited by: carolorr ]

Hey Lis, We had a patient way back in student days who complained of these pains. He was a young guy who'd taken some recreational drugs, slept heavily and awkwardly on his arm damaging nerve supply, the result was he had to have it amputated! From memory the remedy he was given in the student clinic was Hypericum and he reported alleviation of symptoms. But sorry, I don't personally have the case details.

A man I know used to get pains in his fingers which had been shot off, in the seventies, and Hypericum 200 took the pains away, but this was five years ago when I was bad at keeping case notes. I used Synthesis at the time so the rubrics came from there.

I remember at college being told to give Hypericum for phantom limbs.

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Just kidding around.

[ 09. December 2003, 00:28: Message edited by: carolorr ]

There are actually remedies I recall reading about that were "specifics" (you know how those old books go...not really specifics, but good to consider) for phantom limb pain. I'll go check my books and post what I find.

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Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.<br />C.G.Jung

There is a rubric " - EXTREMITY PAIN; GENERAL; amputation, after (17) : acon., all-c., am-m., anh., arg., arn., asaf., cupr., haem., hyper., kalm., ph-ac., rauw., spig., staph++., symph., verat.

I have never had a patient with this symptom though.

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David Kempson.<br />Dip.Homoeopathic Medicine.<br />Lecturer Australian College of Natural Therapies (Brisbane Campus)<br />Member AHA, AROH, HMA<br />Member Australian Homoeopathic Association. Member#0442.

I think its rare to have patients with this symptoms because surgical procedures have advanced so much today, with in depth knowlege of anatomy of nerves as well as better surgical equipment, etc.

Phantom pains are the experience of the amputated limb still being there and pain felt in that amputated part (as experienced by the brain) probably due to a faulty procedure of cutting the nerve that supplies that area that is amputated. It could also be because the amputated end of the nerve has regenerated and is growing.

Lisa is this a question for a patient with this symptom or is it an academic question?

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Lisa

I also gave Hypericum 200c to a woman who lost a toe, the symptoms fit very well. She just kept saying she felt like the part that was missing was still there and that it was "slammed in a door, or squished and all the nerves are on fire." This was given a month after the removal of the toe. The 200c had good results for about 6 weeks and then the pains returned, I redosed with a water dose of 200c with no effect. I then redosed with a 1m and the person had a complete amelioration and has not had a return of symptoms.