Visual Feedback Combined With Proprioceptive Feedback Helps Relieve Phantom Pain

Max Ortiz-Catalan and colleagues recently reported a case study in which they used virtual reality to decrease phantom limb pain. Treatment led to complete pain-free periods, the ability to freely move their phantom limb, and a telescoping effect in which the position of the phantom hand was restored to the anatomically correct distance. This treatment could be helpful for bilateral amputees in which mirror therapy is not an option as mirror therapy requires one intact limb.

Treatment of phantom limb pain (PLP) based on augmented reality and gaming controlled by myoelectric pattern recognition: a case study of a chronic PLP patient