Treatments for PLP

Alright, so phantom limb pain hurts, and its common. So what do we do to treat phantom limb pain?

This is a very complicated task.  Since PLP is a chronic pain, neuropathic pain, normal pain medication such as opiates/opioids don't work.  Even though they are commonly prescribed, those types of pain medications poorly treat chronic types of pain.  There really are no great ways to treat neuropathic types of pain.

One randomized control trial looked at the effects of a combined approach to treat PLP that included training of progressive muscle relaxation, mental imagery, and phantom exercises 2 times/wk for 4 weeks.  The control group did the same exercises, but on the residual limb.  The participants were given a questionnaire on their pain repeatedly throughout the trial.  The results showed a significant decrease in all of the domains the researchers included in their questionnaire in the experimental group, but no change in the control group.  Another significant aspect of this study is that these patients were not receiving any pharmacological treatment for their pain.

(http://www.deltaholistics.com/holistictouch/tag/progressive-muscle-relaxation/)

(http://www.ireflex.co.uk/mirrorboxtherapy.com/how-its-used/)

References:

Brunelli, S., Morone, G., Iosa, M., Ciotti, C., De Giorgi, R., Foti, C., & Traballesi, M. (2015). Efficacy of Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Mental Imagery, and Phantom Exercise Training on Phantom Limb: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Archives Of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 96(2), 181-187. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2014.09.035