Sincerely,
Nick Ng
Founder of Massage & Fitness Magazine
Pain That You Cannot Touch
Back in 2013, when I was a noob in the modern understanding of pain, psychology, and massage therapy, phantom limb pain and sensation was mentioned a lot in the literature I was reading. That’s probably because much of the progress in how we think about pain and treatment came from physicians and researchers who worked with amputees, such as Silas Mitchell Weir, William K. Livingston, and Ronald Melzack.
Having worked on a few amputees in the past three years, and having heard stories about how amputees overcame their disability, I thought this would be a good time to explore what is known about phantom limb pain and sensation. Since there are about 2 million amputees in the U.S. (and maybe similar stats in developed countries) due to trauma injuries, diabetes, infectious diseases, and other causes, we may encounter and work with this population occasionally. So, we should have a basic understanding of what phantom limb pain and sensation are, how they affect people’s lives, and what we can do to help.
Do you work with any amputees or want to work with this population? Well, I hope this issue can help you to do your job better. If you want to share your story and have it published in a future issue, please review our editorial policies and email me: [email protected].