The truth about 'ghost arms'

Some people after undergoing surgery to remove their legs (hands) or a person with an impaired leg (hand) who are constantly suffering from pain, are bitter, sometimes feeling very normal in lost parts . A few special cases, patients still have enough limbs, but always have the feeling that they have an 'invisible arm' sprouting from the center of their chest, very painful. So what is the truth about that 'ghost arm'?

Virtual ghost arm

The medical community referred to these cases as 'Ma chi', 'virtual ghost arm' . The 'ma chi' syndrome usually occurs in people who have had their limbs removed, which accounts for 60-80%. The ' o' is usually shorter and in a deviated position, causing more pain than the 'real' limb . The pain gets worse when the owner is stressed, worried too much or every time the weather changes. 'Ma chi' pain persists continuously, the frequency and intensity of attacks often decreases over time, whereas some people still suffer from persistent pain for many years.

'Ma chi' syndrome was first described in 1552 by French surgeon - Ambroise Paré. He observed and recorded the fact that soldiers who had to cut off a part of their body often screamed in pain at the location of their limbs. The same syndrome was later observed and noted by French scientists, mathematicians and philosophers - René Descartes, German doctor - Aaron Lemos, Scottish anatomist - Sir Charles Bell and doctor. Silas Weir Mitchell, a wounded soldier in Philadelphia during the American Civil War. By the 18th century, Scottish doctor - William Porterfield was the first person to write details about 'ghost limbs' syndrome , after his one-leg surgery.

Due to changes in brain nerve circuits

Before there are advanced diagnostic tests, many doctors think that ghost pain is a psychological problem rather than an actual disease. They believe that pain is because the patient does not want or cannot accept a loss, or because the patient thinks too much about the loss.

By the 1990s, major explanations of the causes of 'limb syndrome' were proposed by neurologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran of the University of San Diego (USA). According to him, the main cause is the adjustment of the brain. Because the mental activity of the limbs in the human body is organized and arranged according to somatic map at the central nervous system. This is a regional assignment map on the brain that commands the body's part. When this map is disordered, it will lead to extremity sensory conditions and other 'virtual' expenses.

People with 'ma chi' always have the feeling that they are still intact,but shorter than before, with persistent aches and pains

In the case of a person being sawed off their legs or arms, they themselves can only lose the nerve endings and the root nerve and somatic map remain 'raw'. That means those who have amputated legs and arms have a 'virtual ghost arm' because 'somatic sensory map' still exists on the brain that has not been deleted.

In the past, doctors thought that pain only occurred in amputation surgery, in people who were born with no limbs, but in 2012, in The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences raised a school. Especially, a 31-year-old female patient still has enough legs and arms to always feel like she has a 'ghost arm' sprouting from the center of her chest. This obsession caused her pain throughout the 'invisible arm' . That frightening condition lasted for 14 months, causing her life to be completely turned upside down.

Researchers explain on the basis of available theories and are almost universally acknowledged as: brain lesions have caused 'somatic sensory maps' to be drawn for parts of the body. reorganized and the transmission relationship between regions (on the sensory map, the shoulders and the chest are very close together) displaced.

The shoulder area - the arm is disconnected, transferring information from the neuron to the upper chest, mixing feelings with each other and the chest receives strange feelings for the arm. It is this that makes the patient feel that the extra arm grows from his chest.

These treatments

For two decades, scientists tried to find a way to treat 'ghost arm' pain. Drug therapy includes: analgesics (aspirin, acetaminophen and narcotics), sedatives - sleeping pills (benzodiazepines), antidepressants (bupropion, imipramine), anticonvulsants (gabapentin), anesthetic Ketamine. Non-surgical methods include: Electrical stimulation of percutaneous nerves, magnetic stimulation through the skull, stimulation of the spinal cord, deep brain stimulation, electric shock therapy. Surgical method: use electrodes to destroy small parts of the spinal cord.

Currently, people have created a method to treat this disease quite effectively. In addition to using drugs, bio-feedback methods, hypnosis and muscle relaxation , doctors use quite interesting treatments. It was using a mirror box, inside there was a double-sided mirror and there were two holes on either side. The patient gives both the hands, the legs intact and the 'virtual' limb into the hole of the box, and then sees the effect of the arm, truth in the upper corner of the box. On the opposite side is the 'virtual' limb, the patient will also see the image of the moving arm and leg. They will feel like they are controlling the rest of their arms, legs and feel less painful.

This method was introduced in 2012 when neurologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Dr. Paul McGeoch tested the case of a 57-year-old woman (nicknamed RN) - who was born with a right hand turned away The format has only three fingers and very rough thumb. After a car accident at age 18, her right hand was removed. 35 years later, the woman still sees the appearance of 'virtual ' right hands, but has 5 fingers (not just 3 fingers like innate hands). These 5 'virtual ' fingers according to her feelings are shorter than 5 'real' fingers of the left hand.

Time passed, but in the end the woman had to go to the hospital for treatment with very terrible pain in her 'virtual' right hand. McGeoch and Ramachandran helped RN patients use visual feedback mirrors, for 30 minutes a day. After two weeks, miraculously, she was able to move her 'ghost' finger and felt less painful. Importantly, she felt that all 5 of her 'virtual' fingers were now long normal. Ramachandran and McGeoch said that this case provides evidence that the brain itself is 'programming', 'formatting' what belongs to the innate, a full hand has 5 fingers.

Besides, doctors recommend that people with 'ma chi' pain should regularly read books and listen to music; practice subjects or do favorite jobs like walking, swimming, cycling, gardening, raising birds, animals .; find ways to relax such as taking a warm bath or lying down, meditating, yoga; join community clubs . to temporarily forget the pain.