Phantom Pains

[Dave Fales]

i have tried it and the implanted and it did nothing
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <RENARDWC at ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu>
To: Amputee Information Network <amp-l at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2000 4:50 AM
Subject: Phantom Pains


> To: Dave Fales
> 
> I have a friend who has chronic leg pain from spinal damage during a
> severe infections episode that caused calcium loss and his spinal column
> collapsed in some areas. After multiple surgery he went to Hopkins in
> Baltimore for what is called a TENS unit. It takes about a week to get
> the electrodes implanted in the right place (called trial and error, do
> it again) but once they got it right, the pain is gone.
> 
> I don't know if this unit has been used for phantom pain since it would
> probably be hard to find the right area to do the implant. Having said
> that, if you want more info or the name of the surgeon, let me know and
> I will put you in touch with him. He is back to work and doing quite
> well. The only down side is that he has to turn it off during the first
> and last 10 mins of an airplane flight because of FAA regs. He indicated
> that the pain does not return immediately - takes anywhere from minutes
> to hours so the 10 mins without it is not a problem.
> 
> He also does not use it when sleeping unless the pain wakes him up. The
> batteries are on the outside so there is no surgical replacement issue.
> 
> While this solution might work for phantom pain, my guess is that it
> would not be used for phantom sensation that most of us have from time
> to time.
> 
> John Erwin
> 
>