Abstract
Following lesions in somatosensory pathways, deafferentation pain often occurs. Evidence has accumulated that deafferentation pain, including phantom limb pain, might be a phenomenon of the CNS that is related to plastic changes at several levels of the neuraxis and, in particular, the cortex. Here, we focus on patients, vivid reports about the qualitative complexity of the pain and spontaneous, voluntary or involuntary movement perception of the phantom limb. We recently succeeded in treating deafferentation pain with a mirror visual feedback. Mirror visual feedback treatment is a promising therapeutic approach to certain types of deafferentation pain. Different pain-alleviating effects are observed for different qualities of deafferentation pain, suggesting different origins of the pain. Therefore, treatment strategies should consider the qualities of deafferentation pain.
