Abstract
The phantom limb phenomenon is universally experienced after a limb has been amputated or its sensory roots have been destroyed. Amputees feel the lost limb so vividly that only when they reach out to touch it do they realize it has been cut off. We will propose that the reality of the phantom limb experience indicates that our bodies have an "invisible body" that appears after surgical removal of the body part. The "invisible body" is perfectly coordinated with the "visible body," which implies that the "invisible body" is an equally important element, making up the totality of the body. We have sought to prove that the "invisible body" does indeed exist through an experiment conducted by inserting an acupuncture needle into the area of a patient's phantom limb at a distance of 10cm from the stump (where we were not able to see anything). The physiological measurements checked were as follows: hinge spread of RR intervals (RRHS) which measures the autonomic nervous control of the heart, skin surface temperature, and h1/h3 that measures the pulse waves at the radial artery using a pulse diagnostic machine. It was found that during the treatment, the temperature of the patient's abdominal region and RRHS showed significant decreases (P<0.01) which may indicate a boost in the parasympathetic nervous system. Also, the patient showed increases in h1/h3 (P<0.01) which suggests that the level of Qi energy in the small intestine meridian changed. On the basis of these results, we belive there to be a possibility of the existence of an "invisible body" that responds to Qi energy, implying that an "invisible body" may be the cause of the phantom limb phenomenon.
