A Clinical Trial of Mirror Treatment for Phantom Pain

The mirror treatment: The patient sits on a chair, both knees in 90 degrees flexion, both lower limbs undressed, and places a mirror of 100 cm x 25 cm along the trans-tibial amputation stump so that the uninjured limb is reflected in the mirror while the amputation stump can not be seen by the patient. The patient then performs slow repeated movements of the foot from neutral position into maximum flexion while closely observing the reflected image of the uninjured limb - the illusion of a limb regained - in the mirror. The procedure goes on uninterrupted for five minutes in the morning and in the evening in the home of the study patient.

In Tactile Treatment five different sensory stimuli is applied repeatedly to the skin of the affected part of the limb, in the actual case to the amputated limb from ten cm above the knee joint and distally to include the entire amputation stump: gentle touch with a feather, a brush, a piece of paper, a stone and a wooden stick. The stimuli are applied two times daily for five 5 minutes each time, one minute per material.