Rehab Video

How using a mirror can relieve phantom pain

It’s mind-boggling: How can you feel pain in a limb that doesn’t exist? It’s a strange phenomenon for people with amputations, but phantom pain is real and can be hugely debilitating. While the pain is often treated with medication, an alternative method to manage the pain (believe it or not) uses a simple mirror.

“Mirror therapy” works like magic — you use a mirror to trick your brain into thinking your missing limb has reappeared and then (with a physiotherapist or occupational therapist) treat the limb as if it still exists.

Watch the video to see mirror therapy in action.

About the author

Katherine Nazimek

Katherine Nazimek is a Communications Advisor at Sunnybrook.

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