Dealing w/PHANTOM ITCH as an amputee

Phantom itch: a solution?

#Amputee #PhantomPain #Phantom

[FootlessJo]

For anyone asking...how I lost my leg!

[kaboomsihal]

"Does that trick my brain that's feeling an itch in a place that literally doesn't exist? Yeah, our bodies are pretty cool!" I wish i had your positivity lmao.

[cfluto]

I had a mastectomy and yes, I get phantom itch, especially where the cancer was. Thanks for your tips!

[mechwar]

Something else that can work.. The way that we know where our limbs are even though we can't see our limbs is because our brain has kind of mapped out where our nerves are in our body. Depending on the nature of your amputation, sometimes the musculature and consequently nerves get rearranged a little bit around the nub. The brain doesn't necessarily realize that the mapped nerve has moved within the body.

I've talked through this with a guy I used to ride on buses with. He was a double below the leg amputee, and he had said that sometimes he could alleviate phantom pain by squeezing on his nubs. Or that he could alleviate phantom itch by scratching the back of his nubs.

I do have another bit of anecdotal evidence, I'm going to try really hard to avoid the gory part of this one. I have a buddy who had suffered a disembowelment injury. Unfortunately, he had to carry his parts that were sticking out while he made his way to a safe location. He said it was the most peculiar and disturbing sensation, because despite the fact that he was holding these bits outside of himself, it felt like he was grasping inside his body.

In both cases, the brain is so used to those particular nerves being in a set location that I don't think our brain necessarily realizes that those nerves have moved. So our brain is projecting the sensation where it thinks those nerves are rather than where they actually are.

[wdwerker]

I like how you share the little details of your experiences.

[HuntingSunder]

I didn't expect to find tips for dealing with the nerve damage itchiness after ACL surgery, and yet here we are... Thank you!

[hot_wheelz]

Lots of love to you Jo. We might "only" be part of your YouTube family but I see you and I care.

[melissaedwards]

I am an amputee to. I find you videos inspiring and informative. Keep fighting for the good.Peace and Love..

[melissawolfenstein]

I know you've been going through a lot, like most of us are, but you ARE a very BRIGHT light in this World and I see you and care about you too. Many Blessings

[nocloo]

Jo, your videos are wonderful. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[Blissfulnessence]

So good that you are making vids again! Please take care of yourself!

[kylavawter]

Love watching your videos! My father is also an amputee and it is so cool all the tricks you have to help.

[clintwestwood]

You look great today! thanks for sharing your fun personality with us. I once heard a story of a man that had very severe phantom pain from a hand that he lost, and he said it felt like his fist was clinched so tight that it felt as though his fingers and nails were digging into his flesh. A brilliant doctor created a device using a box and some Mirrors where the patient could look into the box and see "Both" hands from the mirror refection of his remaining hand, and the patient simply "Looked" into the mirror box device and Unclenched his hand bringing immediate relief of his particular phantom limb condition that as far as I know was permanent and changed his life.

[marikotrue]

I knew about phantom pain, never heard about its unwanted cousin, phantom itch. Just goes to show we can alter our body due to choice, medical necessity or accident, but our brain is in charge and always has the last painful or uncomfortable word. After amputation, there should be a bio-feedback class in "how to tell your brain (insert body part(s) here) is/are not there anymore". I do appreciate these information #Shorts, which always contains data I did not previously know.

[marklane]

RAKA-I'll get an itch just below my limb. Even 4 years out (I last walked into the ER with the circulation stopping below the knee, today. My amputation was on 5/24/2018), I'll still scratch air trying to get it. The worst is the top of "the foot." I'll try to scratch it with my other foot. Jo, I found your channel when I was at a personal low. I moved to Kansas for my wife (her home of Wichita) leaving my home state of Arizona. To keep my "roots" my socket is wrapped with an Arizona flag! On my 4th socket in 4 yrs and an expert with Hanger is recommending a 5th due to a 35 lb weight gain. I also had bypass surgery last October. I jump to your channel, just to know I'm not alone. And you do bring a smile to my face, as well as tears. Oh, I have a 4 year old grandson, who now calls me, "Grandpa Robot!"

[connerlackey]

I had a step grandfather that had to have one of his legs amputated as well. I think it was his left leg "I could be wrong". He got gangrene in it from a splinter and he had diabetes as well. He had to get it amputated around the knee or a little above it. Some times when I watch a video of yours I think of him. Even tho he wasn't my grandfather by blood he always was told me the truth and didn't believe in lying to me about where my sperm donor was unlike my grandmother did.

[christesta]

What ever works!!! I can only understand what an amputee goes through!!! Great ingenuity on trying to itch your prosthetic to telieve the phantom itch!!!

[catmancam]

Every single time you said itch I had to itch please keep on doing what you're doing

[sharonchandler]

I've been watching you since ten months ago. I lost my first foot/ankle/tib/fib midway, on August 21, 2021. I lost my Charcot foot foot on February 16th this year. Mirror therapy doesn't work anymore, they're both absent (from the fake feet phenomenon)....but I do scratch my socket, or fake foot, sometimes those help. If they don't happen to do the trick, I gather and combine randomly, a great number of curse words and full curses from several languages....yep. I'm bad. I know it....but I'm still another amputee chick, and you inspire me. Thank you. You really are a driving force as I try to hide from the world. You are very, very, very much appreciated as a human being.

[stevenandreasen]

phantom itches is a thing in burn victims. The scar tissue from my burn is very difficult when it just starts itching randomly.