September 19th, 2008
I finally have the time to do another update on this very important new area of Cyber-Soup. I have written down the eleven exercises I have been doing and how to do them properly so that anyone with a full length mirror and motivation to get out of pain can do them. If you have a below the knee amputation you don't have to do 7-10 because you have the upper leg, but you should do the calf stretch, #11. We don't know why Mirror Therapy works, but it definitely does work so if you want to get yourself out of pain and lose that horrible anxiety about "when is the next one coming?" definitely give this a try, it's importat you see BOTH legs working and I found focusing on the line of the mirror between them was a good focal point to just let my eyes trick my brain and let the brain rewrite the information regarding the lost limb.
I am the third woman in my family on my mother's side to lose the left leg, only my grandmother and her sister lost theirs to diabetic complications. They both said that their phantoms went away after two or three years post amputation, so it is possible that some people lost their phantom, I theorize it's because they knew they were going to lose their leg in a planned surgery and that it was not lost unexpectedly due to bluntforce trauma like mine was or Rick Allen's of Def Leppard, like their brains slowly let go of the pain until it was gone completely along with the feeling of a phantom limb. I hope mine never goes away because I find it comforting. It used to be icey cold but it's gone warm since the second week of Mirror Therapy, and also there was a dead zone in the phantom's continuity right around the front of the knee and upper thigh that the exercises below helped to give back to me, so now I have the entire leg in one continuis phantom, instead of a piecy phantom with pins and needles whenever I tried to move it.
The only equipment you'll need is a full length mirror, cans or throw pillows to prop it up and one coffee can, the bigger kind for exercise #9 and a belt for #11. Keep in mind that the idea is NOT to trigger pain, so just do these without hurting yourself, you're not trying to build muscle with these exercises, you should already have a pretty muscular limb to work with, but even if you don't because you're older, don't give up and if you feel pain stop and rest, this isn't a marathon, it's about retraining the brain to think it can talk to the lost limb again and you definitely don't want to trigger pain on your good side while this is going on. And now here are the eleven exercises you can do to help yourself get out of pain:
- Fold toes up and down 10-15 times for 3 sets
- Do ankle circles 10-15 times for 3 sets (both directions)
- Do foot pumps, (where you raise and lower the ballof the foot as if you're pumping the accelorator on a car) 10-15 times for 3 sets
- Do heel slides, this you bend the knee and slide the heel up towards your body for about eight inches of a slide, up and down counts as one slide, 10-15 times for 3 sets
- Roll the leg from foot to hip outward then roll inward, do this 10-15 times for 3 sets
- Roll the ankle from as far right as you can to as far left as you can moving only the foot for 10-15 times for 3 sets
- Do quadracep presses-press the thigh downward untill you see the quad muscle tighten, hold for 5 seconds and do 10-15 of these for 3 sets
- Lift the entire leg up off the floor/bed whatever, 10 times for 3 sets of 10
- Bend the knee and press the heel into the floor/bed whatever until you see the muscle at the back tighten up do this 10 times for 3 sets of 10
- Use a coffee can under the knee and life the lower leg up holding for five seconds, 10 to 15 times for 3 sets
- Take a belt and loop it so your foot can stick in there, then hold the other end and pull, stretching the calf for ten seconds, this should NOT CAUSE PAIN...do ten of these holding for 10 seconds
Do these exercises three times a week for at least a month and the pain should go away-for me it was noticable after the second session, it was HALF the frequency and intesity of the normal levels of pain I was in. The point is to get the movement and see it in the mirror, not to do these exercises perfectly. Also you need to be prepared to experience the grieving process again, it's hard to see a leg there where you have accepted there is none and moved on with your life. You have to be strong and just tell yourself you're doing this to STOP the pain of the phantom. Let that be your strength and it will help keep you motivated despite the emotional impact of seeing a leg where there is none.
I just had my last therapy session yesterday and it was hard saying goodbye to the good people who worked so hard to help me help myself. But that's what Therapists do, selflessly give of themselves to help people in pain. There were three students in yesterday and they were all wonderful, they sat around me and we talked, they asked questions and Jamie Gage (my Therapist) and I answered them. It was a wonderful graduation day and I couldn't have asked for better people to surround myself with during my rehabilitation. I know they were impressed with the therapy itself but also with me too, everyone is always quick to say how well I get around and I credit 90% of that to my outgoing and bright optimistic attitude. I don't know how much of an impact attitude has on this therapy, we may never know, but if you've done any reading on this subject of Mirror Therapy you might have seen it said that below the knee amputees have a better chance then someone like me of losing the pain forever. Once again I think that I have beaten the odds and been a success story because I am here to tell you my phantom pain is GONE!
If you have any questions or comments about this page or Mirror Therapy feel free to email me anytime.
I want to recommend TLC Rehab for people in Florida. They have offices in Citrus, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Lake, and Marion counties. They have wonderful staff and I would like to thank my Therapist Jamie Gage, from the Citrus Hills location in Citrus County, for all his hard work and faith in me, even though going into this we were both a little skeptical. We're both firm believers in it now after my fantastic results. Thank you Jamie, you were awesome! The entire staff at the Citrus Hills location are great so if you're in this part of the woods definitely give them a call at (352) 746-2371. They'd love to help you get out of pain. Look for a few photos of me in action to be added here soon, and if enough of you send in questions I will add another page with FAQ's about Mirror Therapy, so don't be shy, if you have a question send it off to me and I will answer it if I can. Thank you for reading and Good Luck getting yourself or helping someone you love to get out of pain!
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