Phantom Limb: From 3 Different Sources
The perception that a limb is still present after amputation.
Following the AMPUTATION of a limb, it is usual for the patient to experience sensations as if the limb were still present. This condition is referred to as a phantom limb. In most patients the sensation passes o? in time.
the sensation that an arm or leg, or part of an arm or leg, is still attached to the body after it has been amputated. Pain may seem to come from the amputated part. This may arise because of stimulation of the amputation stump, which contains severed nerves that formerly carried messages from the removed portion, but more usually occurs because the neural representation of the limb is still present in the brain and may become activated.
A functional, not physical, system in the brain, generally considered to mediate emotions with metabolism.... limbic system
An orthopaedic procedure in which the length of a limb, usually a leg, is increased. The bone is surgically divided and slowly stretched in a special frame. The operation is usually done on people with unequal leg lengths as a result of injury or from PARALYSIS in childhood. Exceptionally, it may be done in both legs to help people of short stature.... limb lengthening
See PROSTHESIS.... artificial limbs and other parts
(African) One who is joyful Lymber, Lember... limber
Broadly the accumulative process of emotional and metabolic evaluation, as carried on by the various parts of the brain that are part of the ad hoc “evaluations” committee (the limbic system) and those changes in metabolism that, based on the evaluations, are acted out in the whole body by the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus, the main part of the system with tools, acts through a blood translator, the pituitary gland.... limbic/hypothalamus
See PROSTHESIS.... limbs, artificial
A group of injuries resulting from overuse of a part of the limb. One example is TENNIS ELBOW (epicondylitis) caused by in?ammation of the tendon attaching the extensor muscles of the forearm to the humerus because of overuse of the muscles. Overuse of the shoulder muscles may cause in?ammation and pain around the joint. Perhaps the best-known example is repetitive strain injury (RSI) affecting keyboard workers and musicians: the result is pain in and weakness of the wrists and ?ngers. This has affected thousands of people and been the subject of litigation by employees against their employers. Working practices have been improved and the complaint is now being recognised at an early stage. Treatment includes PHYSIOTHERAPY, but some sufferers have been obliged to give up their work.... upper limb disorders
a rare neurological condition in which upper limb movements occur without an individual’s awareness of or control over the actions. In extreme cases, a person will deliberately use their other arm to restrain the ‘alien limb’. It is caused by damage to connections between the cerebral hemispheres or the frontal or occipital brain areas and can occur following stroke or in dementia.... alien limb syndrome
n. (in anatomy) an edge or border; for example, the limbus sclerae is the junction of the cornea and sclera of the eye.... limbus
see pseudocyesis.... phantom pregnancy
1. an accumulation of fluid (pleural effusion) in the lung in patients with heart failure, which resembles a lung tumour on radiological examination. 2. a swelling in the abdomen or elsewhere, caused by local muscular contraction or the accumulation of gases, that mimics a swelling caused by a tumour.... phantom tumour
Health Encyclopedia