Phantom sensation as experienced by people with a spinal cord injury

Abstract

All the approaches in this thesis are linked by a common query: What is the meaning, structure and essence of the lived experience for a person with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) who perceives phantom sensation and/or pain? (See Figure 1). The thesis will allow you to form an accurate impression of phantom sensation in the population of people with a spinal cord injury and it highlights some of the confusion surrounding the terms now in common use. As the thesis progresses, the review of the literature and the presentation of the research informs a change in the use of the term "phantom" for the reader. Currently a regular dictionary definition of phantom pain/sensation is frequently limited and to be found only if you look under "pain". If looking under "phantom" the reader will probably only find the term as it applies to an amputated limb or as it applies to x-ray technology (e.g. Dorland, 2011). The description of the phenomenon across different populations is similar but a precise definition difficult to narrow down. I began with the concept that any sensation apparently felt in a deafferented part of the body (amputated or not) is a phantom.