Phantom limb is the perception that a limb which has been amputated or was never present is still attached to the body and moving normally. The condition affects a substantial share of people who lose a limb, with estimates suggesting that fifty to eighty percent of amputees experience phantom sensations or phantom pain. Early medical accounts date back centuries, including a description by the French military surgeon Ambroise Pare in the sixteenth century, though the term itself was coined by the physician Silas Weir Mitchell in 1872. The phenomenon can present either as painful phantom limb pain or as non-painful phantom sensations in the area once occupied by the missing limb.
Facts
Partially Attested
First Described YearThe source dates the coining of the term phantom limb to 1872 by Silas Weir Mitchell; earlier medical descriptions such as Ambroise Pare's in the sixteenth century exist. Core ClaimThe perception of pain or other sensation in a limb that has been amputated or is missing, either as painful phantom limb pain or as nonpainful phantom sensations. 1 Classification
Type of Phenomenon Sources
1. Wikipedia: Phantom limb
Lead, first paragraph, third and fourth sentences
Phantom limb pain is a painful or unpleasant sensation experienced where the amputated limb was. Phantom sensations are any other, nonpainful sensations perceived in the amputated or missing limb area.
History section, sentence on the coining of the term
coined in 1872 by a physician named
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