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[cold_dry_pieces]

Pain is something I inflict, something I don't often experience. It doesn't matter so much, whether they suffer, just that they bleed the right way.

A number of people have discussed the basic function of pain, as (to oversimplify the matter) a reaction to unpleasant stimuli. I figured maybe I could save some repetition by talking about a different take on the topic.

Though of course a certain amount of discomfort is to be expected in my line of work-- manufacturing and fitting prosthetics-- due to the inherent difficulties of replacing a lost limb with artificial materials. Chafing, pinching; obvious physical sensations with obvious physical causes. But I hear a lot of reports of something a little stranger, too.

It's not the most well-known or well-understood phenomenon, but reports of phantom limb sensations and pains have been documented for hundreds of years. Any number of patients I've treated, usually soon after their amputations, have complained of being able to feel the part they've lost; invisible, intangible, but somehow not insensate. The cause is not entirely clear; it's not merely a matter of damaged nerves at the site of the amputation, though that plays a part. It's a deeper problem. Some part of our brain can't quite fathom the loss; it imagines the piece is still there, the puzzle intact. The ghosts stay with you. And because it isn't there, it's not a simple matter of waiting for the injury to heal.


|[ooc; lifted and adapted from wikipedia, because i am not my character :X if I got something wrong please attribute it to out of character error rather than in-character, and feel free to contact me to let me know but uh. he ought to know what he's talking about. ^^;; i did my best to make it correct and coherent. /disclaimerrr ALSO pardon slow tags since notifs are dead ><]|

Comments

[cry-reaper.livejournal.com]

...if it's relevant? I sometimes think my heart still beats.

[cold_dry_pieces]

I suppose it's a similar phenomenon. There have been reports of phantom pains with removed organs, though of course in my own world... well, your situation couldn't be replicated.

How have you been lately, Mara?

[cry-reaper.livejournal.com]

I was... doing a little better until a couple of nights ago.

[Private]

[cold_dry_pieces]

Do you want to talk about it?

[Private]

[cry-reaper.livejournal.com]

I think I'm remembering things. From when I was killed. In nightmares and... it's disturbing.

[Private]

[cold_dry_pieces]

I have no doubt it would be. What sort of things?

Do you remember who it was?

[Private]

[cry-reaper.livejournal.com]

Just... images, sounds. No faces yet.

[Private]

[cold_dry_pieces]

Repressed memories can be tricky. There's a good chance it will all hit you at once, if something triggers it.

[Private]

[cry-reaper.livejournal.com]

You've been through something like this before?

[Private]

[cold_dry_pieces]

A bit, yes.

When I was very young, my mother died. I didn't remember for a long time, but I saw it happen.

[Private]

[cry-reaper.livejournal.com]

That's... I'm sorry to hear that, Rudy.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

I've heard of that. Makes you wonder what pain really is, doesn't it? I mean, if the mind can make it up, then who's to say it doesn't make up a lot of the pain we feel?

[cold_dry_pieces]

It's a good point. Pain can certainly be created or augmented by the mind... Though interestingly we're also nearly incapable of remembering it accurately.

In this case, the going theory is that the brain carries a pattern of the body, and when you amputate a limb that pattern doesn't know how to react to the absence of sensory data.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

We can't remember it? ...I guess I've never tried to remember pain before.

So the brain just fills in the blanks and says there's a limb where there isn't?

[cold_dry_pieces]

It's a survival of the species thing. If we could really, vividly remember physical pain, no one would ever have a second child. Or so they say.

Loosely, that's the idea. Or at least part of it. Sometimes you can alleviate the pain by tricking the brain with mirrors to think there's still another hand, so it can unclench the muscles. It's fascinating, really.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

You really know a lot about this stuff. Did you do more than make and attach fake limbs? Like, did you work with people to help them get used to their situations and cope with any phantom pains?

[cold_dry_pieces]

Well, I do a little basic PT with my patients, mostly helping them learn how to work the limb-- that way I've got a better idea of what adjustments might need to be made, and they have the benefit of someone who knows the piece inside and out showing them how to use it. Pain management is a little outside my area, but I can recommend them to specialists. I try to do a little counseling, too-- I'm not trained for it or anything, but I'm a good listener and half the time that's what they really need, you know?

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

It is... someone who can listen and knows what's going on. Sounds like you've helped a lot of people through something really tough.

[cold_dry_pieces]

I do my best. I'd like to think I make a difference, helping them find the pieces they've lost.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

That's really nice--I like that. Finding pieces they lost.

Essays aside, how's it going with you, Rudy? The curses've been pretty mellow this month, I think.

[cold_dry_pieces]

I like it, too.

I've been getting by. Curses have been strange, but you're right-- pretty mild, especially compared to the past few months. How's by you? Still tending all the sheep?

[makes-you-tick.livejournal.com]

You think our brains just won't rewire to get used to the missing limb?

I have the beating heart issue, too, occasionally. Sometimes I feel it. I'm assuming that's at least somewhat related.

[cold_dry_pieces]

You might expect that, and in some cases it seems to work; for some people the sensations fade as they become more accustomed to the lost limb. Others don't. Some think the rewiring is part of the problem-- that the brain gets it wrong, and starts to attribute other sensations to the missed limb.

I suppose it might be the most basic example. As far as your brain knows, you shouldn't be able to exist without a heartbeat, so it supplies the sensation? Unless there's some mechanical reasoning we're just not aware of. I wonder if anyone's ever done a comprehensive study of how the dead function here...

[makes-you-tick.livejournal.com]

Ah, so there's some aspects of referred pain, as well? Or even not pain, just general feeling?

That sounds about right. I wouldn't expect the brain to rewire itself when it's technically dead. But, of course, if it's examined too closely, it'll give anyone a headache. I generally feel that heartbeat when I'm alone, so I wonder if it has to do with me associating it with the ticking somehow.

[cold_dry_pieces]

So it seems. No one's entirely sure, which is part of why I find the whole thing so interesting.

That's an interesting theory... It makes a certain amount of sense, the brain trying to make some sense out of two impossibilities.