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Orthotics & Prosthetics
September is Pain Awareness Month, a time that emphasizes the importance of pain management, and the knowledge and compassion healthcare professionals must have when helping their patients. This month, Salus University’s newest program, Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P), and its students were able to learn more about phantom pain and pain management from their first patient model.
“I feel it is important for the students to understand that for amputees, each situation is different and not to approach prosthetics as making “clones” or seeing the needs of their patients in a strictly clinical way,” said Janet Gildner, the first patient for the O&P program. “It’s not just about the prosthesis, it’s about the person.”
This is especially true for the phantom pain many amputees face, which is the feeling of pain coming from a body part no longer there. This struggle is a primary example of a unique experience for each patient that must be treated on an individual basis depending on the patient.
Gildner was excited to share her personal experience with phantom pain to the O&P students. ”I was really excited [to come be a patient model in the O&P class], being a part of this helps give meaning and purpose to my situation,” she said.
As an amputee for 20 years, Gildner has dealt with phantom pain for much longer than she originally expected. “I didn’t understand that phantom pain was something that I would have to deal with for an extensive period [of time] – I still deal with it today, from time to time,” she said. “It’s something that I describe to others as a sudden “stab” of intermittent nerve pain, or at other times, a feeling like pins and needles. Either sensation usually awakens me after just a few hours of sleep.” And, depending on the severity of the pain, and more often than not, she may be awake for the rest of the night.
Treatment methods for phantom pain vary significantly from patient to patient. For Gildner, the most effective treatment is to move around, distract herself and listen to music. She has not found an over-the-counter drug or medication to help with managing it, unfortunately.
According to Julie McCulley Quinlan, MPO, MS, CPO, ATC, an instructor within the O&P program, “reduction of pain is many times one of a patient’s primary goals. Therefore, it is extremely important our students learn to gain the best understanding of what is causing, aggravating, and/or relieving their pain so we can best serve them.”
As September and Pain Awareness Month come to a close, the O&P department wants to emphasize the importance of bringing awareness to phantom pain and pain management not just this month, but all year long.
