Phantom Sensation

Phantom sensation is an individual’s awareness of the missing limb. It is rarely unpleasant. Since phantom sensation is not painful, no treatment is necessary. Children with congenital deficiencies do experience phantom sensation, though it is not painful (72). Phantom sensations in children with limb deficiency is explainable if we recognize the brain as a gener­ator of sensory information (73). Phantom limb pain rarely occurs in children under 10 or during growth, but is reported in teenagers. In addition, children with congenital limb deficiencies are less likely to experi­ence phantom sensations than those with acquired amputations (74,75).