After an amputation, some people still experience localized sensations in the removed limb. It can be an impression of presence or position; it can also be pain. These experiences do not automatically merge with pain in the residual limb.
The NHS distinguishes these manifestations and reminds that the pain of the phantom limb is a real phenomenon. The absence of the part of the body designated by the sensation is therefore not enough to conclude that the person imagines what he feels or could simply decide to stop him.
This situation reveals the difference between the felt location of a pain and the current presence of tissue there. The nervous system participates in our bodily experience: it is not an instant photograph of the surface of the body. The term sounds fantastic, but it describes a human reality that medicine recognizes and supports.
What we know
Real medical phenomenon; do not confuse ghost sensation, ghost pain and residual limb pain.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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