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Re:Painkillers now kill more Americans than any illegal drug by Lawtonfogle on Wednesday March 09, 2016 @03:34PM (#11255555)
But the pain isn't in the hand. Pain is in the head, caused by signals which normally come from the hand, and results in feelings that the head places onto the hand. So phantom pains in amputated limbs are caused by real things. Maybe the nerve that use to communicate the pain from the hand is sending in a false signal due to another reason. Maybe something in the brain is misfiring and some other sensation from another part of the body is registering as pain in the hand. Even if there is no outside of the brain cause for the pain, the brain is still feeling the pain so there is still an actual problem, just one with the brain.

So while there might not be much to do if the brain is just crossing signals incorrectly for a couple of days, I would still suggest significant pain be checked out and a doctor you are paying should help look into it.

Re:Painkillers now kill more Americans than any illegal drug by thaumasiotes on Wednesday March 09, 2016 @04:55PM (#11255994)
> So while there might not be much to do if the brain is just crossing signals incorrectly for a couple of days

Chronic pain lasts for years, or forever. An incredible amount of effort has gone into understanding it. We can't blame practitioners for knowing that they don't understand pain and aren't likely to in the future, and therefore deciding to treat it with painkillers.

Re:Painkillers now kill more Americans than any illegal drug by Lawtonfogle on Wednesday March 09, 2016 @05:08PM (#11256075)
I know chronic pain can last a lifetime. I was more so talking about one off aches that you can't find a cause for but which do often go away within the week.