Prism adaptation to optical deviation alleviates pathologic pain

Abstract

Our findings suggest that vision can influence pathologic pain, and preliminarily suggest that prism adaptation has a direction-specific and reproducible effect on not only pathologic pain but also other CRPS pathologic features. Thus, prism adaptation may be a viable cognitive treatment for CRPS.

Inconsistency of response to conscious and unconscious motor imagery in complex regional pain syndrome: Comment on the article by Moseley et al

“…For example, imagining making a fist with the unaffected right hand increased right knee pain in a patient with CRPS affecting the right knee. This lends credence to the theory that it is the motor imagery rather than the ensuing attention on the affected extremity that drives symptom changes (3,4).…”

Pain, body, and space: What do patients with complex regional pain syndrome really neglect?

“…Neglect symptoms reduced after the application of nerve blocks, and a similar trend was shown in healthy participants [36]. In addition, the shift toward the hemispace of the affected limb during visual straight-ahead estimations can be efficiently reduced by prism adaptation [35]. This technique, previously used with brain-damaged neglect patients, consists of modifying visuospatial perception by distorting it through prismatic glasses: looking through these glasses shifts the visual field ipsilesionally in hemineglect patients.…”

“…CRPS patients can bias the perception of space towards, and not away from, their affected limb [35,36,38]. Sumitani et al [36] have used a visual subjective body midline judgment task known to produce errors toward the ipsilesional hemispace in brain-damaged neglect patients (e.g.…”

Wherever is my arm? Impaired upper limb position accuracy in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

“…Mirror visual feedback of the unaffected limb resulted in a reduction in pain and swelling of the affected limb [30]. Sumitani et al [44] found that adaptation to visual field displacement towards the unaffected side by 20° with the use of prism spectacles could also alleviate pain in CRPS. Hence the use of vision within the therapeutic context can be key in ameliorating symptoms.…”

“…Feasibly, spatial perceptual deficits exhibited by those with CRPS such that their subjective midline shifted towards the affected side [44] may alter internal spatial constructs for movement planning. Consequently performance accuracy in both limbs could be affected thus accounting for bilateral discrepancies.…”