Mirror Therapy was miraculous as a part of my recovery.
Because of a crush injury to my knuckles, if I had put both hands out in front of me and tried to do certain simple movements, I was aware of the inability of my right hand to complete them. I could see the bad circulation which coloured my hand a mottled reddish purple. The skin was shiny and thin around the swelling of the oedema. I could feel the symptoms of the CRPS. The stabbing, shooting pains, the cramps and muscle contractions. I was also conscious because of the weeks of pain, the x ray images and the medical diagnosis that there were serious problems occurring in my hand which precluded “normal” function and movement. There was a definite “can’t” aspect to the exercise.
If I closed my eyes and tried the same movements, I was still aware of the shortcomings of my right hand. If, however, I held my injured hand behind a mirror and positioned the uninjured one so that the mirror image conveyed two healthy hands, something remarkable happened. When I tried to do identical movements with both hands and focused on the reflection it appeared that I was seeing both hands functioning well.
Remember your eyes are sending their version of the situation to your brain and contrary to all the other neural information they see two uninjured or healthy hands and send that message. I know that at first it sounds dubious, but I can only advise those with an injured hand or foot to try it, it really works.
I had three sessions with Amy, the hand therapist who introduced the mirror work. They didn’t last for more than about 10 minutes at a time. It felt like magic to me. I could definitely feel a shift of some sort in my injured hand within seconds. The oddest thing about mirror work is that although I always knew that it was a trick, my brain still fell for it.
This may not work for everyone* but it worked for me as part of my routine and so long as you have one uninjured hand or foot to reflect, this therapy is not only known to be effective in helping to relieve pain brought on by CRPS, but also where there is paralysis following a stroke (hemiplegia) and of course in alleviating phantom limb pain after amputations (for which it was developed).
* Most Visual Feedback research shows a success rate 50%.
* 50% of sufferers of CRPS/RSD recover spontaneously within 6 months http://bit.ly/gb3Xl3
CRPS Awareness 