Vietnamese Amputee Demonstrates Effective Mirror Therapy at 5th Annual Cluster Munitions Convention in Costa Rica September 5, 2014

Credit: Thao Griffiths

Pham Quy Thi who lost his right hand and part of his right arm to a hidden landmine explosion, made the long journey from Vietnam to the Costa Rican Cluster Munitions Convention to demonstrate the use of ETPP Mirror Therapy as a means to diminish or end Phantom Limb Pain for amputees. Mr. Pham traveled under the auspices of Project Renew, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, Vietnam.  

Credit: Thao Griffiths

Mr. Pham's demonstration totally captivated the attention of the Meeting of States delegates who attended his side event at the Convention on September 5, 2014. For further information about Mr. Pham shedding 36 years of Phantom Limb Pain through Mirror Therapy, please refer to the blog of December 5, 2013.

Attendees at ETPP Mirror Therapy Workshop at Gihembe Refugee Camp, Rwanda

On August 20, 2014, a Mirror Therapy Workshop led by ETPP Representative, Jean Luc Ngarambe (far left) was held at the Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda.

The Workshop was attended by fifteen amputees and ten family members who will act as coaches for their kin in home-based therapy procedures.

Amputee and Family Member Coach

The participants, Rwandan refugees from the Congo, were each given a mirror and guided through a Mirror Therapy session by Jean Luc Ngarambe.

Upper Limb Amputee Involved in Mirror Therapy

The amputees expressed gratitude for this focus on relief of existing Phantom Limb Pain and planned to follow the thirty-day schedule faithfully. Their outcome will be posted in October.

Lower Limb Amputee Involved in Mirror Therapy

Mirror-Adria a registered Bosnian organization to offer Mirror Therapy Training Workshops

 Mirror-Adria, a rehabilitation training group  has been registered by physiotherapist Jasmin Adovic to address the problem of phantom limb pain for Bosnian amputees. Sarajevo alone, has over 50,000 people with permanent disabilities as a direct consequence of injuries from 1992-1995. This data does not include the numbers of wounded soldiers, including amputees who suffer with phantom limb pain.

Mirror-Adria, endorsed by End The Pain Project (ETPP), will bring Mirror Therapy training workshops to rehabilitation therapists in the Adria region as follows:

Bosnia - end of 2014
Montenegro - April 18, 2015
Serbia-May - June 2015
Macedonia - some time at the end of 2015

Graduates of the Mirror-Adria Training Workshops will receive Certificates of Completion issued by ETPP which will allow them to both administer mirror therapy and to train other professional therapists, amputees and family members or friends of amputees who suffer phantom limb pain. 

Jasmin Adovic, founder of Mirror Therapy Adria at far left with graduates of the September 2013 ETPP Mirror Therapy Training Workshop

Adovic recently created a FaceBook group, Mirror Therapy Adria. It has attracted over 500 members and more are coming, all with days of its inception!

An Old/New Prosthetic That Works

"The best designs and innovations come from people who refuse to accept the definitions and limitations set be others" says Mark Lesek, an amputee inventor. Mark lost his arm several years ago. Now his search for a better prosthetic could improve the lives of amputees everywhere. 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4DDt30Aat4

Viewers can contact Mark at: mark@dynamicwelding.com

New Device Makes Wheel Chairs Obsolete

This device holds great promise for paraplegics and others confined to wheelchairs.

The TEK Robotic Mobilization Device is a machine developed to replace the wheelchair. In this demonstration video, we see a man with a severe injury to his spinal cord able to move about in ways that a wheelchair would make very difficult.

http://www.wimp.com/newdevice/ 

Affordable Prosthetic Knee Joint for Developing Countries Amputees

Pham Quy Thi upper limb amputee sheds 36 years of phantom limb pain with Mirror Therapy

Pham Quy Thi shares his amazing outcome with Robert Johnson PT

On November 23, 2013, Pham Quy Thi, a Vietnamese farmer, did not expect that his chronic phantom limb pain would be reduced just by concentrating on the movements of his intact hand in a mirror for ten minutes. Mr. Pham had lost his right arm in 1977 because of an exploding cluster bomb and suffered chronic pain in his phantom limb since then.

After just ten minutes of using Mirror Therapy, Mr. Pham exclaimed, "This is an amazing therapy! It is my very first time I have the chance to be experienced this and I know it works for me. I surely will bring this home and teach other survivors in my community”.

The fifty-eight-year-old was one of four land mine victims being trained by Robert Johnson of Achieve Orthopedic Rehabilitation and an Associate of End The Pain Project, to administer Mirror Therapy in a newly formed Peer-to-Peer program sponsored by Handicap International. The setting for this training workshop was the Mine Action Visitor Center run by Project RENEW in Dong Ha,Vietnam. 

Le Kien and Robert Johnson use a mirror to reduce Mr. Le's phantom limb pain

Mr. Le Kien was gardening in 1991 and struck a hidden cluster bomb. Not only did Mr. Le lose his left leg, he lost his baby daughter at the same time. Now a 55-year-old carpenter, he is a frequent guest speaker and story-teller at mine risk education programs for local school children.

In 1986, Hoang Xuan Phuong was tampering with an M14 mine also called a gravel mine in the vicinity of a former U.S. base when it exploded. Mr. Hoang was startled when he clearly 'saw' the mirror image of his lost arm. “It is the very first time, I can really recall my memory about my lost limb after more than twenty five years since the day I was amputated in a landmine blast”.

 Rear: Nguyen Thi Huong, Le Kien. Nguyen Xuan Tuan, Hoang Xuan Phuong, Phạm Quý Thí; Front: Phu Nguyen Thanh, Robert Johnson

The four volunteers at the Center also raise awareness of the many unexploded mines in Quang Tri Province and promote and advocate for the full application of the rights of persons with disabilities. 

This group was newly formed by Phu Nguyen Thanh, Facilitator/Support Staff at the Mine Action Visitor Center in August, 2013. Once the quartet have completed their own 30-day mirror therapies, they will go into surrounding communities to help other amputees still suffering phantom limb pain.