Inspiring Amputee Peer-To-Peer First Review Meeting, Hai Lang, Vietnam

Amputee Peer-To-Peer 1st Review Meeting, Hai Lang, Vietnam

One month after a peer-to-peer group in Hai Lang, Vietnam, learned how to use mirror therapy at home to relieve the symptoms of phantom pain, they met to share their progress and the impact of the therapy on their lives.

The impact was profound; a solid model for a network of other peer-to-peer amputee groups to meet in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam.

Most of the amputees said that their pain was improved or reduced from at least 30% up to  80% and are thankful for the therapy. 

Several people revealed that they had drank a lot of alcohol to forget their pain, while others stated that their pain would drive them to anger easily when relating to family and friends. Now, they said, practice with the mirror has helped them in these matters. 

All of the participants look forward to further progress and are highly committed to remain in the project until it is completed in March, 2015. 

According to Nguyen Thanh Phu, the next step for Project Renew is to team up with the Quang Tri Provincial Disabled People's Association to seek resources for expanding the model into the Association's grassroots networks, so that more and more amputees can benefit from this effective, inexpensive treatment. 

Peer-To-Peer Amputee Program Launches in Vietnam

Pham Qui Thi, Ban Advocate, presenting peer-to-peer Mirror Therapy with upper limb amputees

 With a donation of 20 table-top mirrors, ETPP ToolKits translated into Vietnamese and pain scales from End The Pain Project as well as the joint sponsorship of Handicap International and Project Renew, a mirror therapy workshop for twenty amputees in Hai Lang district, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam was kicked off on December 18, 2014.

Cluster munitions survivor Pham Quy Thi presented the concept of mirror therapy at home, followed by an actual mirror therapy session that lasted for 20 minutes supported by Pham Quy Thi and Nguyen Thanh Phu of the Project Renew Mine Action Visitor Center.

The participants were divided into two groups, one with leg amputations, the other with arm amputations.

 four out of the five upper limb amputee participants had positive feedback. They can really feel their missing fingers moving exactly like what existed before.

Lower limb amputee concentrating on a reflection of his intact leg

A man whose leg was amputated, said  he really could see his missing leg in the mirror after many years, and felt as if he can walk with balance.

Only in one case, a woman reported that she could not feel anything.  Later, she said that she misunderstood what the team had told her. Instead of concentrating on the reflected image of her leg, she just looked at her intact leg. It was concluded that this was the reason why,she did not get any reaction during the session.

Participants of the Mirror Therapy Workshop with instructors Mr. Nguyen and Mr. Pham

All the participants were very happy and and committed to following mirror therapy sessions  at home for one month.

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.

End The Pain Project's X-Border Wine Benefit A Success!

Jim Byrnes, Blues Guitarist

On August 10, 2013, residents of Point Roberts WA, a small resort town on the Juan de Fueca Strait, came out in droves to attend End The Pain Project's X-Border Wine Benefit and to enjoy the legendary blues guitar of Jim Byrnes.

Funding raised at this bi-annual event is dedicated to presenting Mirror Therapy Training Workshops in Bosnia this September and additional mirrors for amputees in central Vietnam.

A highlight of the benefit was Co-Founder Madeleine Anderson explaining the intricacies of Mirror Therapy to a rapt audience.

 

End The Pain Project acknowledges the support and generosity of its neighbors and the extraordinary efforts of volunteers who helped to make the Benefit a success.

BBC NEWS MAGAZINE DECEMBER 5, 2011 CITES END THE PAIN PROJECT

In the December 5, 2011 article "What Phantom Limbs and Mirrors Teach Us About The Brain" by Stephanie Hegarty of the BBC World Service, Hegerty cites the recent work of End The Pain Project in Vietnam in the BBC News Magazine.

The mirror therapy workshops were staged in Can Tho, Dong Ha and Hanoi in November and December 2011 for one hundred physicians and medical practitioners.

A comment from the article:

"The work of ETTP is also inspiring, especially because the equipment needed is not over-priced. The previous ad I read for mirror boxes had a starting price in excess of £100!"

End The Pain Project Ventures Into Vietnam

Friday, December 18, marks the beginning of End The Pain Project activity in Vietnam.  Co-Founder, Moira-Judith Mann arrives on that date to bring information about Mirror Therapy for amputees suffering Phantom Limb Pain to several Vietnamese organizations serving amputees in various capacities. First stop -Hanoi.  Mid-January, she will visit Phnom Penh, Cambodia to establish connections.

Mann will present the ETPP ToolKit; a newly developed unbreakable mirror system prototype and portable PrismGlasses, recently invented by Dr. Jonathan Bannister and Dr. Glyn Walsh of Scotland and marketed by Scottish Health Innovations Ltd., all as non-invasive interventions to reduce or end Phantom Limb Pain.