Diseases and Conditions
Phantom pain
Preparing for an appointment
Overview
Symptoms
Causes
Risk factors
Prevention
Diagnosis
Treatment
Lifestyle and home remedies
Coping and support
Diagnosis
Although there's no medical test to diagnose phantom pain, doctors identify the condition based on your symptoms and the circumstances, such as trauma or surgery, which occurred before the pain started.
Describing your pain precisely can help your doctor pinpoint your problem. Even though it's common to have phantom pain and residual limb pain at the same time, treatments for these two problems may differ — so an accurate diagnosis is important.