Kate McIver, of the Pain Research Institute at Liverpool University, said work done there on helping amputees create mental images of pain-free limbs - which operated on the same basic principle as the US research - had also proved effective.

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Takeshita Noboru is hospitalized for treatment of spondylitis deformans, a spinal deformation caused by aging which puts pressure on the nervous system and causes back pain and paralysis in the limbs.

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"It's common with someone that hasn't done much running to get knee pain, back pain - any issues with their lower limbs, " says Harrison.

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We worked to control patients' bleeding, to "reduce, " or set, their badly broken bones in an effort to save their limbs, and to administer medication to help their pain and prevent infection.

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Researchers at the University of Manchester are turning to virtual reality once again, not to have another go 'round at proving whether telepathy is real or not, but to help individuals with amputated limbs recover from so-called "phantom limb pain, " a sensation wherein amputees appear to feel pain in their lost limb.

ENGADGET: Researchers turn to VR to treat phantom limb pain