Jeff’s story

38 years ago, I was involved in a motorcycle accident and lost my left arm above the elbow. In the same accident, I also suffered a severe brachial plexus injury, which left me suffering from intense PLP. Over the years, I tried everything you can think of for the pain: pregabalin, opiates, mirror therapy, hypnosis, you name it. Nothing worked. Eventually, I just learnt to live with the pain.

Unfortunately, I then developed increasing problems with severe back pain. The rehabilitation doctors said that the loss of my left arm meant that the weight across my shoulders was uneven and I had developed a significant scoliosis (twisting) of the spine. To address this, I needed to wear a heavier socket-fitted prosthesis on my left side. To make things worse, the brachial plexus injury meant that my residual limb was very sensitive when touched. So, wearing a heavier prosthesis would also mean having to suffer more pain.

I was sure that there must be a better solution and did some internet research. I discovered that a better solution to my problem might be to undergo a combined TMR and osseointegration (OI) procedure. The OI surgery would allow me to wear a heavier prosthesis and the TMR procedure would help to deal with my phantom limb pain. Surgery was not available on the NHS, so I approached the team at Relimb. They felt that I was a suitable candidate for the surgery, and we went ahead with this at the Royal Free in April 2018.

It has been 3 years since I underwent the surgery, and I am so grateful for what the team at Relimb have been able to do for me. Having the bone-anchor in place in my left arm means that I can now wear a prosthesis that is the right weight for me, without having to disturb the soft-tissues of my residual limb. As a result, my scoliosis has gone and my back pain with it.

The TMR surgery did result in significant worsening of my phantom limb pain for a few months. However, eventually, the nerves grew through and, with a lot of help from the team at Dorset Orthopaedic, I was able to regain voluntary control over the reinnervated muscles. As this happened, it suddenly felt as though my amputated left arm was back again. Over a few weeks, I suddenly noticed that the PLP was also beginning to occur less frequently and at lower intensity.

Nowadays, I don’t have any PLP at all. Since I have undergone the TMR surgery, it has also been possible to increase the number of activation sites that I can use to control my myoelectric prosthetic limb. This has improved my ability to use the prosthesis, and this has allowed me to return to the hobbies I enjoy most – like riding my motorcycle!