You absolutely do make sense. I’m not paralysed but your videos have done so much to help me understand what life feels like if you are. You are a great communicator and a true inspiration. Keep it going xx
The way the neurologist explained it to me when I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy is that the brain is expecting signals to be coming up those nerves and when they don't arrive it turns up the volume chemically until it starts seeing the electrical noise on the nerves and tries to make sense of that.
You explained that perfectly I'm not paralyzed but stumbled on your videos I'm losing my hearing but this is so inspiring to me your so strong keep making videos this could saves someone's life :)
Thanks for watching! It's tough to lose your hearing because it's challenging to communicate with people if you can't hear them. Sending you positive energy!
When I try explaining it to perfectly healthy people, I tell them to strap a 100-pound weight to each leg and then enjoy the rest of their day. It's literally like being nailed to the surface of the earth. Add all the bowel and bladder issues, nerve pain, etc., and you're getting close to what this nightmare is all about. I was completely whole and healthy for 38 years prior to my accident, and took it all completely for granted. I'm now Spiritually "born again" in my Spirit and can't fully grasp what it would be like to be "born again" in my body. To regain all that I've lost in my physical body would be a physical "born again" experience for sure. I'm not sure if I'd ever "sit down" ever again if made whole. God bless you all!!! ❤️
I lost an eye to an autoimmune disease and you explained phantom sensation perfectly. I had a cataract and never saw out my eye after surgery then had it enucleated because it atrophied. It’s hard to explain my missing eye wanting to see but unable to. Thank you for sharing valuable experiences and information.
I completely understand what you are saying. I'm a t4 t6 complete and below my level of injury it constantly feels like my legs are asleep..great video!!!
Great video. I'm glad someone else out there has the same sensations. I've only known a couple other paralyzed people and we never really talked about it. You're absolutely right about the sensation getting worse when you think about it. It's crazy that I can affect my phantom sensation just by thinking about it. At least it is in my mind. I also used to laugh when other people would stumble or fall. Nowadays it makes my phantom pains get worse, so I try not to watch when that happens. That may be from age and experience. I used to take Valium for the pains but they don't give out that med for spasms and phantom pain in Florida these days. Take care and stay warm.
I have never asked any other paralyzed people about whether they have phantom sensation either lol! I am glad I'm not the only person that laughs when people fall lol.
I’ve been watching your videos for a while now and I like them. I find them informative and entertaining. As for your comment that you feel like your rambling. You are looking into a camera and speaking into a microphone, I don’t think many of us could do that as well as I think you do. So I say, keep rambling and keep helping and inspiring others who enjoy your company.
Brittney you did a super job explaining. The neuropathic pain sucks the most, mine gets like I took gasoline in a syringe and injected it under my skin and lit it.
It's crazy how every injury level is different. My daughter has a t12 spinal cord injury. She can feel a little below her injury. She can feel the top of her left leg and some areas around her bottom. So if she sits to long she gets sore in those areas on her bottom. Thank you for sharing your videos. They do help me and my daughter. She is still learning a lot 2 years post injury.
I got hurt in a car accident two years ago. T-12 SCI. I have a bit of sensation on my thighs, but I have a LOT of nerve pain and hyper sensitivity in my left thigh. I have a very similar amount of sensation in my butt. By the end of the day I’m very uncomfortable, even though there’s no red spots or pressure issues. My best wishes to your daughter, and you. It may not seem like it, but hopefully knowing that others are going through similar issues will help you get through your own.
Thank you, my daughter had really bad nerve pain the first year. She has muscle spams more now. I'm so sorry to hear about the nerve pain. It was really hard on my daughter. I will be praying for you.
There was a study about why some laugh when other people fall or get hurt. The reason is that we can relate to the pain so much, that the brain automatically release the happy hormones to level out the adrenaline rush we get.
You are an awesome lady. Not only you explain it so well, but you made me eat the garlic 3 times a day like you did. I’m on the way to experience a kind of neuropathy in my legs. So far, only one leg goes numb over night and causes me to fall. It feels like I’m staying up on my leg, but it is so numb that I fall. Thank you for making me feel normal. God bless you and your family.
I would never make anyone do anything lol. But I'm so glad you find value in the things I suggest and feel compelled to try them! Of course you're normal lol! Or maybe we're all weird together ❤️
Thank you Brittany for the video. I have had 4 amputations throughout my life and I'm now an above knee amputee. I have phantom sensation and pain with neuropathy. Instead of having the sensation of a leg I feel my stump when I was below knee. It was interesting to learn that you have these sensations being paralyzed. You taught me some things about how those sensations occur. Thank you for sharing! When I fall I try to make a joke. I usually say " Hey I thought I'd just drop in. " Falls can be funny and I just can't help but laugh either as long as I know they are ok. Thanks again! I think you are amazing!!
Interesting that you got phantom sensation from the second amputation, but not the original amputation. Falling is just funny lol. I love that you make a joke out of it even when you fall yourself!
Thats it!!! I feel like I am balancing on a pinhead. I could explain it before. That explains why I still feel my old knee braces. I had them on the day of the accident Like I did every day. I couldn't walk without them. I wore them for a few years. I get that falling asleep feeling that drives me nuts. Thank you I never knew how to explain this. I know that game. You would have died laughing at me the day I fell. One day I will laugh at it
It freaks out my wife and I that you have “pins and needles” sensation all of the time, and a burning sensation some of the time. It was our main topic of conversation amongst ourselves and with a number of friends this afternoon. We never would have thought that any pain would still be with you 20 years after the fact. We always assumed that within a year or so after the accident, that you would be free of all pain. This video was a huge eye-opener. We are glad you have some coping mechanisms. IMHO, you bring lots to the world!
Great information that really makes me think about "stuff"! I've always considers pain, either physical or emotional, as existing in the brain. If we injure a foot, the nerves in the foot send the information to the brain so we can react. So, if there is no communication between the foot and the brain, there isn't any pain. I think I registered for your e-mail list so I'm watching for your e-mail! LOL. Have a great weekend. Denise
Totally correct! Without the brain there is no pain (look at that rhyme lol)! You should have gotten an email Friday if you signed up correctly! If not let me know!
I’m able bodied right now. I say right now because we never can know what will happen and I get so much out of your content. I’m learning so much and have a better understanding of being paralyzed and what goes along with it. Keep up the great work.
As a 12+ year t4/t5 para I have never heard this explanation of phantom sensation in paras but it makes a lot of sense. And I have the exact same feelings below level of injury as what you described.
I would have voted for the “floating” sensation before I watched this video, but I was too scared to ask you. I now understand this so much better Brittney! Gawd, as someone with vertigo and I lose my balance often, I hope it is never in front of you because apparently you will be busting a gut laughing at me.
I fall all the time too but find it hilarious. Even when I break my leg. Then it’s annoying being on crutches. I find it funny when others fall though, too. Like hahaha for once it’s not me 😅
Your explanation was very clear. You mentioned that at first the tingling bothered you, but didn't say what it's like for you now. Are you constantly aware of the feeling? Is it uncomfortable?
It makes me happy to see that you didn't give up on life, that you make the most of it and continue to move forward. I also have neuropathy in my feet and lower legs, which is nothing compared to what you have, but fortunately everything still works, it's just I can't feel sensations on my skin. Push hard enough, or stick a pin in a certain depth and yea, I feel it! But I wondered, I'm sure you work to maintain your health and go for regular check ups with your doctor. With today's technology and advances in the medical world, have you heard of anything on the horizon that might help you regain some of your lower feeling and strength? I have heard of advances in stem cell research, I hope something will come along that will help you. Best wishes, you are an inspiration to everyone, God Bless.
Hello. I love your description of phantom sensation. its a weird thing I am not paralyzed but have all the same weird pain and everything you explain. I have liver failure but that effected my nerves you so true on that feeling. Anyways new viewer but will watch
I agree. I feel the same pins and needles all the time in my legs but my core (I’m T4/T5) usually I just feel pain, sadly ironic. And I have always found people falling funny, since I was a little kid (as long as I know they are okay.
yeah, it's never funny anymore when people are actually hurt badly lol. I'm pretty amazed that so many of you feel just like me in your legs! This is the first time I've ever really heard from other paralyzed people what their legs feel like. Funny that this conversation has never come up with friends over the years!
LOL...I like hot water with lemon. I'm a fairly fresh amputee and I'm also a quadriplegic. MY sensation was more affected than my movement...and I'll tell you...I have had more feelings of my leg and foot since I have been without the leg...than I ever did when I had the leg. Phantom sensation is really geared toward amputation...not paralysis.
I am an amputee and your explanation of phantom sensation rings true for me. I don’t have it constantly but it is that buzzy, tingling sensation most of the time with an occasional sharp, shooting lightening bolt every now and then. Nerves are weird.
My injury feels much the same. Pins and needles from about waist down. I also have a lot of nerve pain. Some days are worse than others, but every once in a while I get what I call quiet time, where I have no pain and my legs are just numb. Ahhh, good stuff.
I've been paralyzed from birth, so I don't have phantom sensation, but my feet do spasm rendomly which is interesting to watch when it happens. I also only notice it happening when I'm bare foot, but I'm sure it still happens when my shoes are on. My upper body also spasms at times, but I attribute that to multiple head injuries over the years. They've gotten more noticable as I've gotten older too. I only know this because some people around me have seen them happen and have expressed concern when they happen. I just brush it off and tell them it's something that's normal for me and that I'm not worried about it. One cool thing I've discovered I can do even though I'm paralyzed is that I can move my right foot slightly, not enough to be able to walk though. I used to make it move just to prove to people that I could do it too and it freaked some of them out to see it happen. It's gotten weaker over the years just because I don't practice doing it anymore and it's not something that was easy to do to begin with either anyway. It was just a fun "magic trick" I discovered I could do when I was a kid and thought it was cool to show people.
It's always fun to freak people out lol. So if you don't have phantom sensation what does it feel like to feel nothing below your paralysis level? Is it weird or just normal for you?
I watched this video as I thought it would help educate me on what the title says although might also leave me feeling sad. Ok It did educate me and I do feel a bit sad thinking of the challenges she must of had to deal with to get so far but I'm subscribing as I love her sense of humour and we all could do with a few more laughs so keeping my fingers crossed theres more like it to come.
Thats a great outlook to have may your chanel bring you as much enjoyment as you give to others. Not sure if your cup of tea but guessing you may like to watch a clip approx 6 minutes from Boemerang tv where Erik Hartman laughs at his guest who has sadly had his voice damaged. It's really sad when you take it seriously and the host did get fired but it is what happened.
“Balancing on a Noodle” is such a unique phrase, and certainly gets the image across to someone who has not experienced that. When you described how the therapist would push on your upper body, and you said you would be like a bobblehead, I wondered what your reaction was. I know when I teased/tested my disabled wife this morning about her lack of depth-of-field and her absolutely no peripheral vision, I got a sharp - and deserving - reaction - she punched me! So my wife told me “I hope Brittney slapped or punched her physical therapist!”
I really identify with a lot of what you said. It's weird to hear someone articulate how I feel. The only thing I've never had is burning pain. Also for me, thinking about my paralysed parts doesn't make the tingling etc worse.
I am a t4/5 spinal cord injury from transverse myelitis. I have tingling all the time just like you. I get it from just above my waist and all the way down. I also get the burning and just like you if I think of a part of my legs or foot the tingling gets more intense in that spot.
That's so interesting, I have been doing NSDR or Yoga Nidra recently, which is a practise that makes you focus on different parts of your body for deep relaxation, and I can really feel my right foot when I focus on it, the sole of my foot, my toe etc - it's bizarre. When I actually can't "feel" it at all. Weirdly enough, I *can* feel my left foot, but I don't get the same sensation. It's nice to hear your thoughts and I look forward to chatting soon 😁✌
I'm afraid we can no longer be friends lol. Yoga, meditation, and a gratitude practice? You're gonna make me look bad lol. I have to step up my game to keep up with you!
I’m not paralyzed, but practice Yoga Nidra for anxiety and self-soothing. I’ve been slacking off, so thank you for reminding me to bring it back into my daily routine.❤
💙💚 my cousin lost a leg and can still feel it sometimes , she has stood up a number of times and fallen over having forgotten she only has one leg because of the phantom sensation 💚💙
You are so funny. Thank you for the laughs. You make a lot of sense becase I have nerve pain in my feet from diabetes and my feet go numb all the time. Some time it’s hard to walk when they are extremely numb and I fall. I bet you would laugh 😊.
I feel like I'm sitting on a ball. I also don't have any core muscles. I'm lucky enough to be an incomplete and had feelings below my injury level until I developed a cyst above my injury level. Now I've lost all of that
tommy wiseau, director of that awful film "the room," is a hot water connoisseur apparently. like, he orders it at restaurants and shit. makes perfect sense to me, and is relatabel to how my lower half feels, like right now i'm sitting on a couch lounging kinda like a roman or whatever and the whole lower half of me just kinda feels like a singular lump of pins nad needles, like i can THINK about my legs as separate things but i have no conception of where they are or whatver like i do my arms? idk. it's so hard to explain. like sitting on a fleshy mound. gross lmao. i described my relationship to them to my doctor as like quantum physics bc as long as i'm not really thinking about or observing them i'm mostly fine but if i start to think too much about what's going on i get a lot of really bad nerve pain or whatever. shcrodinger's legs. prolly the grossest self-injury i've done recently was at the range, i ended up with hot brass down my shoe and was wondering what smelled like bbq. it's me! me smell like bbq! that's bad!
ThankQ for explaining this to all of us. I understand what you are saying. My dad lost his leg in WW2. He would talk about his phantom pains. Cheers Darlin'!! Have a great day!! 😎 Email list?? *perk*
Do you have autonomic dysreflexia to help you notice certain things that happen to the paralyzed parts of ur body? I subscribe to another youtuber (a quad not para) and he says he sometimes gets that and it helps him signal like if a room is too hot or cold.
I had my right leg amputated above the knee and I don't have the sensation of pins and needles at alll but I can feel wearing flip flops, the strat between my big toe and the first toe. I do get pain occasionally where something grabs my ankle and it bothers me. My lest leg was amputated below the knee and I haven't had any phantom pain so far. Also the reason for the amputation is diabetes.
This was a kool video! I've mentioned before in comments I was born with a birth defect called spina bifida which falls under a spinal cord injury so the question is always hard for me to answer because it's all I've ever known. In a way it's like a game of Simon says. If someone was to say Simon says touch your nose several times in a row and then dropped the Simon says only saying touch your nose then asked if you can feel your nose...can you? When I put my hand to my leg, can feel it?...yes I can...am I actually able to feel it? probably not, because I've done all sorts of random stuff to my legs, even have had cats climb up them, but don't know they clawed me until I see the marks so it's only really when I pay attention!
@@EmpoweredPara I have no clue... In most images ive seen of what the spinal cord looks like in SB there can be a few strands of the cord intact but some look like noodles spliced from it staying attached to the top and bottom intact cord waving around. After watching this, I'm wondering if the reason I can feel my leg is from feeling the sensation of it under my hand that my brain determines is my leg or is it because my deformity is so low down (right around mid back around where a bra closes from behind.) Then again can anyone really feel all their toes separately or just their foot in general unless they stub their toe? It's generally awkward to be asked, at least by adults, because there's no real answer it seems but they expect us to have one!
@DesMowadeng Now there's a question! Can people actually feel their whole body all at them same time? Or is the brain only capable of interpreting the sensory input from a few places at once when we pay attention? Haven't really thought about it before lol!
@@EmpoweredPara this is gonna sound horrible...and might depend on whether you have lived longer injured than you were able bodied, but you'd be better able to answer that than I would. I do know that for people who are blind or deaf if theyve been blind or deaf longer than sighted or hearing that they have no memory of sight or sound. With us I'm not sure! Feeling everything all of the time sounds overwhelming as all get out to me!
I am a right below the knee amputee. Luckily I hardly ever have phantom pain. I do however have phantom sensation. I can “feel” that my heel is touching the ground or the side of my foot or the balls of my feet. Weird but helpful.
I know a blind woman who had both eyes removed. One as an infant, the other about a year ago. She said for about 2 months after that operation, she'd still "see" the pinhole of light she would have if she looked into sunlight.
Exactly the way I’d describe the below injury sensation. I call my days hot burn days, cold burn days, and the easy days, when the intensity is low. Btw… my legs were on FIRE watching this video!!😂😎
I’m a T4 complete and often times still forget my limitations…. Grocery shopping one day and I reached up to get a gallon of milk off the shelf…as soon as the milk left the shelf the weight toppled me right out of the chair to the floor. Ya just gotta laugh 😂
Mine is A slow progression to paralysis, getting worse week by week "Syringomyelia" Always seems weird to say I can't feel my legs, but they hurt so bad. I'm 72 now & lost use of my legs & most of my arms & hands now
@@EmpoweredPara Mine kicked off at 36 with A fall, left me A complete quad. but 2 years later I made it back to work (Auto mechanic) for 15 years. Then started back down that hole. Cervical lamination C2 - C7 made it A bit better but didn't last. 1999 had to retire & settle in for the ride. I have never known anyone else with Syringomyelia (most Dr's I've had aren't even familiar with it.) Thank you for responding to me.
I have a question, might be dumb. But saw a video on tiktok about a paralyzed woman and in her video she says she can’t remember what it feels to run. Do paraplegics forget what it feels like to have legs??
Not really. There are neuro inhibitors like Gabapentin and Lyrica, but for some people they don’t do much. Conventional pain medication, including opioids, does nothing for nerve pain.
a question to you and others in the comments do your legs ever feel heavy? my do all the time my segon said its just a normal feeling with nerve damage. yeah u are right seeing someone get hit in the B***s is alway funny.
I laugh at people falling also! It’s terrible they get hurt and I’m not laughing about that. It’s their face and body movements as they’re falling that’s the hilarious part. I’m definitely not laughing because they’re hurt
Yeah I'm not laughing because they're hurt either lol. I think it's normal to laugh when people fall, that's how funniest home videos was such a hit lol!
It would be nice to have someone around to laugh at me when I fall. I had a stroke that paralyzed my left side 7 years ago and since that time I fall a lot.
@@EmpoweredPara thanks so far the worst has been 13 stitches in one of my ears. I could no imagine being paralyzed more than I was back then I could not do anything for my self the nurses had to help me
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You absolutely do make sense. I’m not paralysed but your videos have done so much to help me understand what life feels like if you are. You are a great communicator and a true inspiration. Keep it going xx
Thank you! That really means a lot ❤️💙!
Wow... there's so much more to being paralyzed than I ever knew or even imagined. Thank you for explaining this.
You are so welcome!
The way the neurologist explained it to me when I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy is that the brain is expecting signals to be coming up those nerves and when they don't arrive it turns up the volume chemically until it starts seeing the electrical noise on the nerves and tries to make sense of that.
Ooh, that’s an excellent description, and makes lots of sense.
That's makes so much sense for why I have nerve pain!
I don't laugh when other people fall but if I fall out of my wheelchair, I can't stop laughing 😂. Great video.
You explained that perfectly I'm not paralyzed but stumbled on your videos I'm losing my hearing but this is so inspiring to me your so strong keep making videos this could saves someone's life :)
Thanks for watching! It's tough to lose your hearing because it's challenging to communicate with people if you can't hear them. Sending you positive energy!
When I try explaining it to perfectly healthy people, I tell them to strap a 100-pound weight to each leg and then enjoy the rest of their day. It's literally like being nailed to the surface of the earth. Add all the bowel and bladder issues, nerve pain, etc., and you're getting close to what this nightmare is all about. I was completely whole and healthy for 38 years prior to my accident, and took it all completely for granted. I'm now Spiritually "born again" in my Spirit and can't fully grasp what it would be like to be "born again" in my body. To regain all that I've lost in my physical body would be a physical "born again" experience for sure. I'm not sure if I'd ever "sit down" ever again if made whole. God bless you all!!! ❤️
For some reason my legs don't feel heavy to me... interesting that we are all so different!
I lost an eye to an autoimmune disease and you explained phantom sensation perfectly. I had a cataract and never saw out my eye after surgery then had it enucleated because it atrophied. It’s hard to explain my missing eye wanting to see but unable to. Thank you for sharing valuable experiences and information.
Whoa that would be weird!
I completely understand what you are saying. I'm a t4 t6 complete and below my level of injury it constantly feels like my legs are asleep..great video!!!
I had no idea so many people felt what I do!
Great video.
I'm glad someone else out there has the same sensations. I've only known a couple other paralyzed people and we never really talked about it.
You're absolutely right about the sensation getting worse when you think about it. It's crazy that I can affect my phantom sensation just by thinking about it. At least it is in my mind.
I also used to laugh when other people would stumble or fall. Nowadays it makes my phantom pains get worse, so I try not to watch when that happens. That may be from age and experience.
I used to take Valium for the pains but they don't give out that med for spasms and phantom pain in Florida these days.
Take care and stay warm.
I have never asked any other paralyzed people about whether they have phantom sensation either lol! I am glad I'm not the only person that laughs when people fall lol.
I’ve been watching your videos for a while now and I like them. I find them informative and entertaining. As for your comment that you feel like your rambling. You are looking into a camera and speaking into a microphone, I don’t think many of us could do that as well as I think you do. So I say, keep rambling and keep helping and inspiring others who enjoy your company.
Awe thank you so much. I pretend I'm speaking directly to you all, so that makes talking to the camera much easier!
Brittney you did a super job explaining. The neuropathic pain sucks the most, mine gets like I took gasoline in a syringe and injected it under my skin and lit it.
Yeah it's awful isn't it 😕 😞 😢.
@@EmpoweredPara it sucks, but somehow we get through it.
It's crazy how every injury level is different. My daughter has a t12 spinal cord injury. She can feel a little below her injury. She can feel the top of her left leg and some areas around her bottom. So if she sits to long she gets sore in those areas on her bottom. Thank you for sharing your videos. They do help me and my daughter. She is still learning a lot 2 years post injury.
I got hurt in a car accident two years ago. T-12 SCI. I have a bit of sensation on my thighs, but I have a LOT of nerve pain and hyper sensitivity in my left thigh. I have a very similar amount of sensation in my butt. By the end of the day I’m very uncomfortable, even though there’s no red spots or pressure issues. My best wishes to your daughter, and you. It may not seem like it, but hopefully knowing that others are going through similar issues will help you get through your own.
Thank you, my daughter had really bad nerve pain the first year. She has muscle spams more now. I'm so sorry to hear about the nerve pain. It was really hard on my daughter. I will be praying for you.
It's a challenging first few years but if we can keep the righ perspective there are many blessings to be had, even with a spinal cord injury!
@@cfalkner1012 Not feeling alone is very comforting indeed!
There was a study about why some laugh when other people fall or get hurt.
The reason is that we can relate to the pain so much, that the brain automatically release the happy hormones to level out the adrenaline rush we get.
What really? that's so interesting!
You are an awesome lady. Not only you explain it so well, but you made me eat the garlic 3 times a day like you did. I’m on the way to experience a kind of neuropathy in my legs. So far, only one leg goes numb over night and causes me to fall. It feels like I’m staying up on my leg, but it is so numb that I fall. Thank you for making me feel normal. God bless you and your family.
I would never make anyone do anything lol. But I'm so glad you find value in the things I suggest and feel compelled to try them! Of course you're normal lol! Or maybe we're all weird together ❤️
Thank you Brittany for the video. I have had 4 amputations throughout my life and I'm now an above knee amputee. I have phantom sensation and pain with neuropathy. Instead of having the sensation of a leg I feel my stump when I was below knee. It was interesting to learn that you have these sensations being paralyzed. You taught me some things about how those sensations occur. Thank you for sharing! When I fall I try to make a joke. I usually say " Hey I thought I'd just drop in. " Falls can be funny and I just can't help but laugh either as long as I know they are ok. Thanks again! I think you are amazing!!
Interesting that you got phantom sensation from the second amputation, but not the original amputation.
Falling is just funny lol. I love that you make a joke out of it even when you fall yourself!
Thats it!!! I feel like I am balancing on a pinhead. I could explain it before. That explains why I still feel my old knee braces. I had them on the day of the accident Like I did every day. I couldn't walk without them. I wore them for a few years. I get that falling asleep feeling that drives me nuts. Thank you I never knew how to explain this. I know that game. You would have died laughing at me the day I fell. One day I will laugh at it
It freaks out my wife and I that you have “pins and needles” sensation all of the time, and a burning sensation some of the time. It was our main topic of conversation amongst ourselves and with a number of friends this afternoon. We never would have thought that any pain would still be with you 20 years after the fact. We always assumed that within a year or so after the accident, that you would be free of all pain. This video was a huge eye-opener. We are glad you have some coping mechanisms. IMHO, you bring lots to the world!
Most people in wheelchairs are in some level of discomfort at all times. We just live with it!
Great information that really makes me think about "stuff"! I've always considers pain, either physical or emotional, as existing in the brain. If we injure a foot, the nerves in the foot send the information to the brain so we can react. So, if there is no communication between the foot and the brain, there isn't any pain.
I think I registered for your e-mail list so I'm watching for your e-mail! LOL.
Have a great weekend.
Denise
Totally correct! Without the brain there is no pain (look at that rhyme lol)! You should have gotten an email Friday if you signed up correctly! If not let me know!
I’m able bodied right now. I say right now because we never can know what will happen and I get so much out of your content. I’m learning so much and have a better understanding of being paralyzed and what goes along with it. Keep up the great work.
I hope you never need the information lol!
As a 12+ year t4/t5 para I have never heard this explanation of phantom sensation in paras but it makes a lot of sense. And I have the exact same feelings below level of injury as what you described.
Not sure if it's accurate but it makes sense to me!
@@EmpoweredPara If you do not mid me asking, what is your injury level?
@@kevinlstephenson6759 t6
@@EmpoweredPara So a little bit lower than my injury level.
I would have voted for the “floating” sensation before I watched this video, but I was too scared to ask you. I now understand this so much better Brittney! Gawd, as someone with vertigo and I lose my balance often, I hope it is never in front of you because apparently you will be busting a gut laughing at me.
100% I'll be laughing at you 🤣. And also asking if you're ok!
I fall all the time too but find it hilarious. Even when I break my leg. Then it’s annoying being on crutches. I find it funny when others fall though, too. Like hahaha for once it’s not me 😅
Thanks as ever Brittney - don't fall over!!
I'll try not to fall over 😉
Really interesting subject and fascinating how the body works. Especially the brain and nervous system. Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome! Definitely a fascinating topic for sure!
Your explanation was very clear. You mentioned that at first the tingling bothered you, but didn't say what it's like for you now. Are you constantly aware of the feeling? Is it uncomfortable?
I'm constantly aware, it's just stopped bugging me. It can be uncomfortable at times but mostly not too bad.
So charming, forthright, and educational! Amazing!!
Thanks 😉!
It makes me happy to see that you didn't give up on life, that you make the most of it and continue to move forward. I also have neuropathy in my feet and lower legs, which is nothing compared to what you have, but fortunately everything still works, it's just I can't feel sensations on my skin. Push hard enough, or stick a pin in a certain depth and yea, I feel it! But I wondered, I'm sure you work to maintain your health and go for regular check ups with your doctor. With today's technology and advances in the medical world, have you heard of anything on the horizon that might help you regain some of your lower feeling and strength? I have heard of advances in stem cell research, I hope something will come along that will help you. Best wishes, you are an inspiration to everyone, God Bless.
Stem cell research is more for newly injured people. I have my eye on Neurolink that Elon Musk is working on, but I'm not waiting around for a cure.
@@EmpoweredPara I understand.
What a crack up! You are too much fun. I think that was a great description! Love the vids.
Thank you for watching!
Hello. I love your description of phantom sensation. its a weird thing I am not paralyzed but have all the same weird pain and everything you explain. I have liver failure but that effected my nerves you so true on that feeling. Anyways new viewer but will watch
Another good explanation of something I know very little about. Your the best.😀
Thanks 😉.
Love the, “I’m right about me.” That should be on a tshirt.
I'll put it on a shirt for you lol. But you have to promise to buy one and then take a picture and tag me!
@@EmpoweredPara agreed.
I agree. I feel the same pins and needles all the time in my legs but my core (I’m T4/T5) usually I just feel pain, sadly ironic. And I have always found people falling funny, since I was a little kid (as long as I know they are okay.
yeah, it's never funny anymore when people are actually hurt badly lol. I'm pretty amazed that so many of you feel just like me in your legs! This is the first time I've ever really heard from other paralyzed people what their legs feel like. Funny that this conversation has never come up with friends over the years!
LOL...I like hot water with lemon. I'm a fairly fresh amputee and I'm also a quadriplegic. MY sensation was more affected than my movement...and I'll tell you...I have had more feelings of my leg and foot since I have been without the leg...than I ever did when I had the leg. Phantom sensation is really geared toward amputation...not paralysis.
That's almost comical lol. You had to lose the leg to feel it haha
I am an amputee and your explanation of phantom sensation rings true for me. I don’t have it constantly but it is that buzzy, tingling sensation most of the time with an occasional sharp, shooting lightening bolt every now and then. Nerves are weird.
so weird lol
I had a friend that was a double amputee he had polio he’s passed away by now, but he always talked about the pain of phantom pain.
Do you have pain? I lose all use of my legs at random times it’s sucks and the nerves start to tingle after about three hours it’s awful.
@Jaggededge112 do you mean nerve pain or pain in general?
@@EmpoweredPara nerve. I assume you must have regular pain above your injury level?
My injury feels much the same. Pins and needles from about waist down. I also have a lot of nerve pain. Some days are worse than others, but every once in a while I get what I call quiet time, where I have no pain and my legs are just numb. Ahhh, good stuff.
Yeah those days of just quiet. Few but glorious!
I agree…love those “ quiet “ days! 😎
I've been paralyzed from birth, so I don't have phantom sensation, but my feet do spasm rendomly which is interesting to watch when it happens. I also only notice it happening when I'm bare foot, but I'm sure it still happens when my shoes are on. My upper body also spasms at times, but I attribute that to multiple head injuries over the years. They've gotten more noticable as I've gotten older too. I only know this because some people around me have seen them happen and have expressed concern when they happen. I just brush it off and tell them it's something that's normal for me and that I'm not worried about it. One cool thing I've discovered I can do even though I'm paralyzed is that I can move my right foot slightly, not enough to be able to walk though. I used to make it move just to prove to people that I could do it too and it freaked some of them out to see it happen. It's gotten weaker over the years just because I don't practice doing it anymore and it's not something that was easy to do to begin with either anyway. It was just a fun "magic trick" I discovered I could do when I was a kid and thought it was cool to show people.
It's always fun to freak people out lol. So if you don't have phantom sensation what does it feel like to feel nothing below your paralysis level? Is it weird or just normal for you?
@@EmpoweredPara I only feel down to about my waistline & I just find it to be normal because it's all I've ever known.
If it’s not too personal, what caused you to be paralyzed from birth? Spina bifida?
She definitely didn’t lose her personality ! Like most women, she is a yapper. But indeed, a character for sure 👍🏽 I like it. That Kristen Wig energy
I watched this video as I thought it would help educate me on what the title says although might also leave me feeling sad. Ok It did educate me and I do feel a bit sad thinking of the challenges she must of had to deal with to get so far but I'm subscribing as I love her sense of humour and we all could do with a few more laughs so keeping my fingers crossed theres more like it to come.
Welcome! I'd rather laugh my way to the grave than cry all the way there lol. I promise to try and bring more laughs!
Thats a great outlook to have may your chanel bring you as much enjoyment as you give to others.
Not sure if your cup of tea but guessing you may like to watch a clip approx 6 minutes from Boemerang tv where Erik Hartman laughs at his guest who has sadly had his voice damaged.
It's really sad when you take it seriously and the host did get fired but it is what happened.
“Balancing on a Noodle” is such a unique phrase, and certainly gets the image across to someone who has not experienced that. When you described how the therapist would push on your upper body, and you said you would be like a bobblehead, I wondered what your reaction was. I know when I teased/tested my disabled wife this morning about her lack of depth-of-field and her absolutely no peripheral vision, I got a sharp - and deserving - reaction - she punched me! So my wife told me “I hope Brittney slapped or punched her physical therapist!”
I really identify with a lot of what you said. It's weird to hear someone articulate how I feel.
The only thing I've never had is burning pain. Also for me, thinking about my paralysed parts doesn't make the tingling etc worse.
But you have tingling like me? I have lots of friends in wheelchairs and have never asked any of them this question lol.
@@EmpoweredPara yes, I have tingling!
I am a t4/5 spinal cord injury from transverse myelitis. I have tingling all the time just like you. I get it from just above my waist and all the way down. I also get the burning and just like you if I think of a part of my legs or foot the tingling gets more intense in that spot.
This was great information, thank you
You are so welcome!
That's so interesting, I have been doing NSDR or Yoga Nidra recently, which is a practise that makes you focus on different parts of your body for deep relaxation, and I can really feel my right foot when I focus on it, the sole of my foot, my toe etc - it's bizarre. When I actually can't "feel" it at all.
Weirdly enough, I *can* feel my left foot, but I don't get the same sensation.
It's nice to hear your thoughts and I look forward to chatting soon 😁✌
I'm afraid we can no longer be friends lol. Yoga, meditation, and a gratitude practice? You're gonna make me look bad lol. I have to step up my game to keep up with you!
I’m not paralyzed, but practice Yoga Nidra for anxiety and self-soothing. I’ve been slacking off, so thank you for reminding me to bring it back into my daily routine.❤
I am not handedcap but I really enjoy your videos. Lol I am a able body as you say. God loves you and so do I
Awe thanks!
💙💚 my cousin lost a leg and can still feel it sometimes , she has stood up a number of times and fallen over having forgotten she only has one leg because of the phantom sensation 💚💙
That's kinda funny lol.
You are so funny. Thank you for the laughs. You make a lot of sense becase I have nerve pain in my feet from diabetes and my feet go numb all the time. Some time it’s hard to walk when they are extremely numb and I fall. I bet you would laugh 😊.
lol I would probably laugh! But then I'd make sure you were ok!
I feel like I'm sitting on a ball. I also don't have any core muscles. I'm lucky enough to be an incomplete and had feelings below my injury level until I developed a cyst above my injury level. Now I've lost all of that
Have you lost anything above your level of injury?
3:36 so sad 😢
tommy wiseau, director of that awful film "the room," is a hot water connoisseur apparently. like, he orders it at restaurants and shit.
makes perfect sense to me, and is relatabel to how my lower half feels, like right now i'm sitting on a couch lounging kinda like a roman or whatever and the whole lower half of me just kinda feels like a singular lump of pins nad needles, like i can THINK about my legs as separate things but i have no conception of where they are or whatver like i do my arms? idk. it's so hard to explain. like sitting on a fleshy mound. gross lmao. i described my relationship to them to my doctor as like quantum physics bc as long as i'm not really thinking about or observing them i'm mostly fine but if i start to think too much about what's going on i get a lot of really bad nerve pain or whatever. shcrodinger's legs.
prolly the grossest self-injury i've done recently was at the range, i ended up with hot brass down my shoe and was wondering what smelled like bbq. it's me! me smell like bbq! that's bad!
ThankQ for explaining this to all of us. I understand what you are saying. My dad lost his leg in WW2. He would talk about his phantom pains. Cheers Darlin'!! Have a great day!! 😎
Email list?? *perk*
Cheers! The link to join my email list is in the video description!
@@EmpoweredPara Cool!! Thanks Dear One! I'll sign up so I can harrass you over there too! 😂🤣😂🤣😂😎🤭
@@grant4176 Looking forward to it 😉
@@EmpoweredPara You have a message in a bottle waiting in your inbox! 😜
I think I'm going to ask you questions this week sometime about phantom pains. Soon!
Happy to answer!
Made sense to me!
Fascinating!
Do you have autonomic dysreflexia to help you notice certain things that happen to the paralyzed parts of ur body? I subscribe to another youtuber (a quad not para) and he says he sometimes gets that and it helps him signal like if a room is too hot or cold.
Not really. I get mild AD but not that is even noticeable sometimes..I get spasms though that alert me!
I had my right leg amputated above the knee and I don't have the sensation of pins and needles at alll but I can feel wearing flip flops, the strat between my big toe and the first toe. I do get pain occasionally where something grabs my ankle and it bothers me. My lest leg was amputated below the knee and I haven't had any phantom pain so far. Also the reason for the amputation is diabetes.
Interesting that that the phantom sensation is only in one leg! The human body is a mystery lol
This was a kool video! I've mentioned before in comments I was born with a birth defect called spina bifida which falls under a spinal cord injury so the question is always hard for me to answer because it's all I've ever known. In a way it's like a game of Simon says. If someone was to say Simon says touch your nose several times in a row and then dropped the Simon says only saying touch your nose then asked if you can feel your nose...can you? When I put my hand to my leg, can feel it?...yes I can...am I actually able to feel it? probably not, because I've done all sorts of random stuff to my legs, even have had cats climb up them, but don't know they clawed me until I see the marks so it's only really when I pay attention!
Thanks interesting! So the question is: do you actually feel or do you just have sophisticated phantom sensation?
@@EmpoweredPara I have no clue... In most images ive seen of what the spinal cord looks like in SB there can be a few strands of the cord intact but some look like noodles spliced from it staying attached to the top and bottom intact cord waving around. After watching this, I'm wondering if the reason I can feel my leg is from feeling the sensation of it under my hand that my brain determines is my leg or is it because my deformity is so low down (right around mid back around where a bra closes from behind.) Then again can anyone really feel all their toes separately or just their foot in general unless they stub their toe?
It's generally awkward to be asked, at least by adults, because there's no real answer it seems but they expect us to have one!
@DesMowadeng Now there's a question! Can people actually feel their whole body all at them same time? Or is the brain only capable of interpreting the sensory input from a few places at once when we pay attention? Haven't really thought about it before lol!
@@EmpoweredPara this is gonna sound horrible...and might depend on whether you have lived longer injured than you were able bodied, but you'd be better able to answer that than I would. I do know that for people who are blind or deaf if theyve been blind or deaf longer than sighted or hearing that they have no memory of sight or sound. With us I'm not sure! Feeling everything all of the time sounds overwhelming as all get out to me!
@DesMowadeng Yeah I was thinking feeling everything, all the time, would be overwhelming too lol!
I am a right below the knee amputee. Luckily I hardly ever have phantom pain. I do however have phantom sensation. I can “feel” that my heel is touching the ground or the side of my foot or the balls of my feet. Weird but helpful.
It blows my mind how much we can "feel". The amount of memory in the nerves is pretty cool.
So, I'm a hemi (stenosis,c5), but still have feeling on that side, but you're right everyone's unique. Love your vids.
Thanks for watching!
I laugh too when people fall - it's so embarrassing but I can't control itt!
Me either lol!
I know a blind woman who had both eyes removed. One as an infant, the other about a year ago. She said for about 2 months after that operation, she'd still "see" the pinhole of light she would have if she looked into sunlight.
What! omg that is so interesting. Like the brain interpreting phantom light! Whoa!
@@EmpoweredPara what's more interesting is she said said being a "total" is more exhausting because her brain isn't receiving the stimulus it craves.
Exactly the way I’d describe the below injury sensation. I call my days hot burn days, cold burn days, and the easy days, when the intensity is low. Btw… my legs were on FIRE watching this video!!😂😎
My friend sings the Alicia Keys song "This Girl is on Fire" when her legs burn and now I do the same lol
I’m a T4 complete and often times still forget my limitations…. Grocery shopping one day and I reached up to get a gallon of milk off the shelf…as soon as the milk left the shelf the weight toppled me right out of the chair to the floor. Ya just gotta laugh 😂
lol that's only funny after you make it back in your chair haha.
Mine is A slow progression to paralysis, getting worse week by week "Syringomyelia" Always seems weird to say I can't feel my legs, but they hurt so bad. I'm 72 now & lost use of my legs & most of my arms & hands now
I have syringomyelia too!
@@EmpoweredPara Mine kicked off at 36 with A fall, left me A complete quad. but 2 years later I made it back to work (Auto mechanic) for 15 years. Then started back down that hole. Cervical lamination C2 - C7 made it A bit better but didn't last. 1999 had to retire & settle in for the ride. I have never known anyone else with Syringomyelia (most Dr's I've had aren't even familiar with it.) Thank you for responding to me.
Sometimes it feels like my phone is vibrating in my pocket when I don't even have it with me.
phantom phone lol. My husband gets this too 😆
I have a question, might be dumb. But saw a video on tiktok about a paralyzed woman and in her video she says she can’t remember what it feels to run.
Do paraplegics forget what it feels like to have legs??
I remember things but I'm sure it's different for everyone!
I feel like I could move my hands, and flex my legs and calf’s. And can wiggle my toes but they don’t move
lol yeah me too!
@@EmpoweredPara I just wish my fingers could move 🤦🏽♂️
Does it feel like the same thing as when you’re having an Eppy dural?
Never had an epidural when I could feel my legs so I'm not sure!
Is there not any medication to alleviate the pain?
Not really. There are neuro inhibitors like Gabapentin and Lyrica, but for some people they don’t do much. Conventional pain medication, including opioids, does nothing for nerve pain.
yeah unfortunately medicine options aren't great
What does it feel like wen you try to move your legs
It feels like thinking really hard about moving your hair or an inanimate object lol
I tell people it feels a lot like whenever you hit your funny bone a lot, just at different places like your legs
Yep exactly like that!
I uploaded a video showing the new hoodie!
Thank you!
@@EmpoweredPara you’re welcome.
Must be weird, sounds weird to me.. , have a good weekend!.
lol weird that I laugh at people when they get hurt? Or weird that I have phantom sensation?
@@EmpoweredPara the phantom sensation, must be a weird to feel it, laugh at people that get hurt it's really common.
@charleswipman897 it used to feel weird, now it's just normal to me lol!
🫀❣️🫀
a question to you and others in the comments do your legs ever feel heavy? my do all the time my segon said its just a normal feeling with nerve damage. yeah u are right seeing someone get hit in the B***s is alway funny.
Not usually. But they did at first!
Do you get paralyzed by a sleep paralysis???
I laugh at people falling also! It’s terrible they get hurt and I’m not laughing about that. It’s their face and body movements as they’re falling that’s the hilarious part. I’m definitely not laughing because they’re hurt
Yeah I'm not laughing because they're hurt either lol. I think it's normal to laugh when people fall, that's how funniest home videos was such a hit lol!
Hi I also laugh when someone is hurt Cheers Phil
phew...I'm not alone!
YOU are WRONG! 😀
It would be nice to have someone around to laugh at me when I fall. I had a stroke that paralyzed my left side 7 years ago and since that time I fall a lot.
I hope you don't hurt yourself when you fall:)
@@EmpoweredPara thanks so far the worst has been 13 stitches in one of my ears. I could no imagine being paralyzed more than I was back then I could not do anything for my self the nurses had to help me
You are talking to us or to the screen? ffs
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking lol. I'm technically talking to a camera, I guess, but I pretend I'm talking to you!
Hot water?! Isnt that an asian thing?
Not sure lol.
Is it possible that hypnosis could relieve the tingling sensation? It’s just a thought that I had Brittany. 🤗 🐨 🦘🦘
I am not sure! I bet it's worth a try!