Phantom pain results from the severing of a limb or amputation in which the brain still receives input from the nerve. Total, there are 31 pairs of nerves that serve the entire body. As you can imagine, each nerve serves many different areas. Although the nerve may have been severed, as long as it still exists and part of it is still functioning, it is capable of an action impulse(nerve impulse). This is what causes the majority of our sensations from pain to extreme temperatures. I'm a student nurse and just finished this up over my summer classes, I hope I have put this into understandable terms and that it helps. FYI: Phantom pain is treated by physicians and medical staff as other types of pain. Some patients may be given mild non narcotic meds for this type of pain. Depends on the doctor. I hope this helps answer your question.

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