Full Story: – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15938103

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2061857/Mirror-therapy-gives-hope-millions-arthritis-sufferers.html#ixzz1eQhC5g3p

Mirror box therapy is also used for stroke rehabilitation, CRPS/RSD and phantom limb pain.

Read the full report in The guardian at :-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/nov/14/mirror-therapy-reduces-pain-arthritis?commentpage=last#end-of-comments

A folding mirror box is used for stroke rehabilitation, CRPS, RSD, phantom lamb pain as well as limb rehab after an injury or surgery.

Mirror Box Therapy is used for many conditions including, phantom limb pain; Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and for rehabilitation after a stroke; an injury; or surgery. Visualization therapy has been described in medical literature to be of benefit to 80% of users. The rate and amount of recovery much depends on the intensity and duration of the therapy. Recovery is influenced by personality, life experiences and coping styles. Why it worksA little understanding of how the brain works will help you understand Mirror Box Therapy.The brain consists of billions of neurones and trillions of connections. These neurones are able to store a map of our body, this is why we can close our eyes and still touch our nose, ear, knee or indeed any part of our body without looking. So if you were to lose a limb, the limb may have gone but the brain’s map still has the image of the limb. The brain continues to send electrical signals through neurons to the limb and the mismatch between the brain’s map and what actually exists, causes pain.While putting the affected limb inside the mirror box and the unaffected limb in front of the mirror, and looking at the image in the mirror the brain receives visual feedback thus fooling it into thinking that the affected limb is still working. Encouraging the brain to adjust to its new environment. This same principle of fooling the brain also works for CRPS/RSD and limb rehabilitation after surgery or an injury. Mirror Box Therapy for stroke rehab works differently as it is the brain that is damaged and not the limb. Along with the neurons we have mirror neurons; these mirror neurons fire just by seeing someone doing something, simulating the action in our minds (we empathize).Therefore by seeing the affected limb in the mirror essentially working, the brain is encouraged to rebuild the network within the brain and restart its communication with the limb. The brain will actively open new pathways that have lain dormant until now.