Power lines and cellphone masts appear to amplify pain signals, especially in people who have lost a limb, say researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas, who are the first to confirm the phenomenon.

They think that EMFs somehow interact with neuromas, inflamed peripheral nerve bundles that form as the result of injury, as often happens in amputees. Exposure to low and regular levels of EMFs is the most likely to give the impression of pain.

There are around two million amputees in the US alone, say researchers, and many of these suffer from chronic pain. The association to EMFs has been noted by doctors for years, and they have been unable to explain the phenomenon.

Most have put it down to a psychosomatic response—in other words, it’s all in the mind or imagination of the sufferer—but the researchers point out that the amputees’ pain was “a direct response to human-made radiofrequency electromagnetic energy.”

Another factor in the phenomenon is the protein TRPV, which is evident in people who suffer from heat sensitivity. They surmise that it could be a factor in people who are electrosensitive.