If You Need: Help With Pain Control

Having cancer does not always mean having pain. Pain is hardly ever a symptom of early cancer. Patients with advanced cancers do not always have pain; however, if pain does occur, there are many ways to relieve or reduce it. You have a right to ask the health professionals caring for you to help you control your pain as much as possible. Pain is not something you must "learn to live with." Pain must be treated because it interferes with every part of a patient's life.

Pain is a sensation that hurts. It may be steady or throbbing. It may be stabbing, aching, or pinching. However you feel pain, only you can describe it or define it. Pain is not the same for every person.

Cancer patients may have pain for a number of reasons. It may be due to the effects of the cancer itself, or it could result from treatment methods. Remember that not all people with cancer have pain and those who do are not in pain all the time.

Pain Control Methods

There are many methods used to control pain. Some methods include:

Nerve Block Medicines that relieve pain may also be given. One type is nonprescription (over-the-counter) pain relievers for mild to moderate pain. These may include aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen. Prescription medicines that require a doctor's order for moderate to severe pain are another type. Many people worry needlessly that taking too much medication will cause them to become addicted to the drug. Addiction is a dependence on the use of a drug to feel "high." People with cancer do not take drugs to get "high" but to relieve real, physical pain. When the proper dosage of medication is taken on a regular basis, addiction does not occur.

People also worry that if they take their medications continuously, they will become "immune" to that dosage and need higher and higher amounts until no dosage will work. This is not true. In fact, increasing the dosage for most prescribed medications increases their effectiveness. Keeping pain continuously under control is important. If people hold off on their pain medications, the pain will return and be harder to control with the next dose of medication.

Family members sometimes worry that the patient will "overdose" on the pain medications. The goal of good pain management is to relieve suffering. Your doctor and nurse will be able to teach you about safe doses of medication.

Methods for relieving pain without medicine include relaxation, imagery, distraction, and others. These methods help patients focus on something other than their pain. These methods may also be useful along with pain medicines. You may need the help of your nurse or doctor to learn to do these methods for yourself. Information about non drug treatments for pain may be available at your local cancer treatment center, hospital pain clinic, or hospice.

Other ways that are used less often to relieve pain include surgery and nerve blocks. Pain cannot be felt if the nerve pathways that relay pain impulses to the brain are interrupted. During surgery, a nerve or a bundle of nerves are cut close to the spinal cord and pain is no longer felt. When substances called nerve blocks are injected into or around a nerve, that nerve is no longer able to transmit pain. Nerve blocks are available for both temporary and longer lasting pain relief.

Sources of Help

Only you and your doctor and nurse, who know your cancer symptoms, can decide which methods might be best for you. Don't hesitate to talk about your pain to those who can help you. You have a right to the best pain control you can get. Relief of your pain means you can go on doing the everyday things that are important to you. Remember that there are many ways to manage pain and that cancer pain can almost always be controlled.

Doctors want their patients to be free from pain, but because of the many advances in pain control in recent years, you might want to check with your doctor about a referral to a specialist in pain control. A specialist has advanced training in the field and knows about the most recent medications and correct dosages. Or, you can be referred to a pain clinic. If your doctor is not able to refer you, call the Cancer Information Service (1-800-4-CANCER) for help.

For more information about pain control, call your local American Cancer Society (1-800-ACS-2345) and ask for the booklet, "Questions and Answers about Pain Control."

This Fact Sheet is adapted from the booklet, Questions and Answers About Pain Control, which is available from both the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

c 1993, American Cancer Society, Inc.

[E-Mail | Guest Book | Return | More Info]