About 80% of cancer patient go through experiencing pain surfacing in many ways. It can be either short-lived or long-lasting, light or acute or it may also act negatively on one or more of the organs and bones. As the pain is distinctive we create treatment options for cancer pain management to target your requirements.
Cause of pain
Pain from the tumor— the majority of the cancer pain erupts due to the tumor getting pressed on the bone, nerves, or organs. According to location, the pain may redo itself. For instance, a minute tumor close to a nerve or the spinal cord may be very hurting, on the other hand, a larger tumor somewhere else may not be discomforting.
Treatment-related pain— sometimes the pain may emanate due to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery. Some patients may be in painful condition due to their decreased immune system as a result of all these procedures.
Post-operative pain– mitigating pain as a result of surgery assists people with faster recovery and quick healing with much efficacy.
Treating pain
Pain due to cancer is quite amenable. About 9 out of 10 patients get relief from pain via an amalgamation of different medications. Various medicines are administered for managing cancer-related pain. Sometimes general pain killers are enough while at other times specified medicines are used to hit a particular kind of pain needing a prescription.
Mild to moderate pain
Non- opioids– medicines like acetaminophen and nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen are used. Most of these medicines can be obtained over-the-counter without any prescription.
Moderate to severe pain
Opioids– like morphine, hydromorphone, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, fentanyl, and methadone are used.
Tingling and burning pain
Antidepressants– like amitriptyline, imipramine, doxepin, and trazodone are administered. This does not indicate that you have any form of depression or mental illness.
Antiepileptics: gabapentin can be prescribed. Again taking an antiepileptic drug does not mean that you are an epileptic patient with seizures.
Pain caused by swelling
Steroids: like prednisone and dexamethasone may be prescribed.
How Pain Medicine Is Taken
Most pain medicine is administered via mouth either in pill or liquid form. These oral medicines are easy to take and normally are less cost-effective than other kinds of medicine. Other ways of administering pain drugs are:
- Rectal suppositories
- Transdermal patches and
- Injections
When Medicine Is Not Enough
At times when the medicine is not effective in relieving the pain some of these steps can be thought of
Radiation therapy: in this treatment pain is lessened by shrinking a tumor. A single sitting of radiation may relieve pain for some people.
Neurolysis/implanted pump: some of the nerve ablation procedures either temporary or permanent, may help get rid of some painful conditions like celiac plexus, splanchnic neurolysis, or superior hypogastric plexus neurolysis. In some cases, Implanted pain pumps (intrathecal morphine pumps) can also provide relief to a person.