Cancer pain relief questions answered by a Mayo Clinic cancer specialist.
Timothy Moynihan, M.D.
Not everyone with cancer experiences cancer pain, but one of out three people undergoing cancer treatment does. If you have advanced cancer — cancer that has spread or recurred — your chance of experiencing cancer pain is even higher.
Cancer pain occurs in many ways. Your pain may be dull, aching or sharp. It could be constant, intermittent, mild, moderate or severe. Timothy Moynihan, M.D., a cancer specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., offers some insight into cancer pain, reasons why people might not get the pain treatment they need and what they can do about it.
How do you treat cancer pain?
There are many different ways to treat cancer pain. The ideal way is to remove the source of the pain, for example, through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or some other form of treatment. If that cannot be done, pain medications can usually control the pain. These medications include:
- Analgesics, such as aspirin or acetaminophen (Tylenol, others)
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others)
- Weak opioid (derived from opium) medications, such as codeine
- Strong opioid medications, such as morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, fentanyl or methadone
These drugs can often be taken orally, so they're easy to use. Medications may come in tablet form, or they may be made to dissolve quickly in your mouth. However, it you're unable to take medications orally, they may also be taken intravenously, rectally or through the skin using a patch.
Specialized treatment, such as nerve blocks, also may be applicable. Nerve blocks are a local anesthetic that is injected around or into a nerve, which prevents pain messages traveling along that nerve pathway from reaching the brain. Other therapies, such as acupuncture, acupressure, massage, physical therapy, relaxation, meditation and humor, may help.
When should you discuss cancer pain with your doctor, and what points should you bring up?
Report any bothersome pain to your doctor. If there is a minor pain that goes away, don't worry about it. But if the pain interferes with your life or is persistent, it needs to be reported and should be treated. Although no one can guarantee that all pain can be completely eliminated, most pain can be lessened to the point where you can be comfortable.
It may help to keep track of your pain by noting how strong it is, where it's located, what makes it worse, what brings it on, what makes it better and anything else that happens when you have the pain. A pain-rating scale from 0 to 10 — with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you can imagine — may be helpful in reporting pain to your doctor. In addition, pay attention to what happens when you attempt to relieve your pain. If you take medicine, do you feel any ill effects from it? If it's a massage, hot or cold packs, or something physical that relieves the pain, those are important to report, too. Also note any ill effects of any pain medications.
Last Updated: 10/04/2007
