Cancer pain comes with the territory when you’re a cancer patient. For those who have advances stages of cancer or cancer that has spread through the body, cancer pain is inevitable. The thing about cancer pain is that it comes in waves and differing degrees. One day the pain might be nearly non-existent and you can go about your life as normal as possible, while the very next day could be excruciating. The first step is to understand the pain.

Understanding Cancer Pain

Cancer pain can be caused by many things; the cancer itself releasing chemicals into the body, the tumor pressuring the nerves, bones or other organs, or the cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. According to the Mayo Clinic, chemotherapy can cause many potentially painful side effects, including mouth sores, diarrhea and nerve damage. Radiation can leave behind a burning sensation or painful scars, and surgery recovery can be incredibly painful.

Tumors can also press on the spinal cord, creating a great deal of pain in the back and neck. These kinds of tumors create spinal cord compression, which ultimately can mean weakness in the entire body and pain in the arms and legs. Worst case scenarios of spinal cord compression can mean a loss of bladder or bowel control and paralysis.

Phantom pain is the toughest pain to control because it occurs after an arm, leg or breast has been removed. After the surgery to remove the cancer, many recovering patients will still feel pain or other unusual feelings that “seem to be coming from the absent (phantom) body part. Doctors are not sure why this happens, but phantom pain is real; it is not ‘all in your head,’” according to Cancer.org.

Persistent and Breakthrough Pain

When it comes to cancer pain management, there are two forms of pain that every cancer patient lives with; persistent pain and breakthrough pain. Persistent pain is just that; pain that is continuous and is controlled by regular pain treatment and visits to the cancer pain doctor. Breakthrough pain is those moments of extreme pain that ‘breakthrough’ no matter what type of treatment method you are undergoing. Breakthrough pain is unpredictable, sharp and quick, can last as long as an hour, and is incredibly intense.

Breakthrough pain is another fact of life for cancer patients. Even while your cancer pain management might be working wonderfully, breakthrough pain can strike without warning and take you out of life for the rest of the day. Occurrences of breakthrough pain do not necessarily mean your cancer pain treatment isn’t working, because many times this form of pain can ‘breakthrough’ all forms of effective treatment. However, if you are experiencing greater occurrences of breakthrough pain, consult your cancer pain doctor about other treatment methods.

For a very special Pain Channel episode on cancer pain, visit http://www.PainChannel.tv. 

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