Sometimes, cancer pain is difficult to relieve completely with medications, or you may need to stop taking painkillers due to side effects. If pain persists, notify your healthcare team. There are other ways to relieve pain without medications. It turns out that combining treatments and therapies is often more effective than using just one method.
Cancer treatment can sometimes relieve pain by addressing the underlying cause, depending on the type of cancer, the nature of the pain, and its location. Cancer treatment that focuses on relieving pain rather than curing the disease is called palliative care or palliative care. Here are effective ways to treat cancer pain.
emotional support
Pain may cause feelings of worry, melancholy, or depression. Consider joining a support group where cancer patients come together to share their experiences. These groups can meet in person or online. Mesothelioma Hope has a compassionate team dedicated to helping mesothelioma patients and their families through free resources that provide leading treatments, experts and financial assistance.
muscle relaxant
Cancer treatment can sometimes cause pain. For example, radiation therapy may cause scar tissue to form near the treatment area, causing muscle tension. Muscle relaxants can relieve this tightness. Patients may experience pain unrelated to cancer treatment, such as existing back pain or muscle spasms. In these cases, muscle relaxants can also provide relief.
radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses precise doses of radiation. It uses X-ray beams to destroy or damage cancer cells, preventing them from growing, multiplying or spreading. This results in tumor reduction and less discomfort.
For example, radiation therapy can help relieve pain if the cancer has metastasized to the bones, or relieve headaches if the cancer is increasing pressure on the brain. When radiation is used to treat pain, a brief course of treatment lasting a few days to two weeks is usually sufficient.
It may take days or weeks to notice improvement in pain. During this time, you should continue to take your pain medication. Sometimes the pain may get worse before starting to improve. Your doctor can prescribe different medications to help control this condition. The dose of radiation used to relieve pain is lower, and the treatment usually has minimal side effects other than fatigue.
nerve block
Historically, nerve blockade has been the fourth step on the World Health Organization’s analgesic ladder, but recent evidence suggests that interventions may be more effective when used earlier in the disease process. A randomized controlled trial comparing early versus late neurolytic sympathectomy for abdominal or pelvic cancer pain shows that patients who underwent surgery earlier required less oral analgesics and experienced better pain control and better quality of life. Quality. In appropriate circumstances, it may be beneficial to consider nerve blockade early in treatment.
acupuncture
It is estimated that approximately 31% of cancer patients use acupuncture. However, the results are often inconsistent because the literature covers various types of pain (chronic pain, neuropathic pain, post-thoracotomy pain, post-operative pain, etc.) and often has a high risk of bias.
A pilot study of acupuncture, which gave patients 10 treatments, showed pain scores dropped from 6 (before treatment) to 3.8 (after treatment), along with a reduction in prescriptions for painkillers.
Other reviews indicate no significant differences between acupuncture combined with conventional care versus conventional care alone or real acupuncture versus sham acupuncture. In light of these conflicting findings, clinicians should discuss the potential risks and benefits with each patient individually.
endnote
Treating cancer pain is not a uniform process; it requires a thorough, multidimensional strategy to determine the best treatment. With the help and expertise of a pain management specialist, you can meet this challenge and improve your quality of life.
