Skip to main content

Cancer Pain



¨  Pain is one of the most feared, and one of the commonest symptoms
associated with cancer.
¨  But it is important to know that pain can be well controlled in most cases,
often with simple combinations of medicines.
¨  What can cause pain in cancer and various
ways of dealing with pain. Also the fears that many patients
have about taking strong painkillers, like morphine.
WHAT CAN CAUSE PAIN IN CANCER?
¨  The cancer can cause pain itself because of damage to tissues, such as
bone, muscle or nerves.
¨  Sometimes pain may be related to the treatment you have received for your
cancer, such as surgery or chemotherapy, or to other things, such as
constipation or pressure sores.
¨  The kind of treatment you will be offered depends very much on what your
doctor thinks is causing the pain.
¨  It is very important that you do not suffer in silence. The doctors and nurses
may not be aware of your pain and what it feels like, so please do not be
afraid to tell them.
¨  You may be asked to describe more about your pains. You may be
examined and tests may be done in order to find out exactly what is causing
the pain.
¨  If pain still persists even with large doses of morphine-like drugs, a
dedicated pain team may be asked to assist the palliative care specialists in
controlling pain.
¨  Morphine-like drugs may not help nerve pain, due to pressure or nerve
damage, as a result of the disease or its treatment. Antidepressant drugs
such as amitriptyline, and anti-epileptic drugs such as gabapentin, can
sometimes help nerve pain.
¨  Nerve destruction procedures may be necessary to alleviate pain. A pain
specialist must carry these out.
¨  Sometimes painkilling drugs are given as a continuous infusion next to the
spinal cord (epidural infusion) which can be continued at home.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kate Jackson Breast Cancer a flash back

THE MOST MOMENTOUS CHANGE IN Kate Jackson's life began early one morning in January 1987, during her fourth season on the hit TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. After a phone call informed her that the show's taping was canceled because costar Bruce Boxleitner had the flu, Jackson went back to sleep. When she woke several hours later, "It was out of the blue, but perfectly clear," she recalls. "I sat up in bed and literally said, 'You have to have a mammogram.' " She did, and two days later a biopsy confirmed her vague fears: A minute growth found in her left breast was determined to be malignant. "I was forced to face, squared up, my own mortality," says Jackson. "I had to decide whether I wanted to live or to die. And if you choose life, as I did, it's never the same." For three TV seasons 16 years ago, she was famous as Sabrina Duncan, a girl-next-door gone glamorous and the character critics dubbed the brainiest o
Post a Comment
Read more

"Hard nipples" - areola or nipple skin

Someone once wrote"... when i get really cold, or get goosebumbs all over my body, the whole things really scrunch up, like, my entire areola scrunches itself up into a wrinkled little mound. it looks really weird and ugly, and i haven't ever seen other people's breasts do it. what is wrong with my areola/nipples??" The answer: Well nothing is wrong. This is what my areola does too. It's a normal reaction to the coldness or to irritation / stimulation. The little muscles in the areola do a similar goosebump thing as your other skin can do. People often call this phenomenon "hard nipples". Also note that skin on areola has less feeling or sensation to it than other areas of your body. If the areola was very sensitive, then breastfeeding would probably be quite uncomfortable because the baby pulls and tugs it! The nipples are sensitive but the sensitivity changes with hormonal changes, such as occur at mestrual cycle or pregnancy. Also this v
8 comments
Read more

The four stages of breast development

In Stage 1 shows the flat breasts of childhood. By Stage 2, breast buds are formed as milk ducts and fat tissue develop. In Stage 3, the breast become round and full, and the areola darkens. Stage 4 shows fully mature breasts. (Illustration by GGS Information Services.) period begins. Usually these signs are accompanied by the appearance of pubic hair and hair under the arms. Once ovulation and  menstruation  begin, the maturing of the breasts begins with the formation of secretory glands at the end of the milk ducts. The breasts and duct system continue to grow and mature with the development of many glands and lobules. The rate at which breasts grow varies significantly and is different for each young woman. Breast development occurs in five stages: Stage One: In preadolescence, the breasts are flat and only the tip of the nipple is raised. Stage Two: Buds appear, breast and nipple are raised, fat tissue begins to form and the areola (dark area of skin that surrounds
1 comment
Read more