BREAST
CANCER
Bone Pain Due to Cancer:
A Treatment Challenge
More than 75 percent of the people who have cancer experience pain at some time. Pain can be felt when a tumor presses against nerves or other tissues, or it can be related to surgery, or even to non-cancer causes such as arthritis.
For patients with advanced cancer, bone pain can be a problem. Prostate, breast and other cancers can metastasize, or travel to the bone, causing pain that may be severe and difficult to treat.
Many patients with cancer, especially older adults, do not receive adequate pain relief. Some of the reasons for this are:
- Patients and physicians are focused on dealing with the cancer itself.
- Patients do not want doctors to think that they are complaining and do not mention that they are feeling pain.
- Physicians do not ask about their patients' level of discomfort.
Helping Caregivers Help You
Effective pain control can help patients stay involved not only in their
cancer treatment but also in the activities of daily living. When pain
is under control, people may have better appetites and may be able to
sleep more restfully. Pain relief also means stress relief because constant
discomfort is a direct cause of anxiety, anger, fear and depression.
Reaching Out for Help
Your appointments with health care professionals are often brief, with
the main focus on the progress of your treatment. However, if you have
pain, it's important to say so. Your doctor cannot help you unless he
or she knows that you are not comfortable.
In addition and just as important, your doctor needs to know what treatments do and do not work for you and also which ones cause side effects. Finding an effective pain relief strategy is an important goal—so don't hesitate to share your success with your treatment team.
Learning How to Describe Your Pain
It's important that you and your treatment team are speaking the same
language about how much pain you feel. One of the easiest ways to do this
is to use a visual scale like the one below. Tools like this help patients,
family members and health care professionals communicate more clearly.
Do not put off asking for help. The sooner you take steps to manage your pain, the easier it can be to control, the less medication it can require—and the sooner you can feel relief.
Your Options for Relief
Pain control in cancer is not a one-time solution. You and your treatment
team should work together on an ongoing basis to make sure that you are
receiving the level of pain relief that you need every day. The following
chart shows how cancer specialists decide what kind of medications should
be used.
Adapted from W.H.O Guidelines for Analgesic Use
The chart above shows various treatments for cancer pain. It is important to understand the benefits that they may offer and to clear up some of the myths about them. Ask your health care professional to explain your different pain-control options.
