Control Cancer Pain - Overview

Cancer Pain - Overview
There are many other ways to control cancer pain, including:

Heat or cold.
Massage, exercise, and physical therapy.
Relaxation exercises, biofeedback, or guided imagery.
Acupuncture.
Older adults are at risk for not getting enough pain medicine. If you are a caregiver for an older adult who has cancer, talk with that person to make sure that the pain is under control. Talk with the person?s doctor, too, about a pain management plan.

Learning as much as you can about your pain may help. Talking to a counselor can help you manage your cancer pain or the discomfort from cancer treatments. Emotional support from your friends and family may also help.

What is a pain control diary?
This is a record of your pain treatment and how it helped or did not help you. You can write down when you used each treatment, how it worked, and any side effects it caused. Having it written down helps you let your health care team know exactly how well your treatment is working.

Will you get addicted to pain medicine?
Many people who take pain medicine worry about getting addicted. Addiction to pain medicine is rare if you have not had a problem with addiction in the past and you take your medicine as directed under your doctor?s care. When you no longer need these medicines, your doctor will slowly lower the amount you are getting until your body no longer needs the medicine.

Do not let your fear about becoming addicted get in the way of pain relief. Ask for pain relief if you need it. Pain is easier to control when you treat it as soon as it starts. You may also be able to predict pain and treat it before it begins, such as before physical activity. Pain is harder to control if you wait until it is bad.