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-- 作者:web -- 发布时间:2005-5-13 10:18:10 -- What is Cancer Pain? What is Cancer Pain? Cancer pain takes many forms. It may be short-lived or long-lasting, mild or severe, or affect one or a few organs, bones or organ systems. Each patient’s pain is unique. Therefore, each patient must have a treatment plan that addresses his or her individual needs. The more you know about your cancer pain, the more you can help your caregivers plan the best treatment for you. Causes of Cancer Pain
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-- 作者:web -- 发布时间:2005-5-13 10:18:31 -- How is Cancer Pain Treated? Cancer pain is very treatable. Approximately nine out of 10 cancer pain patients will find relief using a combination of medications. Although cancer pain is usually treated with medicine, other treatments such as radiation therapy, surgery, relaxation, biofeedback, imagery and other non-drug treatments can be used with medicine to give even more pain relief. The following page lists the general types of pain medicine and the methods by which they are taken. Ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist for advice before you take any medicine for pain. Types of Pain Medicine
How Pain Medicine is Taken
Medicine that dissolves in the rectum and is absorbed by the body.
Many kinds of injections can give pain relief. Most injections use a tube or needle to place medicine directly into the body. Types of injection include: Related Topics
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-- 作者:web -- 发布时间:2005-5-13 10:18:56 -- What Can You Do to Help Control Your Pain? Your pain is unique. Only you know where your pain is located, how it feels, how much it hurts, how long it hurts and what makes it better. The key to getting the best pain relief is talking with your doctor and nurse about your pain. They will want to know how much pain you feel, where it is, and what it feels like. The First Step: Talk About Your Pain Telling your care team in detail about your pain is the best thing that you can do to assist in your cancer treatment. Sometimes patients don’t receive the best pain treatment because they don’t let their care team know about their pain. Patients may not want to complain, they may fear becoming addicted to pain medications, they may fear the side effects of pain more than the pain itself, or they may want to save their pain treatment options until they "really" need them. Each of these beliefs will hinder pain treatment and also hinder cancer therapy. Why Pain Should Be Treated Pain can affect you in many ways. It can keep you from being active, from sleeping well, from enjoying family and friends, and from eating. Pain can make you feel afraid or depressed. Pain may also prevent your full participation in general rehabilitation programs and may slow your recovery from treatment. Answering the questions below will help you communicate with your health care provider about your pain. After discussing your pain, your doctor or nurse may want to examine you or order x-rays or other tests. These tests will help the doctor or nurse find the pain’s cause. To communicate how you feel, ask yourself the following questions: Where is the pain? You may have pain in more than one place. Be sure to list all of the painful areas. How bad is the pain? You can use a number scale to rate your pain (pdf) from 0 to 10, where 0 means no pain and 10 means the worst pain you can imagine. Or, you can describe your pain with words such as "none", "mild", "moderate", "severe" or "worst possible pain". A special pain rating scale that uses faces (pdf) to indicate levels of pain has also been developed to help children communicate how they feel. You may find these scales useful for keeping track of how your pain changes in response to treatment, activities or the time of day.You may have already found ways to make your pain feel better (for example, using heat or cold, or taking certain medicines). You may have also found that sitting or lying in certain positions or doing some activities affects the pain. If you are being treated for pain now, how well is the treatment working? You may want to describe how well the treatment is working by saying how much of the pain is relieved, such as all, almost all, none, etc. Has the pain changed? You may notice that your pain changes over time. It may get better or worse or it can feel different. For example, the pain may have been a dull ache at first and has changed to a tingle. It is important to report changes in your pain. Changes in pain do not always mean that the cancer has come back or grown. Describe how the pain was before and how it is now. Next: Have a Plan Work with your doctor or nurse to write a pain control plan that meets your needs. In a pain control plan, you and your doctor or nurse plan your pain control activities, including when you take your medicine, how and when to take extra medicine, and other things you can do to ease and prevent your pain. Your doctor or nurse may also list medicines and other treatments that will help with side effects or other aches and pains, such as headaches. Many medicines and treatments can be used to treat pain. If a schedule, medicine or way that you are taking the medicine doesn’t work for you, your doctor and nurse can help you find the medicine or approach that will help the most. It may be helpful to keep a record of how the medicine is working. Sharing that record with your doctor or nurse will help them make your treatment more effective. When To Take Your Pain Medicine Take your medicine on a regular schedule (by the clock) and as your doctor tells you. This will help to keep pain under control. Do not skip a dose of medicine or wait for the pain to get worse before taking your medicine. The goal is to prevent the pain. Once you feel the pain, it is harder to get it under control. Your doctor will usually give you additional medicine for "breakthrough pain" (a brief and often severe pain that occurs even though the patient is taking pain medicine regularly). If some activities make your pain worse (for example, riding in a car), you may need to take extra doses of pain medicine before these activities. Ask your doctor or nurse how and when to take extra medicine. Call your doctor or nurse immediately if your pain increases or if you have new pain. Also call your doctor early to receive a refill of pain medicines. Do not let your medicines get below three or four days\' supply.Related Topics:
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-- 作者:web -- 发布时间:2005-5-13 10:20:03 --
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-- 作者:web -- 发布时间:2005-5-13 10:20:50 -- Non-Drug Treatments for Pain Your doctor or nurse may recommend that you try certain nondrug treatments to supplement your pain medication. These treatments will help to make your medicines work better and relieve other symptoms, but they should not be used instead of your medicine. Non-drug pain treatments include:
Talk to your doctor and nurse about these treatments. Your family members may want to help you use them. Alternative treatment professionals at M. D. Anderson’s Place...of wellness may also be able to give you more information. When Medicine Is Not Enough Radiation therapy: This treatment reduces pain by shrinking a tumor. A single dose of radiation may be effective for some people.Nerve blocks/Implanted Pump: Certain nerve blocks, temporary or permanent, may help relieve some painful conditions. Implanted pain pumps are also available which can be of great benefit in some instances.Neurosurgery: In this treatment, pain nerves (usually in the spinal cord) are cut to relieve the pain.
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-- 作者:web -- 发布时间:2005-5-13 10:21:23 -- Definitions
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-- 作者:web -- 发布时间:2005-5-13 10:22:01 -- Common Concerns About Pain Treament Cancer patients have many concerns about pain, pain medication and other treatments. Here are some of the most common. Fact: You should not wait until the pain becomes severe to take your medicine. Pain is easier to control when it is mild than when it is severe. You should take your pain medicine regularly and as your doctor or nurse has instructed you. This usually means taking it on a regular schedule and around-the-clock, even when you are not feeling the pain. You can also use other treatments, such as relaxation and breathing exercises, and hot and cold packs, as often as you want to. Concern: I will become "hooked on" or "addicted to" pain medicine.
Concern: If I take too much medicine, it will stop working. Fact: The medicine will not stop working. But sometimes your body will get used to the medicine. This is called tolerance. Tolerance is not usually a problem with cancer pain treatment because the amount of medicine can be adjusted or other medicines can be added. Cancer pain can be relieved, so don\'t deny yourself pain relief now. Concern: If I complain too much, I am not being a good patient. Fact: Controlling your pain is an important part of your care. Tell your doctors and nurses if you have pain, if your pain is getting worse, or if you are taking pain medicine and it is not working. They can help you to get relief from your pain. Return to |