Cancer Patients: New Pain Doesn’t Always Suggest More Cancer

Cancer continues to take lives around the world. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 2.1 million new cancer cases are expected this year. Hundreds of thousands will die as a result of the disease. In the midst of it all is the pain patients so often experience during treatment. Although there is not much good news when it comes to cancer, there is a small silver lining: new pain doesn’t necessarily suggest more cancer.

Cancer-related pain is divided into two types. The first is the pain of the disease itself. As cells become cancerous, they damage certain parts of the body. This causes pain.

A second form of pain is related to cancer treatment. Everything from surgery to chemotherapy to radiation can cause new and separate pain. Cancer patients sometimes have trouble distinguishing between the two types, and that is understandable. But throw in pain caused by completely unrelated issues – like arthritis, for example – and it is easy for a cancer patient to assume the worst.

The Reality of Cancer Pain

Cancer pain is something the specialists at Lone Star Pain Medicine treat. Based in Weatherford, TX, the clinic is a pain management clinic offering alternatives to prescription medication and surgery. Clinic doctors say that the reality of cancer pain is surprising to a lot of patients they see.

For instance, the level of pain a patient experiences is not always a direct reflection of their current stage of progression. As previously stated, the very treatments designed to keep cancer patients alive can either create new pain or make existing pain feel worse. Any unrelated pain-causing conditions can exacerbate the pain experienced.

Lone Star doctors say cancer patients should be deliberate about reporting any new pain they feel. But they also should not jump to conclusions. A body undergoing cancer treatment is under a lot of physical stress. It is normal to experience an increase in pain during cancer treatment as the body seeks to heal.

The Opioid Question

Cancer patients can take at least some comfort in knowing that new pain does not necessarily suggest more cancer. And with that being the case, they can also adopt a more open-minded approach to pain relief. Opioids do not have to be the first line of defense.

Prescription opioids have their place in modern medicine. But they are highly addictive. Some cancer patients don’t want the added pressure, so they opt not to take the drugs. But does that mean having to live with increased pain? Not necessarily.

Interventional procedures, like those offered by Lone Star and other pain clinics, offer pain relief without the use of opioid medications. Injection therapies and nerve blocks are prime examples. Both types of therapies are designed to relieve pain in a minimally invasive way.

What the Treatments Can Do

Injection therapies offer pain relief through a combination of temporary anesthesia and long-term inflammation reduction. Corticosteroids keeping inflammation under control release pressure on nerves and subsequently reduce pain. Nerve blocks are different. They actually prevent pain signals from reaching the brain.

Epidurals are a form of injection therapy, while radiofrequency ablation is a nerve block therapy. Both can do wonders for cancer patients experiencing pain as a result of their treatments.

Cancer is a terrible disease known for taking its toll on the human body. Having to deal with it is tough for anyone. One of the few good aspects of being treated for cancer is the fact that new pain doesn’t mean the disease is getting worse. It could actually mean the body is getting better with the help of effective treatments.