Struggling With Fibromyalgia? There is Help and Hope
Some days are better than others, but every day can be a struggle when you have fibromyalgia. While there is no cure, that doesn’t mean that you’re on your own and without solutions. We can help.
5 Treatment Options to Reduce Cancer Pain
Millions of Americans are living with cancer at any given moment, especially if you consider that 2 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States.
While not all cancers lead to pain, plenty do, which is why the team of experienced and compassionate pain management specialists here at Johnston Pain Management offers dedicated cancer pain services.
Where cancer pain comes from
Not only are there many different kinds of cancer, but there are also different sources of cancer pain. According to the American Cancer Society, pain related to cancer can stem from:
- Tumors
- Compression along the spinal cord
- Nerve damage, or peripheral neuropathy
- Phantom pain in a part of your body that’s no longer there
- Bone pain
Unfortunately, one of the more common sources of cancer pain is from the treatment; chemotherapy and radiation can be tough on the human body.
Finding relief from cancer pain
Quality of life is no small thing when you have cancer, and our goal is to prevent cancer pain from eroding your overall wellness. When you’re dealing with pain, your mental, physical, emotional, and even spiritual health can be affected, and these are all areas you want functioning well when you’re dealing with cancer.
So, we understand that treating your cancer pain is as important as treating other aspects of the disease.
Of course, how we go about treating your cancer pain very much depends on the nature of the pain, but we typically turn to one or more of the following:
1. Pain medications
One of the first lines of defense against cancer pain is pain medications. Whether we use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, anti-seizure medications, or stronger painkillers, we work with you to find a medication that brings you meaningful relief.
2. Pain pumps
If you need stronger, opioid-based medications for relief, we might recommend an intrathecal pain pump. This is a device that we implant during a quick, in-office procedure, delivering pain-relieving medication directly into the fluid surrounding your spinal cord.
The pain pump is pre-programmed for specific times and dosages. One of the many benefits of this delivery method is that we use far less medication to relieve pain, which lowers your risk of misuse.
3. Nerve blocks
If you have specific nerve-related pain, we can consider nerve blocks that block the pain signal. With nerve blocks, we might inject the area with a local anesthetic, or we might destroy the ends of the nerves to prevent them from signaling.
4. Adjunct treatments
While medications and interventional procedures can certainly do their part to relieve cancer pain, we’re also big believers in combining these with other adjunct treatments, such as massage therapy, physical therapy, and acupuncture.
5. Relaxation exercises
When people say that pain is in the head, they’re not mistaken — pain signals travel to your brain, where they’re translated into the discomfort that you feel. So, if your brain is full of anxiety and worry, and why wouldn’t it be when you have cancer, the pain can be amplified.
We also highly recommend relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing exercises or meditation, which can significantly minimize the impact of pain.
As you can see, there are many options for treating cancer pain, and we’re happy to sit down with you to figure out which combination would work best for improving your quality of life.
To get on the road to relief from cancer pain, we invite you to schedule a consultation at one of our three conveniently located offices in Jacksonville, Hampstead, or New Bern, North Carolina.
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