AFTER CANCER: WHAT CAN I DO, IF I HAVE PAIN, TO HELP RELIEVE IT?
Enormous progress has been made in understanding and relieving acute and chronic pain due to noncancerous conditions. Many of the approaches are applicable to pain due to cancer or its treatment. A vital starting point is to get the facts about the source of your pain. Find out whether anything can be done with medicine, surgery, or other therapy that can correct the physical problems that are causing your pain. While your pain is being evaluated, and certainly after its cause has been identified, take steps to get the pain under control.
Work with your doctors to find the safest medicine for relieving your pain. In most cases, it is best to take your pain medicine around the clock until you are consistently pain-free. Studies have documented that people in pain who take pain medicine only “as needed” require more total medication and experience less satisfactory pain control than people who are taking regularly scheduled pain medicine. With the pain under better control, you can work with your doctor on physical activities that may help alleviate the pain.
Many people with uncontrolled pain develop poor physical habits that cause additional problems. For instance, favoring a painful arm can cause secondary weakness and stiffness in the limb. Uncontrolled pain also leads to poor psychological habits. If chronic pain leads you to avoid outings and social contact, you deprive yourself of the companionship and distraction that are so valuable in the transition to your new life after cancer.
The chief function of pain is to draw attention to a problem so that you can take measures to fix it. Nothing is gained and much is lost by enduring pain without investigating its source, or after having the source explained. Many physical and behavioral postures that reduce pain may prolong its duration, prevent healing, and cause further problems.
Your mind possesses the power to help diminish your sensation of pain. Learn about biofeedback and relaxation techniques. Effective relaxation will reduce pain caused by muscle spasm affecting the injured organ. In addition, a state of relaxation will so diminish the perception of pain that the pain, even if unchanged, becomes more tolerable. Learn how to divert your attention away from your pain. The more you focus on your pain and the more you arrange your life around your pain, the more your pain will have control over you.
Your mind can help through rational problem solving. Evaluate how your pain is affecting your activities and your interactions with other people. Find a way to get around the limits currently imposed by your pain so that you can resume your activities and normalize your interactions. You may need outside help to figure out ways to compensate for limitations, such as that offered by occupational therapists, physical therapists, physiotherapists, orthopedists, and support groups.
One woman loved her weekly evening bridge game. After completing her cancer treatment, she experienced joint stiffness and pain that were worse in the evenings. She shared her problem with her game partners. For the next few months they played in the morning. Instead of sacrificing a source of enjoyment, distraction, and fellowship, they made changes to accommodate her problem.
Many hurdles are not so easily overcome. One barber found it painful to stand for any length of time after his treatments were completed. At first he handled the pain stoically but was physically and emotionally miserable by the end of the day. Pain medication made him too sleepy to work. A social worker referred him to someone who found a special chair that enabled him to be seated for most of the hair cutting. His recovery was enhanced by the benefits of good pain control, good back support, and the emotional lift he felt from getting back to work.
Take steps to control your pain. Beliefs, expectations, and will power play a major role in pain control.
Learn to control your pain so that your pain does not control you.
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Tags: Cancer