Chronic Pain Management in Patients living with Cancer



Chronic Pain Management in Patients living with Cancer

Introduction

Cancer is a chronic disease. In a layman's language, it is a disease related to unregulated growth of body cells. Cancer is a malignant tumour that begins to accumulate on any of the internal organs. Life becomes difficult for patients living with cancer. The medical world has discovered cancer treatments that may or may not cure cancer in a patient. The success of these treatments depends upon many factors. During the treatment, the cancer patients may suffer from pain and other physical conditions, which restrain them from continuing a normal life. Severe pain causes discomfort in cancer patients. The intensity of pain is unique to individuals' case. The main idea is to devise methods for managing pain in cancer patients and assist them in dealing with pain. The degree of pain depends upon the stage of cancer. The patients at an advanced cancer stage have a greater risk of pain occurrence than those in the early stages. Moreover, the occurrence of pain depends upon the type of cancer. Research studies have shown that pain occurs in 70% of cancer patients at an advanced stage (Ferlay et al, 2010, p.n.d). In medical and healthcare, the experts have devised principles to provide relief to the cancer sufferers.

Discussion

Overview

There are many cancer patients who experience pain during their treatments. The healthcare team is responsible in assisting the pain management of the cancer patients. It is observed that some patients continue to experience pain after their treatment. In such case, the pain is termed as chronic pain. Persistent pain can degrade the quality of life in cancer survivors. For a person suffering from cancer, it becomes difficult to manage pain. There is no doubt that emotional aspect of pain holds a key position in the context of pain management. The pain assessment is necessary in devising the method of managing pain. To thoroughly understand the concept of pain management, it is essential to discuss the sources of pain in cancer patients.

In the year 2010, around 325,000 people were diagnosed cancer in UK. That means 890 individuals per day. According to Cancer Research department of UK, one person in every three minutes is diagnosed with cancer (www.cancerresearchuk.org). Further, the statistics articulate that cancer incidence rate has increased by 22% in males. In 2010, around 157,000 deaths were reported due to cancer. Around half of the people, diagnosed with cancer, survived for at least 5 years.

Sources of Pain

There are two main sources of pain in cancer patients. Firstly, the disease may cause pain. Secondly, the treatment of the disease can result in pain (Chapman, 2012, p.44). Cancer patients experience major physical effects such as pain that is persistent. In advanced level of cancer, the spread of cancer to the bones is the source of pain. Medical experts consider bony metastases to be the main cause of pain in advanced cancer stage. Chemotherapy can cause peripheral neuropathy, which result in damage to ...