Honolulu Pain Management Clinic LLC employs several strategies to help you cope with your cancer pain including medical treatments and psychological techniques.
Cancer Pain may arise from a tumor compressing or infiltrating nearby body parts; from treatments and diagnostic procedures; or from skin, nerve and other changes caused by a hormone imbalance or immune response. Most chronic (long-lasting) pain is caused by the illness and most acute (short-term) pain is caused by treatment or diagnostic procedures. However, radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy may produce painful conditions that persist long after treatment has ended. [1]
The presence of pain depends mainly on the location of the cancer and the stage of the disease. At any given time, about half of all patients with malignant cancer are experiencing pain, and two thirds of those with advanced cancer experience pain of such intensity that it adversely affects their sleep, mood, social relations and activities of daily living.
Pain in cancer can be produced by mechanical (e.g. pinching) or chemical (e.g. inflammation) stimulation of specialized pain-signalling nerve endings found in most parts of the body or it may be caused by diseased, damaged or compressed nerves
With competent management, cancer pain can be eliminated or well controlled in 80 to 90 percent of cases. Cancer pain treatment aims to relieve pain with minimal adverse treatment effects, allowing the patient a good quality of life.