Cancer patients suffer from various pains, both due to the disease itself and due to treatment procedures. There are quite a few ways to elevate these pains, one of which is through anticonvulsant drugs. Another way of treating pains is through therapy (hot or cold), yoga, stretching, massages or behavioral treatments like meditation or relaxation.
The final and most drastic step to pain relief in cancer patients is surgery.
Surgery is used to remove or move a tumor that may be causing pain or obstruction of other organs that may be resulting in pain. Sometimes tumors put pressure on nerves that cause pain. Surgery may be performed to drain fluids like ascites that cause pain. Surgery is required to stabilize the bones after radiation and/ or chemotherapy has been used to reduce metastases. Some special procedures may be performed to relieve pain, such as;
- Radiofrequency ablation – where a radiologist delivers a radiofrequency current to a tumor via a special needle, intended to destroy cancer cells. This indirectly reduces pain.
- Nerve block – where anesthetic medication is injected into the body in a direct effort to reduce pain.
Prescription drugs are also used quite often in relieving pain caused by cancer or by cancer treatments. However, drug use must be closely monitored by a doctor.
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