Brain Cancer Pain Management & Control
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Pain Management for Brain Cancer
Managing pain during brain cancer treatment is important to the healing process. Unrelieved pain interferes with everything in your life, including your appetite, energy level, and sleep, as well as your ability to tolerate treatment.
The pain management team at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) will help control your pain so you can use your energy to fight the disease.
Your Individualized Pain Management Plan
Pain associated with brain cancer is generally related to the tumor size and location. Since there are many different tumors that can form in the brain, pain varies for each individual. Neuropathic pain is common for brain cancer patients.
Upon your arrival at CTCA, you’ll meet with a pain management practitioner to assess your pain. We’ll also use information from your diagnostic tests, including your physical exam, medical history and imaging tests, to assess your pain.
Then, we’ll work with you to formulate an individualized brain cancer pain management plan that includes pain control methods best suited to you. Throughout your treatment, your pain management practitioner will meet with you regularly to reassess your pain.
Pain Control Methods for Brain Cancer
At CTCA, providing pain management for cancer patients is an important part of what we do. As such, we offer many ways to control your pain and help encourage healing. They include:
Pharmacological pain relief
- Orally (anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-convulsants, narcotics)
- Intravenously
- By injection (e.g., spinal opiods, steroids)
- As a lozenge or mouth rinse
- As a suppository
- Topically, such as a continuous-release pain patch (e.g., fentanyl, lidocaine)
- Through a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pain pump
Non-pharmacological pain relief
- Nerve block
Because of the complex nature of cancer-related pain, successful pain management usually involves a combination of techniques.
Your Care Team Collaborates to Control Your Pain
The CTCA pain management team is fully integrated with the other disciplines offered at the hospital. In addition to the pain control methods mentioned above, your personalized brain cancer pain management plan may include one or more supportive therapies:
- Naturopathic medicine - uses natural therapies, including amino acids, fish oil, herbs and vitamin complexes to repair nerve damage and reduce neuropathic pain.
- Acupuncture - uses thin needles applied to specific areas of the body (acupoints) to stimulate energy flow and relieve pain.
- Oncology rehabilitation - uses physical and occupational therapies and massage to increase strength, improve mobility and reduce pain.
- Mind-body medicine - uses counseling and relaxation techniques to alleviate symptoms contributing to pain, such as depression or anxiety.
Next Topic: Mind-Body Medicine for Brain Cancer
