Melanoma Cancer Pain Management & Control

Pain Management for Melanoma Cancer

At Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), we understand that each patient experiences pain differently. Because unrelieved pain can have such a powerful influence on your quality of life, your care team at CTCA offers a variety of integrative techniques to help patients with melanoma cancer achieve pain control as much as possible.

All types of pain can be classified as either acute or chronic. The main difference between acute and chronic pain is that acute pain is shorter in duration and easier to identify and manage. Acute pain generally results from tissue damage and, once identified, can be successfully managed. Acute pain normally lasts three months or less, whereas chronic pain is persistent. Because the cause of chronic pain often cannot be altered, your nervous system will adapt, which may cause depression, anxiety and/or insomnia.

A Team Approach to Treating Pain

Throughout your care, your melanoma cancer pain management practitioner will constantly reassess your pain. We use a pain management scale, which tells us how you function throughout the day. Then, we alter your treatment regimen accordingly.

We also want you to be able to continue daily activities as normally as possible. Your pain management practitioner will adjust your medications to seek a balance between pain relief and quality of life.

The CTCA pain management team is fully integrated with the other disciplines offered at the hospital. As a complement to your care – and to help you achieve optimal pain control – your regimen may include one or more of our supportive therapies:

• Naturopathic medicine uses natural therapies to help you combat pain and manage the side effects of pain medication.
• Oncology rehabilitation plays a key role in pain management by using a variety of physical therapy and other techniques to improve mobility and trigger the release of endorphins, which are the immune system’s natural defense against pain.
• The mind-body medicine team is available to teach you relaxation tools to help you manage pain, and to reduce the anxiety and fatigue related to cancer or your melanoma cancer treatment.

For patients staying at the hospital, “Comfort Rounds” are conducted twice weekly. During these visits, pain management practitioners thoroughly evaluate your current pain level and how your current treatment approach is working. They can then make modifications to your melanoma cancer pain management plan to improve your quality of life.

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