Pain Management for Pharyngeal Cancer

Pharyngeal Cancer Supportive Therapies: Pain Management

Most patients with advanced cancer experience some level of pain during the course of their pharyngeal cancer. The cancer care specialists at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) are very aware that unrelieved pain can significantly diminish your quality of life.

There are two types of cancer pain: acute and chronic. Generally, acute pain results from tissue damage; it is of limited duration. Once the cause has been identified, the pain can be successfully managed. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is persistent. Usually chronic pain lasts longer than three months. Because the cause of chronic pain often cannot be altered, the nervous system adapts. As a result, it may cause depression, anxiety and/or insomnia.

Causes of pain

The severity and prevalence of pain you experience depends on many factors, including the site and stage of your pharyngeal cancer and the location of metastases. Cancer-related pain can result from both the disease process and related pharyngeal cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Each person experiences pain differently due to factors, such as age, personality, perception, pain threshold, and past experiences with pain. Psychological factors, such as fear, worries or knowledge of impending death, can also influence the effect of pain. Insomnia, fatigue and anxiety may lower the pain threshold, while rest, sleep and diversion can raise it.

Your assessment

An accurate assessment of your pain experience helps your CTCA care team determine which pain management techniques are best for you. A comprehensive pain assessment includes information about the following dimensions:

• Intensity
• Location
• Observed behaviors during your pain
• Factors influencing its occurrence (i.e., what makes it better or worse)
• Effects of your pain
• Psychosocial variables (e.g., attitudes, situational factors)
• Effects of therapy and patterns of coping

Managing your pain

The goal of pain management is two-fold: your team not only focuses on your relief from pain, but also the maintenance of your normal quality of life. All pain management methods attempt to either control the cause of the pain or alter your perception of it.

There are various pain management techniques for pharyngeal cancer and its resulting treatment. Therapeutic approaches are classified as either pharmacological or nonpharmacological. Pharmacological pain control involves the use of analgesics in conjunction with other medications that intensify the analgesics' effects or modify your mood or pain perception. Nonpharmacological approaches include the following:

• Surgery
• Radiation
• Behavioral techniques
• Neurological and neurosurgical interventions
• Traditional nursing and psychosocial interventions

The latter measures attempt to promote your comfort and evaluate the effectiveness of the therapy. Because pharyngeal cancer pain is complex in nature, successful management usually involves a combination of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological techniques.

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