Cancer Pain Specialist in Tampa, FL
What causes Cancer Pain?
Most cancer pain is caused by the tumor pressing on bones, nerves or other organs in the body.
Sometimes pain is due to your cancer treatment. For example, some chemotherapy drugs can cause numbness and tingling in your hands and feet. Or they might cause a burning sensation at the spot where you have the drug injection.
Radiotherapy can cause skin redness and irritation.
What are the types of Cancer Pain?
Broadly, Cancer pain can be acute or chronic.
Acute pain
Acute pain is due to damage caused by an injury and tends to only last a short time. For example, having an operation can cause acute pain. The pain goes when the wound heals. In the meantime, painkillers will usually keep it under control.
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain can be due to changes to the nerves. Nerve changes may be due to cancer pressing on nerves or due to chemicals produced by a tumour. It can also be caused by nerve changes due to cancer treatment. Chronic pain continues long after the injury or treatment is over and can range from mild to severe. It can be there all the time.
Sometimes pain can come on quickly, for example when you have a dressing changed or you move around and change position. This type of pain is called incidental pain.
Chronic pain is also called persistent pain.
Cancer Pain can be :
Nerve Pain: Also called neuropathic pain. It's caused by pressure on nerves or the spinal cord, or by damage to the nerves.
Bone Pain: Cancer can spread into the bone and cause pain by damaging the bone tissue. The cancer can affect one specific area of bone or several areas.
Soft Tissue Pain: This is pain from a body organ or muscle. For example, you might have pain in your back caused by tissue damage to the kidney.
Phantom Pain: This is pain in a part of the body that has been removed. An example is pain in the breast area after removal of the breast (mastectomy) or phantom pain after removal of an arm or leg.
Referred Pain: Sometimes people can feel pain from an organ in the body but in a different part of their body. This is called referred pain. For example, a swollen liver may cause pain in the right shoulder, even though the liver is under the ribs on the right. This is because the liver presses on nerves that end in the shoulder.
How is Cancer Pain Managed?
Clinical Examination
Medical Management (oral medications)
Nerve Blocks
Celiac Plexus Block (Neurolytic;Phenol/Alcohol Injection)
Lumbar Sympathetic Block (Neurolytic;Phenol/Alcohol Injection)
Superior Hypogastric Plexus Block (Neurolytic;Phenol/Alcohol Injection)
Ganglion Impar Block (Neurolytic;Phenol/Alcohol Injection)
