Talking About Cancer Pain
Updated June 09, 2015.
Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.
Pain is something that can only be described and measured by the person who is experiencing it. There is no piece of medical equipment or blood test that is capable of detecting pain and how it is affecting a person’s life. Therefore, communicating with your healthcare team about your pain is absolutely necessary.
There are a few reasons why you might feel uncomfortable talking about your cancer pain.
For example, you may not feel like discussing that your pain makes you "weak." You may be keeping your pain symptoms to yourself so your family or loved ones don’t worry about you. However, pain can sometimes be a sign of what is going on with your disease treatment, and you won’t be able to get any relief if your doctor doesn’t know about it.
It may be helpful to bring along a family member or loved one who regularly spends time with you to your next doctor's appointment to help you answer some of these questions. You may not notice how your pain is affecting your relationships, but they do.
Since everybody’s experience of pain is different, what one person describes as a level 3 may be a level 7 to someone else, and that's okay. What's important is that your team has an idea of where you are starting at, so they can assess when the pain is getting worse or when it is getting under control.
You will likely be asked to use this scale to answer the following questions:
It is important to remember that even a low level of pain over a long period of time can be debilitating and can cause a great deal of emotional upset.
Here are some common words used to describe different types of pain:
It may be helpful for you to keep a journal or pain log to keep track of your pain at different times of the day. Your diary should include the time, your activity, any medications you took and any other technique you tried.
An example of a pain log might look like this :
Pain Log
Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.
Pain is something that can only be described and measured by the person who is experiencing it. There is no piece of medical equipment or blood test that is capable of detecting pain and how it is affecting a person’s life. Therefore, communicating with your healthcare team about your pain is absolutely necessary.
There are a few reasons why you might feel uncomfortable talking about your cancer pain.
For example, you may not feel like discussing that your pain makes you "weak." You may be keeping your pain symptoms to yourself so your family or loved ones don’t worry about you. However, pain can sometimes be a sign of what is going on with your disease treatment, and you won’t be able to get any relief if your doctor doesn’t know about it.
Pain Basics
There are a few things that your healthcare team will need to know right off the bat:- Where is your pain?
- When did it start?
- Is it constant or does it come and go?
- Are there activities or times of day that seem to make it worse?
- Is there anything that relieves the pain?
- What else have you tried to relieve the pain?
- How does this pain impact your daily life in terms of activities, relationships with others, and your mood?
- What does the pain feel like?
- How bad is the pain?
It may be helpful to bring along a family member or loved one who regularly spends time with you to your next doctor's appointment to help you answer some of these questions. You may not notice how your pain is affecting your relationships, but they do.
Amount of Pain
The amount of pain you are in can be hard to measure. Most pain intensity tools use a scale of 0 to 10 to describe pain severity. Level 0 means you have no pain at all, whereas a level 10 is the absolute worst, most unbearable pain you can imagine.Since everybody’s experience of pain is different, what one person describes as a level 3 may be a level 7 to someone else, and that's okay. What's important is that your team has an idea of where you are starting at, so they can assess when the pain is getting worse or when it is getting under control.
You will likely be asked to use this scale to answer the following questions:
- What number is your pain right now?
- What number is your pain when you are resting?
- What is the lowest number you have on a usual day?
- What is the number for your pain when it is at its worst?
- What is the number for your pain after you have taken pain medications?
- What number is acceptable for you?
It is important to remember that even a low level of pain over a long period of time can be debilitating and can cause a great deal of emotional upset.
Describing the Kind of Pain
In our colorful English language, there are many many words that can be used to describe pain. The type of pain you are having can give clinicians clues to the cause. For example, nerve pain may present itself as a burning or tingling pain, whereas pain from your organs might be more dull or sharp.Here are some common words used to describe different types of pain:
- Sharp
- Achy
- Burning
- Shooting
- Dull
- Pressure
- Stabbing
- Nagging
- Pinching
- Throbbing
- Cramping
- Squeezing
- Tender
Pain Log
It may be helpful for you to keep a journal or pain log to keep track of your pain at different times of the day. Your diary should include the time, your activity, any medications you took and any other technique you tried.
An example of a pain log might look like this :
Pain Log
| Time of Day | Pain Scale (0- 10) | Location/Description | Activity | Medication | Response to Medication |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 7 | Back, sharp, shooting | Getting out of bed | Morphine 5mg | At 0645, pain was a level 2 |
| 1030 am | 4 | Back and upper legs, mild shooting | Watching TV- sitting | Morphine 5mg | Level 1 at 1130 |
| 1 pm | 8 | Back, left buttock- sharp burning | Housework | Morphine 7.5 mg | Level 5 at 230pm |
| 230 pm | 5 | Back, left buttock and leg | Resting | Morphine 5mg | Level 2 at 3pm |
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