Cancer Pain: An Agonizing Experience

There are different ways to define the meaning of pain. An unpleasant emotional and sensory experience that is associated to any potential damage in the tissue. Pain is any sensation that hurts. It is not only felt physically but also emotionally.

Pain can be caused by any disease or by its treatment. Pain is usually common to cancer patients. Although not all patients with cancer will have cancer pain. Studies show that approximately 50% of patients with cancer usually have cancer pain while undergoing treatment. 90% of cancer patients usually have it in the advance stage of their cancer.

How cancer pain happens? In our body, we have nerve endings that is very sensitive to any stimulus especially pain caused by any damage in our tissue. When our nerve endings detect that that there is a damaged tissue in the body, our nervous system will transmit the stimulus of pain via nerve pathways, and our brain detects this stimulus as a painful stimulus. Pain is also detected even when our nerve pathways are the one being damage. Any damage that is detected by our nerve endings will be detected and becomes a pain stimulus. This is how pain is being produced, including cancer pain.

There are two types of pain. We have acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain is sharp, and starts suddenly. It is usually being triggered by visible body reactions like high blood pressure, sweating, etc. Acute pain is usually felt when there is a rapid injury in the body. Acute pain usually subsides when an immediate pain reliever or injury is treated.

Chronic pain is pain that lasts beyond the time that an injury would heal or an illness is treated. It is a persistent pain that can cause physical and emotional stress that usually requires careful and an ongoing treatment.

Cancer pain is usually treated by two treatments, either by drug or non-drug therapy. In today's scientific advancement, it is a relief to know that cancer pain can be managed. With the available medical and pain therapy that is being offered today, no one will suffer with cancer pain like before.

Studies shows that 50% of cancer patients are not treated for their cancer pain, although cancer pain can be relieved. This happens when the physicians are very busy and too focused in treating the patient's cancer. Sometimes, pain is not treated because the patient is reluctant to report the cancer pain.