Why Treating Cancer Pain Is So Important to Quality of Life

25 Jan Why Treating Cancer Pain Is So Important to Quality of Life

A big part of our mission here at Lone Star Pain Medicine is to improve life, one patient at a time. Improving our patient’s lives also improves their quality of life. We believe that this is critically important. It is one of the reasons we work so hard to treat cancer pain. We believe a better quality of life is crucial to patients dealing with what is often a devastating disease.

Let’s face it. No one wants to sit on the other side of the doctor’s desk and hear the word ‘cancer’. Getting a cancer diagnosis marks the start of a long and difficult journey with an uncertain outcome. The last thing patients need is debilitating pain that only makes it harder to fight cancer. So here at Lone Star, our goal is to alleviate and manage the pain as much as possible.

Physical Impacts of Pain

Cancer pain has physical impacts that affect a patient’s quality of life. Practically speaking, the pain can restrict a patient’s ability to perform routine tasks. It can interfere with family responsibilities, work-related responsibilities, and even self-care. Some patients struggle to do simple things like opening jars or walking from one room to the next.

When physical function is limited, a person’s quality of life goes down. Limited function tends to lead cancer patients to become inactive and somewhat isolated. Living becomes more difficult, and cancer takes over as the defining aspect of the patient’s life.

Emotional and Mental Impacts of Pain

Pain’s physical impacts are not the only quality of life issue to be concerned about. There are also emotional and mental impacts that need to be addressed. For instance, cancer pain is associated with a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. The emotional burden cancer brings to bear is only made heavier by the pain experience.

When cancer pain itself doesn’t directly inhibit sleep, the anxiety it causes certainly can. Less quality sleep makes it more difficult for a patient to deal with the disease and its treatment.

Adding to the anxiety and depression is the social isolation so often associated with cancer pain. Less social interaction means fewer activities, less involvement, and less reliance on one’s social network for emotional and mental support.

Managing Pain Can Change Everything

Cancer and the pain it causes are difficult to talk about because they are so heavy and hard. But there is hope. Lone Star Pain Medicine and other pain management clinics exist to give patients that hope. The hope is found in proven treatments that can effectively manage pain so that patients can take their lives back.

Cancer pain is both a symptom of the disease and a product of its treatments. For pain medicine doctors and their patients, management is about figuring out the root causes of a patient’s pain and then treating accordingly. Here at Loan Star, we have a number of treatments we can consider. These include things like:

• Epidurals
• Nerve blocks
• Kyphoplasty
• Radiofrequency neurotomy
• Spinal cord stimulation
• Intrathecal pump implants

Our approach to pain isn’t the prescription pad. Prescription medications have their place in cancer treatment, but there are other ways to manage pain. We explore those ways with each and every patient.

You Can Live a Better Life

Our position at Lone Star Pain Medicine is this: you can live a better life if we can get your pain under control. So if you are dealing with cancer, we hope you will consider our Weatherford, TX clinic as your partner in pain management. We want to help.