Treating and controlling pain is a primary concern for all members of the health care team, including your doctors, nurses and any consultants, such as pain care specialists, involved in your care. Ongoing assessment of the types of pain that develop and change during the course of the cancer is essential to prescribing appropriate pain treatments.
Your doctor will assess your pain before administering therapy. He or she will ask you about the nature of the pain, to describe it, locate it and describe any changes in its nature over time. Questions about successful or unsuccessful therapies in treating your pain are also important. The goal of pain therapy is complete and total pain relief and comfort, but sometimes this goal may not be obtainable. Reasonable expectations should be discussed with your caregivers early and often during therapy. Your support group—friends and family and others— should be in on these discussions.
The Pain Control Ladder According to the WHO committee on cancer pain, 90 to 95 percent of all cancer pain can be well controlled using a set of guidelines called the Pain Control Ladder. These guidelines separate pain into levels of intensity and suggest tailoring the strength and potency of prescribed pain-relieving medications to the intensity. Not all cancer pain requires strong narcotics . But strong pain requires strong medications.
