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Improving Quality of Life Through Compassionate Palliative and Cancer Pain Care
Living with a serious illness like cancer presents significant challenges, and the pain associated with the disease or its treatments can profoundly affect your physical and emotional well-being. At the Shashikanth Orthopedic Hospital, we believe that no one should have to endure unmanaged pain. Our Palliative and Cancer Pain Care program is dedicated to delivering comprehensive, individualized support to help you maintain the best possible quality of life throughout your journey.
Palliative care is a specialized medical approach focused on providing relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness, regardless of the diagnosis or prognosis. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage of an illness and can be provided alongside curative treatments. The highest goal is to enhance the quality of life for both you and your family by addressing your complete well-being.
Understanding Cancer Pain
Pain is a very personal experience, and how it affects you is unique. It's important to know that the amount of pain you feel is not necessarily connected to how much the cancer has grown. A very small tumor pressing on a nerve can be extremely painful, while a larger one elsewhere might cause no pain at all. Pain can arise from the cancer itself, from treatments like surgery or chemotherapy, or from other unrelated causes. Whatever the source, your pain is real, and it can and should be treated.
Effective pain management
Effective pain management starts with a thorough assessment to understand the specific cause and type of your pain.
Pain Type | Description | Common Causes | How It Feels |
Acute Pain | Comes on quickly, is often severe, and typically lasts for a shorter time as the underlying injury heals. | Surgery, diagnostic procedures, or an acute injury. | Sharp, sudden. |
Chronic Pain | Pain that lasts longer than three months. It can be mild to severe and may be present all the time. | Nerve changes from the tumor or treatment, ongoing tissue damage. | Aching, dull, persistent. |
Nerve Pain (Neuropathic) | Caused by pressure on or damage to nerves or the spinal cord. | A tumor pressing on a nerve, side effects of chemotherapy. | Burning, shooting, tingling, “pins and needles,” or electric shock-like sensations. |
Bone Pain (Somatic) | Occurs when cancer damages bone tissue. | Cancer that has spread to the bone. | Aching, dull, or throbbing. |
Soft Tissue Pain (Visceral) | Originates from an organ or muscle. | A tumor affecting an organ like the kidney or liver. | Sharp, cramping, or aching; often hard to pinpoint. |
Breakthrough Pain | A sudden flare of pain that occurs even when you are taking regular pain medication. | Can have the same causes as chronic pain or be triggered by an activity. | An episode of intense pain that “breaks through” your regular pain control. |
Our Comprehensive Approach: Treating the Whole Person
A severe illness affects more than just the body; it touches all areas of a person’s life and the lives of their family members. Our palliative care philosophy is built on the concept of “total pain,” which recognizes that suffering can be physical, emotional, social, and spiritual. To provide the best care, we use a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, therapists, and other specialists who work together with you, your family, and your other doctors to provide an extra layer of support.
Our approach is patient-centered, meaning your goals and preferences are central to your care plan. We take the time to listen and help you match your treatment choices to your individual goals, giving you more control over your care.
Advanced Treatment Options for Cancer Pain
We offer a full spectrum of treatments, from carefully managed medications to the latest interventional procedures, to control your pain effectively.
Medication Management
Our specialists create an individualized medication plan based on the type and severity of your pain, often following the World Health Organization’s step-care approach.
- For Mild to Moderate Pain: We may start with non-opioid medications like acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.
- For Moderate to Severe Pain: Opioids like morphine or hydrocodone may be prescribed under careful supervision to provide adequate relief.
- For Specific Pain Types: We use “adjuvant” medications to target particular kinds of pain. Antidepressants and anticonvulsants (like gabapentin) can be very effective for nerve pain, while steroids can help reduce pain caused by swelling.
Interventional Pain Procedures
When medication alone is not enough, or to reduce the need for oral medication and its side effects, we offer advanced, minimally invasive procedures:
- Nerve Blocks: A nerve block is an injection of a local anesthetic near a specific nerve or group of nerves to “turn off” pain signals. This can be used to diagnose the source of pain or provide significant relief for conditions like abdominal pain (celiac plexus block).
- Epidural Steroid Injections: For pain that radiates from the spine down an arm or leg, a strong anti-inflammatory steroid is injected into the epidural space around the spinal cord. This reduces nerve inflammation directly at the source, providing relief that can last for months.
- Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA): For long-term relief from certain types of nerve pain, RFA uses heat generated by radio waves to create a lesion on a targeted nerve, disrupting its ability to send pain signals to the brain. This relief can last from 6 to 18 months or even longer.
- Intrathecal Pain Pump: A small, surgically implanted pump delivers pain medication directly into the fluid around the spinal cord. This allows for powerful pain relief with a much lower dose of medication than would be needed orally, significantly reducing side effects.
- Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS): A small implanted device delivers mild electrical stimulations to an area near the spine. These impulses disrupt despair signals as they travel to the brain, supplying relief for chronic pain that has not responded to other treatments.
Palliative and Complementary Therapies
In addition to directly treating pain, we support a holistic approach to your comfort:
- Tumor-Shrinking Treatments: Palliative radiation or chemotherapy can be used to shrink a tumor that is pressing on nerves or organs, thereby relieving the source of the pain.
- Complementary Therapies: Non-drug treatments can help your medications work better and relieve other symptoms. These include physical medicine, Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), massage, acupuncture, and relaxation exercises.
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Palliative Care vs. Hospice Care
It is a common misunderstanding that palliative care is the same as hospice care. While both provide comfort, they are different. The main distinction is that palliative care can be provided at any stage of an illness and alongside curative treatment.
Hospice care is a specific type of palliative care for individuals who are nearing the end of life, typically with a prognosis of six months or less, and are no longer seeking treatments to cure their illness.
Palliative Care | Hospice Care | |
Focus | Easing pain and discomfort while improving quality of life. | Focusing on comfort and quality of life when a cure is no longer possible. |
Timing | Can begin at diagnosis and be given at the same time as treatment. | Begins after curative treatment has stopped. |
Eligibility | Anyone with a serious illness. | A doctor’s certification that the patient has six months or less to live. |
If you or a loved one is facing a serious illness, you do not have to face the pain and stress alone. Ask your doctor if palliative care is proper for you. Early intervention can seriously improve your quality of life, enhance your ability to go through medical treatments, and provide much-needed support for you and your family.
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Shashikanth Orthopedic Hospital
Advanced pain management, sports injury care, and minimally invasive orthopedic surgery in Karimnagar.