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Cancer Pain

Individuals diagnosed with cancer may experience varying levels of pain depending on the stage and location of the disease. While any cancer patient may have pain, it tends to be more common in patients diagnosed with bone, breast, or prostate cancers. Although it isn’t always possible to completely relieve all cancer pain, there are proven way to lessen the pain in most patients. Pain control can improve your quality of life throughout cancer treatment.
Learn more about some of the common causes of cancer pain that we treat at our office in The Woodlands.
Most cancer pain is caused by the tumor itself. A tumor can apply an increased amount of pressure on nearby tissue, bones, nerves, and organs. The added compression from the tumor can cause the surrounding tissue to become inflamed, irritated, and sore.

Sometimes the cancer cells invade bone structures within the body. When this occurs, patients generally report a dull ache in the bones. Cancer pain that occurs as a result of bone damage from the tumor is generally regarded as the most severe form of cancer pain.

Many factors determine the amount of pain, including the type of cancer, its stage, other health problems, and your tolerance for pain.

Cancer-related tests, treatments, and surgery can also create aches and pains. Common pain caused by cancer treatments include:

  • Muscle pain
  • Joint pain
  • Peripheral neuropathy (numbness or pins and needles in hands and feet)
  • Mucositis (painful inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes that line the entire digestive tract)
  • Stomach pain

Infections that develop within the cancerous tumor have been found to cause a rapid onset of severe pain. Cancer pain related to tumor infection can be frequently overlooked.

Cancer Pain Treatment
All cancer patients should first talk with their oncologist about the types of pain they’re experiencing. It’s important that they know about it and there are some pain management methods they may recommend trying right away. When the pain cannot be managed in the typical ways, a pain management specialist will be consulted for more advanced treatment options.
Cancer Pain Treatment
All cancer patients should first talk with their oncologist about the types of pain they’re experiencing. It’s important that they know about it and there are some pain management methods they may recommend trying right away. When the pain cannot be managed in the typical ways, a pain management specialist will be consulted for more advanced treatment options.
Spinal block

One of the most effective cancer pain treatment options is to target the spinal cord. This is commonly done by using spinal cord injections. The spinal cord relays pain signals from the source of the pain to the brain. Spinal cord injections are minimally invasive and work by injecting an anesthetic that prevents the transmission of pain signals within the spinal cord. Many patients find significant improvement in the severity of their pain after a spinal block. Some patients have experienced total relief from pain and discomfort as a result.

Pain Medications

Opioid medications may also be used to help relieve cancer pain. These medications reduce pain by activating the opioid receptors within the spine. These receptors block the transmission of pain signals to the brain. There are many different options and forms of pain medications that can be tried, especially if the patient needs to maintain a daily routine. There are many options and combinations for patients based on the severity of the pain and the source of pain.

If you or a loved one is experiencing cancer pain, first talk to your oncology team. From there they may recommend a pain management specialist, like those at Pain Management Center of Houston. We understand the special challenges that cancer patients face and will do our best to help control cancer pain.
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Learn more about some of the common causes of abdominal pain that we treat at our office in The Woodlands.
The pelvic region of the body is located between the abdomen and the thighs (below the belly button and above the legs.) The pelvis protects internal organs including the bladder, intestines, and reproductive organs and supports the hip joints.

Chronic abdominal pain is noticeable but not crippling pain that lasts for more than a few days. It may also appear on and off over the course of several months. This type of persistent, nagging abdominal pain may be caused by a condition that needs to be treated, but is not an emergency and won’t go away on its own.

Reproductive Conditions
Chronic pelvic pain in women may be caused by:

  • Endometriosis - when uterine tissue grows in other parts of the body, including the pelvis, causing pain and scarring
  • Fibroid tumors - non-cancerous growths in or on the uterus

In men, it may be caused by prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate).

In men or women, chronic pelvic pain may be due to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), interstitial cystitis (a common bladder problem) or another condition of the digestive tract.

Pudendal Neuralgia
The pudendal nerve is the main nerve in the pelvis that supplies sensation to the lower buttocks, anal region, and genital region of both men and women. Pudendal neuralgia is a condition that occurs when this nerve is damaged or irritated. Symptoms of pudendal neuralgia include pelvic pain that feels like a burning, shooting, or prickling sensation. Pain may develop suddenly or gradually and may be constant but worse while sitting down. Other symptoms may include numbness in the pelvic region, pain during sex, and feeling a swelling sensation in your buttocks and genital regions.
Tailbone Pain
The tailbone, also known as the coccyx, is the small, triangular bone at the bottom of the spine. Tailbone pain is usually caused by trauma to the area resulting from

  • a fall
  • a blow to the area
  • repetitive friction in the area – from bicycling, for example
  • prolonged sitting on a hard surface
  • joint degeneration
  • injury to a woman’s tailbone during childbirth

Symptoms of tailbone injury include severe, localized pain and tenderness and possibly bruising.

pain doctor houston

Pain Management Specialists
in The Woodlands

Pain Management Center of Houston is a multi-faceted pain management practice that is focused on providing pain relief to patients in The Woodlands and surrounding areas. Our goal is to help patients find the cause of their ongoing pain so that we can not only provide relief, but treat the source of the pain.

Start your path to pain relief, a better future, and a more promising quality of life.

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pain management doctor houston
What is Radiofrequency Ablation?
After identifying which spinal nerves are causing a patient’s back pain, the doctor performs radiofrequency ablation to deactivate the part of those nerves that are signaling pain. Guided with x-ray imagery, the doctor guides a tiny probe into the spinal area until it is positioned next to the targeted nerve. Electrical pulses are passed through the probe, heating it up and destroying the part of the nerve that was sending pain signals to the brain. The targeted nerves still function, they’re just unable to transmit pain sensations.

There is a numbing agent given to the local area being treated. The patient remains awake during the procedure that usually takes less than an hour. Patients are able to go home the same day.

What is COOLIEF* Radiofrequency Ablation?
Like other radiofrequency ablation procedures, COOLIEF* disrupts pain signals. Unlike other radiofrequency ablation procedures, COOLIEF* uses water-cooled technology. Water is circulated through the probe at the same time the nerves are being heated. This creates a larger treatment area that leads to better, long-term pain relief and ensures that pain-transmitting nerves being targeted are not overheated, which protects surrounding muscle tissues from side effects like inflammation. COOLIEF* is simply a better version of a proven pain-relieving procedure.
What is Radiofrequency Ablation?
After identifying which spinal nerves are causing a patient’s back pain, the doctor performs radiofrequency ablation to deactivate the part of those nerves that are signaling pain. Guided with x-ray imagery, the doctor guides a tiny probe into the spinal area until it is positioned next to the targeted nerve. Electrical pulses are passed through the probe, heating it up and destroying the part of the nerve that was sending pain signals to the brain. The targeted nerves still function, they’re just unable to transmit pain sensations.

There is a numbing agent given to the local area being treated. The patient remains awake during the procedure that usually takes less than an hour. Patients are able to go home the same day.

What is COOLIEF* Radiofrequency Ablation?
Like other radiofrequency ablation procedures, COOLIEF* disrupts pain signals. Unlike other radiofrequency ablation procedures, COOLIEF* uses water-cooled technology. Water is circulated through the probe at the same time the nerves are being heated. This creates a larger treatment area that leads to better, long-term pain relief and ensures that pain-transmitting nerves being targeted are not overheated, which protects surrounding muscle tissues from side effects like inflammation. COOLIEF* is simply a better version of a proven pain-relieving procedure.