Reasons for not Receiving Capable Operation for Cancer Pain

Unfortunately cancer pain is often under-treated. Many factors may contribute to that, some of which include:

• Reluctance of doctors to ask about pain or offer treatments. Some doctors and other health care professionals may not specifically ask about pain, which should be a normal part of every visit with your doctor. People with cancer should be asked if they are having any pain. If they are, the doctor should stop there and deal with the issue.

Some doctors don't know enough about proper pain treatment. If this is the case, your doctor might refer you to a pain specialist. Other doctors may be concerned about prescribing pain medications because these drugs can be abused. However, people in pain are very unlikely to abuse pain medications.

• Reluctance of patients to speak up about pain. A second factor might be a person's own reluctance. Some people might not want to "bother" their doctors with the information, or they may fear that the pain means that their cancer is getting worse. Some are reluctant to report it or report it as thoroughly as they should because they're worried about what doctors or others might think of them if they complain. They might feel that because they have cancer, they're supposed to have pain and be able to deal with it. That simply isn't true.


• Fear of addiction. Another factor might be a person's fear of becoming addicted to pain medications. This is something that we know doesn't typically happen if you take medications for pain. If you take medications when you're not in pain or to get high, then, yes, you can get addicted. But the risk of addiction for people who take pain medications in an appropriate fashion — for pain — is very low, so this shouldn't be a concern.


• Fear of side effects. Some people fear the side effects of pain medications. Many are afraid of being sleepy, being unable to communicate with family and friends, acting strangely, or being seen as dependent on medications. People are also sometimes afraid that taking morphine may shorten their life. There is no evidence of any of these happening if the medication is dosed appropriately.

Recent evidence suggests that good control of symptoms, including pain, actually helps people to live longer. And although strong pain medications can cause drowsiness when you first take them, that side effect usually goes away with steady dosing.

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