Pain treatment after cancer is not often talked about, and very rarely mentioned in medical circles, but in South Carolina, where we suffer from cancer just as much as the rest of the world, learning to live without pain after cancer treatment is just another step in the process. We take pain management seriously, and while people might not be talking about it, treating pain after cancer is crucial to enjoying a full recovery.
If you haven’t heard already, Michael Douglas told the media that he is about to undergo chemo and radiation treatment for throat cancer. It’s been all over the news recently. Throat cancer, like many other forms of cancer, can be hard to diagnose and hard to treat. It can also be hard to recover from simply because of the tumor’s location.
Throat cancer is common among men in their 50’s who tend to drink and smoke more than the rest of the pack. As with all of our pain management treatments, having a healthy lifestyle is the ultimate key to both staying healthy and overcoming chronic conditions. Even certain types of cancer, such as Michael Douglas’ throat cancer, can be prevented by avoiding harmful habit such as smoking and drinking.
Michael Douglas will undergo 8 weeks of radiation and chemo, and it expected to give up smoking and drinking. While he’s “very optimistic” about the diagnosis and treatment, throat cancer can lead to many other complications such as airway obstruction, difficulty swallowing, loss of voice and speaking ability, and worst of all the threat of that cancer spreading to the rest of the body.
Recovering after treatment will usually involve a team of pain consultants like the ones at First Choice Health Care, where we take a long look at how your life will be forever changed, an dyet remain the same. We’ll evaluate the treatment that you’ve gone through and put together a substantial plan for your pain management.
Many times the pain that you would feel while going through cancer treatments will be treated by your cancer physician with medication. And while that medication might continue for a while after the cancer has been successfully treated, many times the pain management treatment will move to the pain doctors and their interdisciplinary team of experts.
If you have undergone cancer treatment and are dealing with the lasting effects of chronic pain, talk to your South Carolina pain doctor today.
