PrintPain Management
Pain Management Methods:
Pain Relieving Medications
Family of Medications Used to Treat Pain |
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| • Opioids • Non-Opioids |
• Local Anesthetics • Other Medications |
Opioid pain medications:
These are the strongest painkillers commonly used for treating moderate to severe pain, such as cancer pain. Examples of opioid medications include:
They are effective in relieving strong pain and, when used properly, can reduce the chance of developing side effects such as nausea, constipation, drowsiness, dry mouth and other side effects.
Often you are afraid that you may develop addiction to these painkillers, but it is very unlikely if they are taken properly. The dose you are taking may be high to control your pain, but it is safe to take high doses when you need them.
Some of the weaker opioid pain medications such as codeine–containing pain medications like (Tylenol #1, 2, 3 & 4) are used to treat mild to moderate pain. The same side effects would apply as above. True allergies to opioids are rarely reported.
These medications can make you feel sick such as nausea. Let your doctors know and they can give you anti-nausea drug for that. You can get used to the painkiller after some time and stop taking anti-nausea drug.
Painkillers like these can cause your bowel to slow down and making you hard to pass stool. There are some medications used to prevent this from happening. There are also other non-drug ways that you can do to help you pass stool easier. You can try to be as active as possible without causing more pain, intake of fluid like water that help softens stool and take foods with high fibre content that increase moisture in the stool.
When referring to the pain scale for the amount of pain you have, the strong painkillers are used if your pain is measuring seven (7) or higher. If your pain measures between four and six (4 and 6), a weaker painkiller can be used. The worst pain you can experience is 10 on the pain scale.
When you first start taking opioid painkillers, they can make you feel sleepy or drowsy. This is normal. You will get used to the painkillers in a few days. You will react this way each time a newer higher dose is given to you. If you feel that you are sleeping too much or feeling drowsy too long, this may a sign that you need to lower the dose. It is important to let your doctor know and lower the dose for you.
Please ask your pharmacist for more drug related information.
Non-opoid pain medications:
These are prescribed to treat mild to moderate pain and can be used to reduce pain due to swelling. They may be used together with either strong or weak opioid painkillers for better control of certain pain. Examples include:
• Acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol)
• Ibuprofen (e.g. Advil)
• Aspirin
Side effects have been reported. Please tell us if you had a history of stomach irritation, stomach ulcer, or stomach bleeding when taking these painkillers. You should not be taking ibuprofen, Aspirin or alike when you are taking blood thinners. This can make bleeding worse.
Please ask your pharmacist for more drug related information.
Local anesthetic agent: This type of numbing medications is similar to the ones your dentist uses. They will temporarily numb the damaged nerves in order to control the pain. They can be given at the spot of the pain or in your spine by injection.
While getting the numbing agents in your spine, you may feel numbness, tingling or weakness in your legs. If this happens, you should tell your nurse or doctor. When you develop mouth ulcers causing pain from radiation or chemotherapy, your doctor may give you local anesthetic agent by mouth as well as other painkillers when needed.
Other medications used to treat pain: There are additional useful medications used to treat nerve pain that is not responsive to conventional painkillers. Nerve pain is described as burning, shooting or stabbing in nature. Anti-seizure and anti-depressants are examples of these medications.
Steroids can be used to reduce swelling pressure around tumors that cause pain. Steroids used for pain control are different from those misused in sports.
Bisphosphonates are a family of drugs that help control bone pain and fractures caused by distant spread of cancer to the bone. They can help to reduce the amount of other painkillers you take.
Each of the different family of painkillers has its own side effects. Please ask to speak to your pharmacists about them. Your pharmacist can help you to reduce the side effects and suggest the most appropriate drugs for you.
