Managing Cancer Pain
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What to Tell Your Doctor About Your Pain
It is very helpful for the doctor or nurse to have information about your pain in order to help select the right pain control measures. Start by describing how the pain feels, where it is located and how it changes over time. Usually, the doctor or nurse will ask you the following questions:
- When did your pain start?
- Where do you feel your pain?
- Is your pain sharp, dull, burning, tingling or aching?
- How much pain do you feel? How would you rate your pain on a scale from 0-5, where 0 is no pain and 5 is the worst pain you can imagine?
- Is your pain constant, or does it come and go?
- What makes your pain feel better? What makes it feel worse?
- What have you tried for pain relief?
- How much pain does your current medicine take away? Almost all of it? Less than half?
- If medicines help, how long after taking them do they help?