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Peripheral Neuropathy: Tingling or Numbness of the Hands and/or Feet Presented by:
Nessa Coyle, NP, PhD, FAAN
K. Simon Yeung, PhamD, LAc
Sebi Panicker, DPT
August 7, 2007
Run Time: 70 minutes |
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Whether in the hospital, at home, or in a long-term care facility, effective pain management is an essential part of comprehensive cancer care.
Because of shorter hospitalizations, most cancer pain is now managed in the home. For some cancer survivors, pain can be a condition to treat after the tumor itself is gone. Pain from nerves subjected to the trauma of some cancers and some cancer-killing treatments requires medical experts who can listen to patients and employ leading-edge therapies with precision. Non-physical stressors, such as financial, emotional, and spiritual difficulties, can cause the amount of pain a patient actually feels to increase.
For these and other reasons, ongoing relationships with professionals with specialized experience in palliative care and management of cancer-related pain can be vital.
Management of Chronic Cancer Pain
Pain-relieving medicines can be prescribed to meet various kinds of pain at home. Depending on a patient's individual needs and preferences, analgesics can be taken orally, transmucosally, rectally, subcutaneously, intravenously, or transdermally. Besides controlling pain during and immediately after an operation, Memorial Sloan-Kettering's anesthesiologists with expertise in pain management perform interventions such as nerve blocks and insert patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps that can deliver precisely targeted doses of analgesics epidurally and intrathecally. These computerized pumps can be refilled, and medications adjusted during regular outpatient visits.
Supportive Care Program
To help patients, caregivers, local clinicians, and community pharmacists control pain that extends beyond the hospital stay, a hospital-affiliated supportive care program can help bring pain management and palliative care to the patient's home. The Supportive Care Program of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Pain and Palliative Care Service is pioneering this concept in long-term symptom management.
Psychological Support
The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Counseling Center is an outpatient facility designed for the psychological support of cancer patients and their families, and provides help for many cancer-related symptoms including pain, fatigue, insomnia, and distress. Often, an approach that combines both counseling and medication may be most effective. To that end, our doctors in the Counseling Center work closely with Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Pain and Palliative Care Service.
Living Beyond Cancer
People facing the challenges of cancer survivorship can access a variety of support services through the Living Beyond Cancer section of our Web site. This section includes information about professionally led support groups and counseling; survivorship clinics to manage late effects of cancer and treatment; recommendations about screening and healthy living; and specialized services to address sexual and reproductive health. We also offer a range of resources to help survivors, families, and friends better understand the complex emotional and social issues following treatment.
Complementary Therapies for Pain
Our Integrative Medicine Service offers individual therapies and group classes to help cancer patients, survivors, and others feel better, reduce pain, and soothe the soul with the best of complementary therapies, such as many types of massage, spiritual healing, art and music therapy, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation, guided imagery and visualization, yoga, t'ai chi, nutritional counseling, and more.
