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There are numerous medications and methods to control pain. Your hospice nurse will work with you and your physician to maintain comfort.
Determining the level of pain can be difficult. Pain is defined as “whatever the person experiencing it says it is.” Hospice uses the visual Wong-Baker scale to rate pain. It has pictures of faces ranging from smiling to crying to rate pain and assigns a number value to each. Your loved one will be asked to rate pain on a regular basis.
With pain medication, addiction is not a concern. Side effects, such as drowsiness, are common but are usually transient and diminish within a few days. Pain medications are often taken on a scheduled basis rather than “as needed” to establish a level of medication in the bloodstream. Medication is given for “breakthrough” pain as needed.
In general, medications taken by mouth are as effective as injections. Medications can also be given under the tongue (sublingually) or by patch (transdermally). Hospice patients can also receive their pain medication by a continuous infusion just beneath the skin using a tiny catheter (“sub-q disk”) and a “CADD” pump.
Pain can be affected and magnified by anxiety, stress and fear. Frustration, fatigue and depression may also increase pain. Relaxation, imagery or distraction may help ease pain and discomfort. Similarly, repositioning and gentle massage may relieve tension and add to comfort. |
