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Cancer and pain control

Resources and support for cancer pain

There are lots of organisations, support groups and books to help you understand pain control and get the treatment you need.

Cancer Research UK information and support

Cancer Research UK is the largest cancer research organisation in the world outside the USA. We fund research on all aspects of cancer from its causes to prevention and treatment.

We are committed to producing high quality information for people affected by cancer. As well as looking at the information on this website you can call our nurse freephone helpline on 0808 800 4040. They are available from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Or you can send them a question online.

Contact our cancer information nurses

Cancer Chat is our online forum where you can share experiences.

Cancer Chat discussion forum

Specific pain organisations

Action on pain

A charity that is being run entirely by volunteers. They provide support, advice, and help to people affected by chronic pain and those close to them.

Telephone Pain line: 0345 603 1593 (Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm) Email: aopisat@btinternet.com

Write to: Action on Pain, 2 Mill Close, Terrington St Clement, Norfolk, PE34 4JG

Visit the Action on Pain website

Pain Association Scotland

A support group for anyone who suffers from chronic pain. They deliver self management training to help those with chronic pain.

Freephone: 0800 783 6059 (Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 4.30 pm)

Email: info@painassociation.com

Visit the Pain Association Scotland website

Pain Concern

Pain Concern offers information and support to people with pain and those who care for them. They run a helpline staffed by volunteers and have an online forum called HealthUnlocked for members to share experiences. You can listen to podcasts that feature interviews with experts and people managing their pain. You can also subscribe to their newsletter, Pain Matters.

Helpline: 0300 123 0789

Email: help@painconcern.org.uk

Visit the Pain Concern website

General support, information and work organisations

NHS website

For general health advice and information.

NHS website

NHS 111

NHS 111 online gives information if you need fast medical help but it's not a 999 emergency. NHS 111 is only available in England.

Information about NHS 111 online

NHS Inform

NHS Inform gives information about illnesses, treatments and NHS services for people in Scotland.

NHS Inform website

Macmillan Cancer Support

Macmillan Cancer Support is a charity that gives practical and medical support to people with cancer in the UK. Its helpline offers support with clinical, emotional, general and welfare benefits needs. They also publish booklets about cancer and treatments. Information is available in other languages.

Freephone: 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week, 8am to 8pm)

Contact email form

Visit the Macmillan Cancer Support website

ASTRiiD

ASTRiiD stands for ‘Available Skills for Training, Refreshing, Improvement, Innovation and Development’.

ASTRiiD is a not for profit organisation connecting businesses with people who have long term health problems, including cancer, but who still have skills to offer employers. A person can register their skills and experiences along with how much time they might be able to give to a potential employer. This might be a number of days a week or even just a few hours a month.

A company registers and highlights the skills and experiences that they are looking for in order to complete some work. ASTRiiD then compares these two registrations to see if there is match. If there is a good match then ASTRiiD will introduce one side to the other.

Email: hello@astriid.org

Read more on the ASTRiiD website

Organisations that provide equipment

Essential Aids

This is an online shop for daily living equipment for the disabled community, older people, or those who look after people with difficulty getting around.

Email: customerservice@essentialaids.com

Phone: 01273 719 889

Visit the Essential Aids website

Complete Care Shop

Offers mobility aids at low cost to help both elderly people and disabled adults and children. Has an extensive range of daily living aids and disability equipment.

Complete Care Shop 330 Four Oaks Rd Walton Summit Centre Preston PR5 8AP

Phone: 0300 1000 248 (Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm) Email: customerservice@completecareshop.co.uk

Visit the Complete Care Shop website

Booklets and information from other organisations

From Macmillan Cancer Support

Macmillan support line: 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week 8am to 8pm) Website: www.macmillan.org.uk

  • Managing breathlessness

  • Managing cancer pain

  • Managing the symptoms of cancer

  • Coping with hair loss

  • Coping with fatigue

  • Healthy eating and cancer

  • How are you feeling? The emotional effects of cancer

  • Understanding lymphoedema

From The British Pain Society

Tel: 020 7269 7840 Email: info@britishpainsociety.org Website: www.britishpainsociety.org

  • Managing Cancer Pain – information for patients

  • Pain in Older People: Reflections and Experiences from an older person's perspective

  • Intrathecal drug delivery systems for treating pain and spasms – information for patients

  • Managing your pain effectively using 'over the counter' medicines

  • Participant information for pain management programmes

  • Pain and problem drug use – information for patients

  • Spinal Cord Stimulation for pain – information for patients

  • Use of medicines outside of their UK marketing authorisation in pain management and palliative medicine – information for patients

  • Opioids Aware: A resource for patients and healthcare professionals to support the prescribing of opioid medicines for pain

  • Understanding and managing long term pain

From the NHS

Website: www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/10-ways-to-ease-pain.

This is a webpage with some self help tips to bring some relief to problems with pain.

Last reviewed: 12 Jan 2024

Next review due: 12 Jan 2027

What to ask your doctor about cancer pain

Here are some things you might want to ask your doctor about cancer pain.

Mental health and cancer

Whether you are someone with cancer or a carer for someone with cancer, we want you to know that it is common to struggle with your mental health when dealing with a cancer diagnosis. But there are people who can support you during this time and things you can do to help yourself.

Treating cancer pain

There are many different ways of treating cancer pain and different people who can treat it. A pain assessment can help you get the right treatment.

Painkillers

Whatever painkillers you have to treat cancer pain, it helps to know more about what you're taking and any possible side effects.

Your cancer type

Search for the cancer type you want to find out about. Each section has detailed information about symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, research and coping with cancer.

Cancer and pain control main page

There are different causes and types of cancer pain, and many different ways of managing and treating it.

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