What Causes The Pain
We feel pain when our bones, muscles, organs, nerves or other parts of our bodies are damaged or irritated. Cancer which has spread into these areas might cause pain.
Sometimes pain can be due to cancer treatments. For example, radiotherapy to treat bone pain can sometimes cause your pain to get worse during treatment and for a few days afterwards. But this isnt very common.
Pain can also be caused by problems not linked to the cancer, such as an infection.
Your doctors and nurses will work with you to find out what is causing your pain and will talk to you about suitable treatments. There are effective ways to treat different types of pain.
Bone pain
If prostate cancer spreads to the bone, it can damage or weaken the bone and may cause pain. But not all men with cancer in their bones will get bone pain. Prostate cancer can spread to any area of bone around the body. It most commonly spreads to the spine. Pain in these areas can sometimes make it painful to walk and move around. The pain might remain in only one area, but over time it can spread to several parts of your body.
Bone pain is a very specific feeling. Some men describe it as feeling similar to a toothache but in the bones, or like a dull aching or stabbing. It can get worse when you move and can make the area tender to touch. Each mans experience of bone pain will be different. The pain may be constant or it might come and go. How bad it is can also vary and may depend on where the affected bone is.
Nerve pain
Other Causes Of Back Pain
Back pain, particularly in the short term, is a very common medical complaint. Possible causes can include:
- strains, sprains, and overexertion
- damaged, ruptured, or deteriorating discs in the spine
- spinal stenosis
- pressure on the spinal nerves
- sciatica
- abnormalities of the spine, such as scoliosis
- arthritis and other inflammatory diseases
- kidney stones
- abdominal aortic aneurysms
Arthritis Of The Spine
Arthritis of the spine the slow degeneration of the spinal joints is the most frequent cause of lower back pain. All of us experience wear and tear as we age, and it is normal for your lower back to start acting up as you get older. As the cartilage breaks down between the spinal joints, surrounding tissues may become inflamed. The inflammation and the thinning of cartilage increase friction in the joints, which may cause pain in the lower back.
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Prostate Cancer And Back Pain: Is It A Symptom
Back pain is something that most of us will experience during various parts of our lives.
However, if you are experiencing severe and long-lasting back pain, this may be a symptom of metastatic prostate cancer.
If an aggressive form of prostate cancer occurs, which is more prevalent in younger prostate cancer patients, cancer can spread to the bones.
This article will be discussing the relationship between advanced prostate cancer and back pain.
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- The prostate gland is a male reproductive organ that produces fluids to feed and protect sperm cells.
- Many men experience urinary changes as they age. In many cases, these changes do not need specific treatment.
- When urinary changes cause problems, they can be treated successfully by lifestyle changes, medication, surgery or a combination of the three.
- For problems such as blood in the urine, pain on urination, inability to urinate or uncontrollable urine flow, see your doctor promptly.
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Richard Describes His Symptoms He Had To Get Up Several Times During The Night To Pass Urine He
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005. I had all the symptoms of somebody whos suffering from prostate cancer, difficult to pee, getting up several times during the night, bursting to go and then not able to go properly, and this lasted, you know quite a few weeks stroke months, went to see my GP, who sent me for a blood test to test my PSA level, I didnt know what that was at the time. So I got the results of that test, he suggested that there may be a problem with my prostate, I was sent to the hospital for them to do a biopsy. They did a biopsy, which, a very unpleasant procedure but necessary, and then got the results of that confirming that I had prostate cancer, and then was given the options by the consultant. After discussing it with my wife, decided the best thing to do was have the prostate removed which I did in July 2005. The operation itself was pretty straightforward, but the recovery was very difficult. Theres a lot of side effects, a lot of incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and its quite a long recovery period, so that was very difficult, much more so than the operation itself, but in the years after that its just got a lot better and everythings sort of, all my functions returned to normal, including the erectile dysfunction problem after two years, and since then Ive been fine, I have an annual check, and my PSA level is zero, which it should be, and Ive been fine ever since.
When To See A Physician
Many back pain progressively improves with house treatment and self-care, typically within a couple of weeks. Contact your physician if your back pain:
Persists past a few weeks Lower Back Pain Associated With Prostate Cancer
Is extreme and also doesnt boost with rest
Spreads down one or both legs, specifically if the discomfort extends listed below the knee
Causes weakness, numbness or tingling in one or both legs
Is accompanied by inexplicable weight loss
In uncommon cases, back pain can indicate a significant clinical problem. Look for immediate care if your back pain:
Causes brand-new bowel or bladder troubles
Is accompanied by a fever
Adheres to a fall, strike to your back or various other injury Request a Visit at Mayo Clinic
Low Back Pain Brought On By Spinal Degeneration And Injury.
Repeated heavy lifting or a sudden awkward movement can strain back muscular tissues as well as spine tendons. If you remain in inadequate physical problem, continuous strain on your back can trigger painful muscle spasms.
Disks function as pillows in between the bones in your spinal column. The soft product inside a disk can protrude or burst and press on a nerve. Nevertheless, you can have a bulging or burst disk without back pain. Disk illness is frequently found incidentally when you have spine X-rays for a few other reason.
Your spinal columns vertebrae can create unpleasant fractures if your bones come to be permeable and also brittle.
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When To Seek Medical Care
A person may have urinary symptoms unrelated to prostatitis that are caused by bladder problems, UTIs, or benign prostatic hyperplasia. Symptoms of prostatitis also can signal more serious conditions, including prostate cancer.
Men with symptoms of prostatitis should see a health care provider.
Men with the following symptoms should seek immediate medical care:
- complete inability to urinate
Follow Your Treatment Plan
Standard treatments used to prevent or slow the growth of prostate cancer may also help relieve symptoms such as pain. These include hormonal therapy chemotherapy, which directly attacks the tumor and surgery, according to ACS.
Additionally, there are treatments that can target bone metastases more specifically options include drugs called bisphosphonates, which help strengthen bones and prevent fractures external radiation therapy ablation techniques corticosteroids and pain medications.
Men with advanced prostate cancer should stick closely to their treatment protocol, says Gilligan, because we have abundant evidence that reduce pain.
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How Much Pain Might I Have
Some men have no pain at all. Men who do have pain experience different levels of pain. Some men only feel mild discomfort and are able to carry out their daily activities as normal, but other men find that the pain affects their daily lives.
Only you can describe how your pain feels. Another man with advanced prostate cancer may not feel pain in the same way. So predicting how much pain you might have is difficult, as it varies from man to man.
How much pain you have will depend on several things, including:
- where the pain is
- whats causing the pain
- how soon your doctor or nurse can help you manage the pain
- finding the right pain relief for you
- taking the right amount of pain-relieving drugs at the right times
- how tired you feel
- how well you feel in general
- if you feel anxious
- if you feel depressed.
Soreness In The Groin
When prostate cancer spreads, its common for cancer cells to go to your lymph nodes and then move to more areas of your body. The lymph nodes are a network of glands that help your body filter fluids and fight infections.
There are several lymph nodes in your groin. These are the ones closest to your prostate, so its common for the cancer to spread to them first. Cancer cells prevent your lymph nodes from draining fluid and working properly. When this happens, your lymph nodes swell. As a result, you might experience pain or soreness in the area.
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When To Contact A Medical Professional
- Less urine than usual
- Back, side, or abdominal pain
- Blood or pus in your urine
Also call if:
- Your bladder does not feel completely empty after you urinate.
- You take medicines that may cause urinary problems, such as diuretics, antihistamines, antidepressants, or sedatives. DO NOT stop or change your medicines without talking to your provider.
- You have tried self-care steps for 2 months and symptoms have not improved.
Treatment For Metastatic Cancer
Radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy are generally used to treat localized prostate cancer. However, for patients that eventually develop locally advanced or metastatic cancer, hormone or radiation therapy may be required.
Hormone therapy is used to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells.
More than 85% of men who receive hormone therapy develop metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer within 3 years of hormone treatment. This is caused by prostate cancer cells adapting to low androgen levels.
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How Lung Cancer And Back Pain Are Linked
When we think about back pain, usually the last thing that comes to mind is cancer. Instead, we connect it to things like an injury, such as a muscle strain or ruptured disc. Or we may think it’s because of a degenerative disease, like arthritis or osteoporosis.
Back pain caused by lung cancer shares some common features with many of these disorders. Yet it also has distinct differences. These may relate to how and where the cancer causes pain, both directly and indirectly.
Some possible ways in which lung cancer can produce back pain include:
- A tumor can place direct pressure on the structure of the back, most often in the mid to upper back rather than lower back.
- A tumor can irritate the nerves that serve the lining of the lungs and chest wall. This may trigger a sharp and sometimes chronic nerve pain.
- Cancer spread from the lungs to the spine and bones happens in some 30% of people with lung cancer.
- Spread of cancer to the adrenal glands occurs in 40% of people with lung cancer, and can cause pain right above the kidney.
Healthcare providers may overlook a possible lung cancer as the cause of back pain, especially in people who have never smoked. However, at the current time, most of the people who develop lung cancer are non-smokers, either never smokers or former smokers. Lung cancer cases are rising in young women and men who have never smoked.
How Is Prostatitis Treated
Treatment depends on the type of prostatitis.
Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Treatment for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome aims to decrease pain, discomfort, and inflammation. A wide range of symptoms exists and no single treatment works for every man. Although antibiotics will not help treat nonbacterial prostatitis, a urologist may prescribe them, at least initially, until the urologist can rule out a bacterial infection. A urologist may prescribe other medications:
- silodo
- cans such as chondroitin sulfate
- muscle relaxants such as cyclobenzaprine and clonazepam
- neuromodulators such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline , and pregabalin
Alternative treatments may include
- warm baths, called sitz baths
- local heat therapy with hot water bottles or heating pads
- physical therapy, such as
- Kegel exercisestightening and relaxing the muscles that hold urine in the bladder and hold the bladder in its proper position. Also called pelvic muscle exercises.
- myofascial releasepressing and stretching, sometimes with cooling and warming, of the muscles and soft tissues in the lower back, pelvic region, and upper legs. Also known as myofascial trigger point release.
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Why Is Lower Back Pain Such A Common Problem
The bottom part of your back typically has just five vertebrae fewer than your neck and mid-back. And these vertebrae do a lot of heavy lifting! Your lower back is where your spine connects to your pelvis, bearing the weight of your upper body. This area experiences a lot of movement and stress, which may lead to wear, tear and injuries.
Other Locations Of Pain From Prostate Cancer
Pain during urination
Painful ejaculation
Leg and foot pain from swelling/edema
Shooting, burning or stabbing pain can occur in the lower extremities if a metastasis is pressing against a nerve.
Lower abdominal pain or soreness can occur if a tumor is causing pressure on the organs that surround the prostate.
If youve been having any of the following symptoms, many benign conditions can explain them. But so can prostate cancer. Better safe than sorry.
Get yourself checked out if youve been experiencing any of the following:
Urination discomfort of any sort
Any difficulty with urination
Increased urges to urinate overnight
Loss of bladder control
Reduced flow of urine stream
Appearance of blood in the urine
Blood in semen
Numbness in the lower extremities
Unexplained fatigue or weight loss
WARNING: Many of the aforementioned symptoms are signs of advanced disease.
The time to get checked is at the first sign of symptoms, even if they seem trite such as reduced urine stream or having more urges to urinate overnight.
Furthermore, annual PSA tests are highly recommended beginning at age 50 for men at average risk of prostate cancer.
For more information on prostate cancer screening, call Cancer Center Treatments of America at 993-3381.
.
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Back Pain From Cancer
Rarely, it may be the first manifestation of cancer, says a paper in the Journal of General Internal Medicine .
The study authors point out that out of 1,975 walk-in patients at a clinic, only 13 were found to have cancer as a cause of their back pain.
Certain findings correlate to this, but these findings certainly dont automatically mean cancer:
At least 50 years of age
Previous history of cancer
Pain lasting longer than a month
No improvement with conservative therapy
Whats scary is that the paper says that metastatic cancer, when causing back pain, may not always cause other symptoms.
When cancer causes back pain, its more frequently in the lower region. Thus, pain specifically in the middle back, from this disease, would be even rarer.
Quite simply, pain in the back, be it low, middle or upper, has MANY causes including inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease , fibromyalgia, aortic disease, imminent heart attack, premenstrual syndrome, benign ovarian cysts and overdoing it in a yoga class.
Dr. Psallidas is the main author of many peer-reviewed publications and book chapters in pleural disease and lung cancer.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. Shes also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Freepik.com/ shayne_ch13
- Lymph nodes
- Bones
- Other organs
So What Are The Warning Signs Of Prostate Cancer
Unfortunately, there usually arent any early warning signs for prostate cancer. The growing tumor does not push against anything to cause pain, so for many years the disease may be silent. Thats why screening for prostate cancer is such an important topic for all men and their families.
Get the Free Prostate Cancer Patient Guide.
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In rare cases, prostate cancer can cause symptoms. Contact your doctor for an evaluation if you experience any of the following:
- A need to urinate frequently, especially at night, some- times urgently
- Difficulty starting or holding back urination
- Weak, dribbling, or interrupted flow of urine
- Painful or burning urination
- Difficulty in having an erection
- A decrease in the amount of fluid ejaculated
- Painful ejaculation
- Blood in the urine or semen
- Pressure or pain in the rectum
- Pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, pelvis, or thighs
Remember: urinary symptoms dont necessarily mean you have cancer. Prostatitis or BPH are benign diseases but can cause similar symptoms and are very common.
What about difficulty in having an erection? Again, this is most likely not caused by cancer but by other factors such as diabetes, smoking, cardiovascular disease, or just plain getting older.
That said: Symptoms are symptoms, and no matter whats most likely to be causing them, you should get them checked out by a doctor.
Download or order your free copy of the Prostate Cancer Patient Guide now with COVID-19 Appendix.
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