Why is it important to relieve my pain?

You will get better faster if your pain is well controlled.

Less pain means less stress on your body. Your body heals better with less stress. You can breathe deeply and cough and move more easily.

Less pain will decrease your risk of problems such as:

• infection
• trouble breathing
• muscle spasms
• heart attack

Your health care team will work with you to help you manage your pain. Let your health care team know if you are feeling pain.

What services are available?

At University Health Network, we take a whole body approach to help you manage your pain. We have teams here that are focused on helping you find out what is causing your pain. Their job is to make plans to help you manage it. Pain management plans let you know what treatments will work best when you feel pain.

Each team is made up of many different health care professionals such as:

• nurses
• pharmacists
• doctors
• physiotherapists
• occupational therapists

You and your family are an important part of the pain management team. Together, we can work towards effective pain management.

How many pain management teams are there?

Acute Pain Service

Acute pain happens when you are injured. It usually goes away when your injury is healed. There is a special group of advanced practice nurses and doctors who focus only on relieving your acute pain. They will work with your health care team to develop a plan to treat your pain.

Transitional Pain Service

This service helps you deal with pain after surgery and hospital discharge as you transition back to life outside the hospital.

Part of our service is to provide outpatient follow-up care to help those who have a higher chance of developing long-term pain after surgery.

The Transitional Pain Service uses a team approach to managing pain with help from Physicians, Psychologists, Physiotherapists, Nurse Practitioners and a Patient Care Coordinator. Our team can give you medicine and other ways to manage pain such as nerve blocks, psychotherapy, acupuncture, yoga, mindfulness techniques, and education.

Chronic Pain Services

Chronic pain is any pain that lasts more than 6 months after doctors expect you to heal. Chronic pain is harder to manage than acute pain. We have a special clinic to help patients with chronic pain. The doctors who specialize in helping people manage chronic pain may be able to help you.

UHN Cancer Pain Clinic

This service is for patients with cancer or cancer treatment related pain. Pain can be from cancer treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy or surgery. This type of pain can be either acute or chronic or a mix of both.

Our team will spend time talking to you about your pain to find out what is causing it. Our team will spend time with you to make a holistic pain management plan that may include medications and other strategies such as nerve blocks and mindfulness. You will have regular follow-up appointments in the pain clinic until your pain is stable and then you will be discharged to your family doctor.

Palliative Care Services

This service helps you manage your pain and your symptoms. The team will get to know your whole health history and create a special plan to help you. If needed, this service will work with your health care team when you are admitted to the hospital to the time you leave. They will also continue to work with you if you need to come back for follow-up visits.

The palliative care services team may use medicine but they have other ways to help you.

Complementary Alternative Therapies (CAMs)

UHN supports the use of natural therapies such as:

• Heat and cold packs
• Therapeutic touch
• Massage therapy (offered in some hospital units)
• Relaxation
• Psychological therapy
• Mind-body control

Tell your health care team if you are taking any herbal or botanical therapies. They can affect how your medicine and treatments work while in the hospital.

How will I be given my pain medicine?

Your doctor can give you pain medicine in many ways. Some ways include:

Pills or tablets

Pills or tablets swallowed by mouth.

 

Intravenous (IV)

Intravenous means inside the vein. Pain medicine can be given into the vein through a small needle or a plastic tube called a catheter.

 

Feeding tube

Pain medicine put through your feeding tube if you have one.

 

Needle injection

A needle given into your muscle or under your skin.

 

Patient Controlled Analgesia

An intravenous medicine that you give yourself by pressing a button.

 

Epidural

Pain and numbing medicine that goes through a thin tube into your back.

 

Nerve block

A needle injection that will numb the nerves.

 

Patch applied to skin

Pain medicine is taped onto your skin. It is absorbed through your skin into your body.

My loved one can’t talk about their pain. How can I help?

Your loved one may not be able to talk about their pain. When this happens, some things you can do to help are:

• Tell the health care team if you notice that your loved one looks uncomfortable or in pain.
• Ask the health care team if you have any questions.

If you have any questions about your pain management plan, ask someone on your health care team. They can explain the pain medicines to you. They can also tell you about possible side effects.

Talk to your health care team if you have any questions or concerns. We are here to help!

Visit the UHN website for more information

Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management