Learning About Your Health

Pain Management

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It is Important to Us That You Have Very Good Pain Control

Untreated pain can slow your recovery. For your own health and well being, it is important you have very good pain control.

Good pain control allows you to:

  • Be more active
  • Change your position
  • Get out of bed more often
  • Walk
  • Take deep breaths
  • Improve your mood and sleep
Being active helps you get better faster and prevents complications such as pneumonia and deep vein thrombosis (DVT)/blood clot.

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Our Staff is Sensitive to Any Pain You May Experience But We Need Your Help

How You Can Help

  • Take action to control your pain as soon as it starts. Report your pain using the pain scale below.

  • Tell your doctor and nurse when you have pain, including: how much it hurts and what it feels like; if you have had this pain before, what makes it better? worse?

  • Take your pain medication before doing something that will increase your pain (for example, one hour before physical therapy). The more comfortable you are, the more effective therapy will be.

  • Ask your doctor or nurse if you have any questions about your pain management.

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How We Can Help You

Your doctors and nurses will ask you to rate your pain using a scale like the one below. "0" on the scale means no pain and "10" on the scale means the worst pain you can imagine.

Reporting your pain as a number helps the doctors and nurses know how well your treatment is working.


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Pain Medication is Given in Many Ways

  • Oral: pills or liquid

  • Intravenous (IV): through a tube in your vein

  • Intramuscular (IM): injection into a muscle

  • Transdermal: through the skin by a stick-on patch

  • Epidural: a continuous infusion into the epidural space of the spine

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PCA Pump (Patient Controlled Analgesia)

  • How a PCA Pump Works: The PCA pump connects to a tube into your vein. When you push the button, the PCA pump is set to give you a specific dose of pain medication, as ordered by your doctor.

  • For Your Safety Only You May Push the Button: It is not safe for anyone else to push the button for you.

  • A time limit is also set in between doses (usually 6-15 minutes). During this set time limit, if you push the button, the PCA pump will not deliver a dose of medication. The time limit is set so that you can safely give yourself pain medication.

  • You Need to Tell Us: The doctors and nurses will ask you about your pain. Please let us know right away if you are limiting or stopping yourself from doing the activities your doctors, nurses, and therapists recommend. Report any problems with sleep, mood, or appetite caused by pain. You will feel better and recover faster if you are comfortable.

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Other Ways to Control Pain in Addition to Medication

The following are examples of other treatments and therapies that may relieve your pain. Talk with your doctor or nurse about using these treatments along with your pain medication.

  • Breathing and Relaxation Exercises
  • Rest
  • Massage
  • Guided Imagery
  • Warm/Cool Packs
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Behavioral Therapies
  • Spiritual Counseling

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Myths and Misconceptions About Pain

"I’ll tough it out; I don’t want to bother the nurses."
Patients who try and "tough it out" often limit their activity; this can lead to serious complications such as pneumonia and deep vein thrombosis (DVT)/blood clot.

"I don’t like the side effects of the pain medication."
Most side effects can be managed or your medication can be changed. We will work with you to develop a pain relief plan that will relieve as much pain as possible while trying to prevent unpleasant side effects. This can be a delicate balance and may take time.

"I’m afraid I’ll become addicted to the pain medication."
Research studies have shown that there is less than a 1% chance of addiction when pain medications are taken for medical reasons. If you have chronic pain and use medication for a long time, you may need to increase the dose since the old dose may not last as long. This is not addiction, it is tolerance to the effect of the medication in the cells of your body.

"Drugs should be taken only for pain that is severe."
It is much easier to prevent severe pain than to treat it. You can do this by taking medication on a regular schedule, rather than waiting until it is almost unbearable.

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Online Resources


Produced by the Center for Patient and Community Education in association with the staff and physicians at California Pacific Medical Center. Last updated: 10/04

© 2001-2008 California Pacific Medical Center

Funded by: A generous donation from the Mr. and Mrs. Arthur A. Ciocca Foundation.

Note: This information is not meant to replace any information or personal medical advice which you get directly from your doctor(s). If you have any questions about this information, such as the risks or benefits of the treatment listed, please ask your doctor(s).

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