Exercise Medicine as an Analgesic: Using Movement to Reduce Cancer-Related Pain

The following text is taken from Professor Rob Newton's fantastic work and article. Much of what is written applies not just to cancer, but to many other conditions too. Please have a read and follow the link to the full article.

Happy reading,

Paul

Pain is one of the most difficult symptoms experienced by people with cancer.

It may arise from the cancer itself, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, hormone therapy, bone metastases, joint stiffness, scar tissue, muscle wasting, inflammation, or prolonged inactivity. It may be sharp, aching, burning, mechanical, neuropathic, or diffuse. It may be constant or unpredictable.

Pain also changes behaviour. Patients reduce exercise because exercise hurts, or because they fear it will make the problem worse. This reduction in exercise then produces more weakness, more stiffness, poorer circulation, poorer sleep, lower confidence, and often more pain.

This is one of the vicious cycles of cancer care.

The answer is not to tell patients to push through pain. That is poor clinical practice.

But it is equally wrong to assume that rest is always protective.

Exercise, when prescribed correctly, can act as an analgesic. It can reduce pain through biological mechanisms that are measurable, clinically relevant, and highly useful during and after cancer treatment.

This process is known as exercise-induced analgesia.

The effect is not abstract; it is mediated through defined neurochemical, inflammatory, and vascular pathways.

Continue reading here...

https://profrobnewton.substack.com/p/exercise-medicine-as-an-analgesic?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-restack-comment&r=8j1xdq&triedRedirect=true