How do people with mesothelioma take pain medications?
The easiest and commonest way to take pain medication is by mouth (orally), as a tablet or pill, or occasionally as a liquid. Oral medicines generally cost less than other kinds of medicine. If swallowing is difficult, or for some other reason you can't take pills or liquid medication, there are other ways to administer medications. The most frequently used alternatives are:
- Transdermal patches. The patch is loaded with medication, and looks like a large band aid. It is placed on the skin, and the medicine is absorbed through the skin.
- Suppositories. The medication is in a capsule that is placed in the rectum. As the capsule dissolves, the medicine is absorbed into the intestinal wall.
- Injections deliver pain medication directly into the body. An injection can provide faster response time, and it can also be a way to provide longer-lasting relief. There are several varieties of injections:
- Subcutaneous injections use a small needle and place medication just under the skin.
- Intramuscular injections place the medicine more deeply into the muscle. They tend to be more painful, and therefore are not used for long-term pain management.
- Intravenous injections deliver medication directly into a vein. The needle stays in the vein. This arrangement is used for patient-controlled analgesia, in which the patient regulates the amount of pain medicine in response to his/her level of pain.
- Epidural or intrathecal injections deliver medication directly into the spinal column, where they work by blocking the pain messages going to the brain. These procedures give some of the longest-lasting pain relief.
