Breast Cancer Pain
Breast Anatomy and Physiology
The breasts or mammary glands are sometimes considered a part of the reproduction system. Structurally, they are modified sweat glands. They are composed of mainly fat, breast tissue, nerves, veins, arteries, and connective tissues.
The breast is usually situated on top of the pectoral major muscles covering the second rib to the sixth or seventh rib and extends from the sternum to the mid-axillary line. Breast tissue has an axillary tail which extends into the armpit region. Most breast cancer originates here. The nipple is usually level with the fourth intercostal space in men and nulliparous women.
The connective tissues (suspensory or Cooper's ligaments) and fat help protect a network of milk producing glands and blood vessels. The Cooper's ligaments divide the breast into compartments of fat. They also help give the breasts their size and shape. The size of the breast changes depend on the hormone levels of a woman menstrual cycle. It is normal for the right and the left breast to be different sizes. However, the size of the breasts does not affect their functionality. The main function of the breast is to produce milk for nursing babies.
The arteries and veins allow circulation through breast tissue. The lateral thoracic, internal thoracic, intercostal, and thoracoacromial arteries and veins supply oxygen and nutrients to the breasts as well as removing waste from the sites.
The nerves that go through the breasts are cutaneous innervation, medial pectoral, lateral pectoral, and long thoracic nerves. These provide sensory input from the breasts to the brain. They also carry referred pain signals from the heart therefore are clinically important in a...
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...upuncture, massage, music therapy, hypnosis.
Works Cited
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A. Chronic pain signifies a developing public health issue of huge magnitudes, mainly in view of aging populations in developed countries (Russo).
Pulmonary arteries carry blood from the heart to the lungs where the blood picks up oxygen. The oxygen rich blood is then returned to the heart via the pulmonary veins. Systemic arteries deliver blood to the rest of the body. The aorta is the main systemic artery and the largest artery of the body. It originates from the heart and branches out into smaller arteries which supply blood to the head region brachiocephalic artery, the heart itself coronary arteries, and the lower regions of the body.
The most common and well described pain transmission is “gate control theory of pain”. This theory was first proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 whereby they used the analogy of gate to explain the inhibition of pain which exists within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. For instance, when tissue damage occurs, substances such as prostaglandin, serotonin, histamine and bradykinin are released from the injured cell. Individual usually consume or apply pain medications such as NSAIDs whereby these medications will cause electrical nerve impulse at the end of the sensory nerve fiber via nociceptor. Nociceptor is a pain receptor that is commonly found in the skin, cornea of eye and organ of motion such as muscles and ligaments. These nerve impulses
Have you ever wondered why when you stub your toe on the chair in the living room, it helps tremendously to yell out an expletive or two and vigorously rub the area? I may not be able to discuss the basis for such language in this paper, but we will explore the analgesic response to rubbing that toe, in addition to the mechanism of pain and alternative treatments such as acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.
The Structure and Functions of the Arteries Arteries are blood vessels that convey blood from the heart to the tissues of the body. The arteries expand and then constrict with each beat of the heart, a rhythmic movement that may be felt as the pulse. Arteries are usually named from the part of the body that they are found, for example; brachial artery found in the arms, metacarpal artery found in the wrist; or from the organ which they supply as the hepatic artery supplies the liver, pulmonary artery brings deoxygenated blood the lungs. The facial artery is the branch of the external carotid artery that passes up over the lower jaw and supplies the superficial portion of the face; the haemorrhoidal arteries are three vessels that supply the lower end of the rectum; the intercostal arteries are the arteries that supply the space between the ribs; the lingual artery is the branch of the external carotid artery that supplies the tongue. The structure of the artery enables it to perform its function more efficiently.
The breast is a muscle connected to the chest wall made up of fatty tissues containing milk-forming glands that drain into the breast ducts during breast-feeding, and then leave the ducts through the nipple (Newson et al). These glands can decrease or increase in number and size. Breast lumps or cysts can form in various tissues or components that make up the breast. The English diction cyst comes from the Ancient Greek word kystis, meaning “bladder” or “pouch”. A cyst is an organ or cavity containing a liquid, semisolid or gaseous secretion. Cysts appear within tissue and can affect any part of the human body. They range in size from minuscule to the mass of team-sport balls such as tennis or baseballs. Cysts are also referred to as any normal bag or sac in the body, such as the bladder.
Pain Management Nursing, 10(2), 76-84.
Institute of Medicine Report from the Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care and Education. (2011). Relieving Pain in America A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research. Retrieved from http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?records_13172
Over the past decade breast cancer has become one of the most predominant diseases in the United States. Breast cancer starts out as a malignant tumor in the tissues of the breast which is formed from the uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, but it can also appear in men. (Stephan, 2010)
...ure anesthesia, auricular needling is often used. By stimulating sensory receptors at auricular points, signals inputted into the body are transmitted through the trigeminal lemniscuses instead of the spinal cord. There were studies demonstrated anterior and posterior portions of the nucleus of spinal tract of trigeminal nerve had similar feedback effects to the gate system in the posterior horn of spinal cord, which could be used to modulate transmissions of pain impulses. This might be able to explain why auricular acupuncture has analgesia effects on surgical or painful irritation on the head and face. However, anesthesia effects of auricular acupuncture during thoracic and abdominal surgeries cannot be explained by any hypotheses about the gate control occurring at either posterior horns of the spinal cord or the nucleus of spinal tract of trigeminal nerve [27].
Mendelson G, Selwood TS, Kranz H, Loh TS, Kidson MA, Scott Ds. (1983). Acupuncture treatment of chronic back pain. A double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Medicine, 741), 49-55.
About 12% of women in the United States will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, more than any other type of cancer (www.breastcancer.org, 2015). Many people lack the knowledge of how breast cancer is developed. Some people think they will not get cancer because they do not smoke cigarettes, but this is not the only cause of cancer developing in the breast. Anyone can get cancer. Everyone is potentially at risk for developing some form of Cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015).
Of the few people that know what breast cancer is some of them just believe that it is a lump. They do not know that there is a process to breast cancer they do not know that the tumor comes from somewhere and does not magically appear. Breast cancer can happen a few different ways in the breast, but “the most common type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma” (cancer.gov). This type of breast cancer begins in the lining of the milk ducts. The ducts are the tubes that carry the milk from the lobules to the nipple. Think of them as little veins running from the nipple to a little pouch. Another place that the cancer could start is...
There are different types of pain which may be suffered by an individual with cancer, with some patients suffering only one type of pain, but others experiencing a range of all three types. Identifying the type of pain suffered is the first major step in ensuring effective treatment, as not all respond to different treatments in the same way (De Conno & Caraceni, 1996, p.9).
3) Prolactin (PRL) which is responsible for stimulating the mammary glands located in the breasts to produce milk.