Prostate cancer

Good afternoon Maccamushy,

Thanks for getting in touch, and welcome to our online community.

My name’s Karla, I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

I appreciate your concern about the pain in your rectum and back. I’m not sure if your doctor explained what they thought was causing it or how to cope with it

As it’s very painful and keeping you awake at night, it’s important you’re assessed today. Without a physical assessment it’s impossible to be sure of the exact cause of your pain and this needs to be known before deciding on the best way to manage it.

I’m not sure where in your body your prostate cancer is affecting but sometimes it can spread to the bones. If it’s affecting the spinal cord, it can cause pressure that stops the nerves working normally. This is called a spinal cord compression and can cause these symptoms.

We would advise you to contact your GP, consultant or specialist nurse straight away. Don’t wait to see if it gets better. Explain what your symptoms are and tell them we’ve mentioned the possibility of a spinal cord compression. It may not be this, but it needs to be ruled out.

They will be able to assess you and recommend treatment to relieve the pain. And will importantly, be able to assess how effective it is.

If you struggle to get through to anyone as its after 5pm, we’d recommend contacting NHS 111 immediately.

Don’t hesitate to get back in touch if you need anything.

Best wishes, Karla

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist.

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.