Ovarian Cancer Pain: 10 Ways to Manage It and Take Back Your Quality of Life

Ovarian cancer pain is one of the most common — and most undertreated — challenges patients face throughout their diagnosis, treatment, and beyond. 

It can show up as a dull ache deep in the pelvis, sharp pressure in the abdomen, burning in the hands and feet, or bone-deep soreness after chemotherapy. It shifts. It surprises you. And far too often, women put up with it in silence.

They shouldn’t have to.

Among patients with advanced gynecological malignancies, around 70% report experiencing varying degrees of cancer-related pain, according to research. And yet, barriers — fear of addiction, not wanting to “bother” the doctor, anxiety about what the pain means — prevent many women from getting the relief they deserve.

This article is here to change that. Below are 10 concrete, evidence-based ways to manage ovarian cancer pain: from medications and procedures to integrative therapies and emotional tools. Because pain management isn’t separate from your cancer care. It is your cancer care.

First: Understanding Where Ovarian Cancer Pain Comes From

Pain in ovarian cancer isn’t one thing. It has multiple sources, and knowing which kind you’re dealing with helps you and your doctor choose the right approach.

The main sources include:

• The tumor itself: As it grows, it can press on nearby organs, nerves, and tissue, causing constant or intermittent pain.
• Fluid buildup: Ascites, a buildup of fluid in the abdomen, can cause significant pressure, bloating, and discomfort
• Treatment side effects: Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer can trigger nerve damage, bone pain, mouth sores, and muscle aches; surgery brings post-operative soreness.
• Referred pain: Pain that originates in one area but is felt somewhere else, like shoulder discomfort caused by a tumor pressing on the diaphragm.
• Chronic pain: Pain that persists long after active treatment ends, often related to nerve damage or lasting physiological changes.

10 Ways to Manage Ovarian Cancer Pain

Research found that among patients with ovarian cancer, greater than 40% experienced pain that substantially interfered with function, affecting mood in 62% and overall enjoyment of life in 61% of cases. That’s a meaningful number. And it underscores why the strategies below matter.

1. Report Your Pain — Every Single Time

It sounds simple. But research consistently shows that pain in cancer patients is undertreated, in part because patients don’t speak up. Some are afraid the pain signals disease progression. Others don’t want to seem demanding, or they worry their doctor will think they’re exaggerating.

None of those reasons are good enough to stay silent.

Your care team cannot help manage pain they don’t know about. And describing your pain accurately — where it is, how intense it feels on a scale of 0 to 10, what makes it worse or better, whether it’s constant or comes and goes — gives your oncologist crucial information for adjusting your care.

Consider keeping a simple pain diary. Bring it to every appointment. If you feel dismissed, ask directly for a referral to a pain specialist or palliative care team.

2. Use Over-the-Counter Options for Mild Pain (With Guidance)

For mild to moderate ovarian cancer pain, non-prescription medications are often the starting point.

NSAIDs like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen reduce both pain and inflammation. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is another commonly recommended option for pain without significant inflammation.

One important caveat: if you’re actively receiving chemotherapy or participating in ovarian cancer clinical trials, NSAIDs may not be appropriate. They can affect platelet function and mask fevers, which matters when your immune system is already under stress. Always check with your team before taking anything, even OTC medicines.

3. Don’t Fear Prescription Pain Medications

When over-the-counter options aren’t enough, prescription medications become necessary. And that’s okay.

Opioids are among the most effective tools available for moderate to severe cancer pain. Morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl patches are all commonly used. Fear of addiction stops many patients from accepting them, but the risk of developing opioid use disorder when these medications are taken as prescribed for cancer pain is low. Tolerance — needing a higher dose over time to get the same relief — is not the same thing as addiction. Your care team will monitor dosing and adjust as needed.

Muscle relaxers can help when pain involves tightness or spasms, which sometimes develops after radiation causes scarring near the treatment site.

Steroids like dexamethasone address inflammation-related pain and are occasionally used short-term for more severe cases.

Side effects from opioids — constipation, drowsiness, nausea — are real but manageable. A preventive bowel regimen, dose adjustments, or switching to a different opioid can all help. The key is staying in close communication with your team rather than suffering through it or stopping medication on your own.

4. Ask Specifically About Neuropathic Pain Treatment

Ovarian cancer chemotherapy side effects include a condition called chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN): nerve damage that causes burning, tingling, numbness, or shooting pain, usually in the hands and feet. It’s one of the most common and frustrating pain experiences ovarian cancer patients deal with, and standard pain relievers often don’t touch it.

The good news: there are medications specifically designed for nerve pain.

• Duloxetine (Cymbalta) is one of the most studied options for CIPN and has solid evidence behind it
• Gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica) work on nerve signaling and can reduce burning and tingling
• Tricyclic antidepressants like nortriptyline are sometimes prescribed at low doses for nerve pain, particularly at night

MD Anderson has also been researching scrambler therapy: a non-invasive technique using electrodes to block pain signals and replace them with non-pain signals in areas affected by neuropathy. Some patients have been able to reduce or stop neuropathy medications after using it. It’s not available everywhere, but worth asking about.

While also not a universally available option, cryotherapy (the use of extreme cold to freeze and remove abnormal tissue) is worth discussing with your care team. Research found that cryotherapy was the most effective nonpharmacologic intervention for alleviating CIPN in breast cancer patients, outperforming exercise and self-acupressure. While the research was conducted in breast cancer patients specifically, the findings are promising and increasingly relevant to ovarian cancer patients dealing with neuropathy. 

Neuropathy can sometimes persist or be permanent after treatment ends. If you’re experiencing it, name it explicitly when talking to your doctor. It’s a specific diagnosis that benefits from a specific treatment plan.

5. Consider Interventional Procedures for Harder-to-Control Pain

When medications aren’t providing adequate relief, more targeted procedures may be the answer.

Nerve blocks involve injecting a numbing medication near specific nerves responsible for sending pain signals to the brain. For patients with significant abdominal or pelvic pain, a superior hypogastric plexus block can offer targeted, longer-lasting relief. The effects typically last two to three months, after which nerves may regenerate and the procedure can be repeated.

Intrathecal drug delivery (a pain pump) delivers opioids or other pain medications directly to the spinal fluid through an implanted device. It allows for effective pain control with much lower doses than oral medication, reducing systemic side effects. Patients typically undergo a trial period first — if pain is reduced by at least 50% over several days, the pump may be implanted permanently.

Spinal cord stimulation is another option for patients with extreme nerve pain that hasn’t responded to other treatments. It uses a small implanted device to deliver mild electrical signals that interrupt pain signals before they reach the brain.

These are advanced interventions, but they’re available — and can genuinely transform quality of life when standard approaches fall short.

6. Use Heat, Cold, and Simple Physical Measures at Home

Not every strategy requires a prescription. Simple physical tools can meaningfully reduce day-to-day pain and deserve a place in your routine.

• Heating pads and warm packs relax muscle tension, improve circulation, and ease aching. Use for 10–20 minute intervals. Avoid applying heat directly over active tumor sites or areas that received radiation.
• Cold packs wrapped in cloth reduce inflammation and numb nerve pain. You can do this also for 10 to 20 minutes at a time.
• Warm baths provide whole-body relief and a genuine reset.
• V-shaped pillows can reduce lower back and neck discomfort during rest.
• TENS machines (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) are available over the counter and work similarly to spinal cord stimulation but on a much smaller scale — some patients find them helpful for localized nerve and muscle pain.
• Compression stockings support circulation and can help with leg swelling and discomfort, especially if you’re experiencing pain in the lower extremities.

These are not replacements for medical care. But layered into a broader pain management plan, they can make a real difference.

7. Try Acupuncture

Acupuncture has real, growing evidence behind it for cancer-related pain. It involves the placement of fine needles at specific points on the body to stimulate the nervous system and interrupt pain signaling.

Studies have found it helpful for chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, general cancer pain, fatigue, and treatment-related nausea. Major cancer centers — including MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Dana-Farber — now offer acupuncture as part of integrated oncology programs.

If you want to explore it, ask your oncologist for a referral to an acupuncturist with oncology experience. It’s generally considered safe alongside standard treatment, but your team should know you’re pursuing it.

8. Embrace Mind-Body Therapies

Pain is physical, yes. But the brain processes, amplifies, and interprets it — which means mind-body interventions are a legitimate and effective part of pain management. This isn’t dismissing your pain. It’s expanding your toolkit.

Techniques worth exploring:

• Deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation calm the nervous system and can shift how pain is perceived
• Guided imagery and meditation redirect attention away from pain toward neutral or calming mental anchors
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) helps reframe how the brain responds to ongoing pain signals — especially effective for chronic pain
• Gentle yoga and movement reduce stiffness, support circulation, and improve mood when the body allows

If anxiety is amplifying your pain — and it often does — addressing it directly matters too. Managing scanxiety and emotional distress isn’t a luxury. It’s part of how you heal.

Read more: “A Guide to Ovarian Cancer Alternative Therapies and Complementary Treatments”

9. Get Palliative Care Involved — Sooner Than You Think

This one bears repeating: palliative care is not end-of-life care. It is specialized symptom-focused care that can be received alongside surgery, chemotherapy, or any other active treatment, at any stage.

Palliative care teams specialize in exactly this: finding the right medications, the right combinations, and the right non-drug approaches to manage complex, shifting pain. They have the time and expertise to dig into what’s not working and why.

Research shows that early integration of palliative care alongside cancer treatment improves quality of life, reduces symptom burden, and — in some studies — is associated with patients living longer. You don’t have to be in crisis to benefit from it. In fact, getting in early, before pain becomes severe, gives the team more options.

Ask your gynecologic oncologist about a referral. This is a normal, appropriate request.

10. Find Community and Emotional Support

Living with ongoing pain is exhausting in ways that are hard to describe to people who haven’t experienced it. The anxiety, the disrupted sleep, the uncertainty about what the pain means — all of it compounds and amplifies how pain actually feels.

Ovarian cancer support groups connect you with women who understand the specific terrain — not just cancer in general, but this cancer, these treatments, these side effects. They’re spaces where practical advice about managing pain, fatigue, or neuropathy flows freely between people who’ve actually lived it.

For patients with low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) or borderline ovarian tumors, finding communities that understand the unique nature of your diagnosis is especially valuable. Your experience isn’t identical to someone with high-grade disease; your treatment path, your side effect profile, and your pain patterns may all differ.

A Word on Ovarian Cancer Pain and Emotional Honesty

Pain that isn’t reported can’t be treated. And pain that isn’t treated doesn’t just affect how you feel today. It disrupts sleep, suppresses immune function, interferes with treatment compliance, and chips away at quality of life over time.

You are allowed to ask for help. You are allowed to advocate for more effective relief. You are allowed to bring a list to your appointment and say, “This isn’t working well enough.”

At Not These Ovaries, we fund research aimed at developing better treatments for ovarian cancer patients, especially those with rarer subtypes like LGSOC and borderline tumors, where options remain limited. Better science means better pain management, better survival, and better quality of life for every woman navigating this disease.