Bone pain: Can anyone explain what cancer in the bones feels like?

I have contacted my oncologist twice with hip pain and they refer me to PCP for x-ray. Forums tell me that x-rays are not sufficient but since arthritis showed up, I have not pursued. I am ten years out.

According to a book I was recently reading, there are two kinds: lesions on bones, and cancer in bones (I don't remember the technical terms).

I had a lesion on my thoracic spine from previously undetected prostate cancer. It was compressing my spinal cord and crushing the nerves. The pain was like a cramp or pinched nerve, sometimes radiating towards the shoulder, and I felt it mainly when I walked. Nothing showed up on x-rays. Eventually I had trouble balancing and my feet went numb. I was fully paraplegic by the time they operated to relieve the pressure a week later.

Cancer inside the bones would feel completely different, I'd think. Mine didn't hurt too much; it was the nerve damage that sent me to hospital.

It is concerning that so many say x-rays don't catch things.

I have cancer in the bones. For two months I thought I had a bad muscle pull in my leg. The pain was pretty bad, lost strength in my leg. I could walk but couldn't lift my leg very much. Finally went to a bone doctor, he took an x-ray and told me I had cancer. And my journey began. Best to all.

So sorry! I appreciate you sharing and best of luck to you! ❤️

From my own experience, an x-ray is *not* a reliable way to detect cancer in or around the bones. You need advanced imaging like a bone scan or PET. Mine was also visible via MRI and CT, since it was a growth in the spine.

What were your symptoms?

Hello @jgallagher04921. I have not had metastatic disease in bone yet, but my original cancer invading into the temporal bone of my skull was constantly severely painful. I was taking Tylenol and ibuprofen around the clock for weeks in addition to topical pain relievers. Now 12 years out and every new pain elicits worry about a new met. One of my surgeons said that cancer pain is relentless and doesn’t go away. I use that as a guideline for when to get something checked out. With a history of cancer, my Mayo doctors tend to go right to CT scans, not X-rays. Does your hip pain respond well to arthritis treatments?

My problem is that I cannot do any of the contrast dyes, and MRI threatens to increase my tinnitus. Have any of you been able to have mets to bone detected without dyes?

I am 10 years out and tend not to be a worrier. But the pain in my hip persists and x-ray only shows "mild degenerative changes." I also have a nodule in the area above where my left breast used to be that is probably a cyst.

I have only message oncology twice in the last 5 years about the hip, both times in the last year, and get referred to PCP for x-ray. I a strong self-advocate but the issue of dyes and kidneys is daunting and holding me back.

I have 7 spinal fractures, spinal cord damage in the neck, and trigeminal/occiptal neuralgia along with all the usual osteoarthritis. Also lupus joint pain and high antibodies for scleroderma with some skin thickening. I am also on bone meds that cause bone pain. How am I ever supposed to know when to push for getting checked?

I don't have answers for you, but I understand your fears. Because the prostate-cancer metastasis to my spine caused severe nerve damage, I have either limited sensation or semi-random phantom sensations in much of my body below the ribs.

I can walk again now and have enough sensation to get by, but when the doctors ask me if there's pain, I have to say "honestly, I have no idea." It's like trying to understand a call over a badly-broken telephone line.