In this paper the accepted holistic approach to pain management in cancer care is scrutinized. A series of oppositions are considered to result from the essential indeterminate nature of pain, and that pain is fundamentally lived and experienced in the body. These oppositions are discussed in terms of mind‐body dualism and embodiment, and in particular the body as subject and object. The discussion is illustrated with examples from research examining individual expressions of pain. Patients’powerful attempts to manipulate subject‐object distinctions in recounting their experience of pain is offered as a means by which patients make sense of their pain, and connect it to their bodies and to their identity. The implications of acknowledging personal and cultural meanings attributed to pain are highlighted, with recommendations for future research and clinical practice initia
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