Objective To understand the real experience of self-management among patients with cancer pain, and to provide refe-rence for alleviation and standardized management of cancer pain. Methods Semi-structured depth interviews were conducted in 23 patients with cancer pain.Nvivo11.0 software and Colaizzi′s seven-step analytical method were used to encode, analyze and summarize the themes of the interview data. Results The self-management experience of cancer pain patients crystalized into five themes:medication management, knowledge and coping of cancer pain, psychological management, daily life management, and interpersonal communication. Conclusion Cancer pain patients have complex experience of self-management.Medical staff should provided targeted intervention tailored to patients′ conditions,severity of cancer pain, and individual differences, in an effort to improve self-management ability of patients, and alleviate physical and mental suffering.