Can Fills Cause Shoulder to Feel Tight

ThinkingPositive

Had a left breast mastectomy back in October with tissue expander placement. This last fill seemed to make my shoulder feel tighter, and my inner upper arm feels sensitive. I have some swelling or alot of excess tissue in the underarm area which feels like its always swollen when I have my arm down, causes the inside of the upper arm to hurt since its always rubbing on it. I also have cording due to alnd (17 nodes removed) which seemed to have gotten a little worse right after this fill. I have one more fill to go and feel like it will be almost impossible to deal with. My upper back also hurts and thought it might be due to the tissue expander and the way I am holding myself.

Can fills cause these kind of problems? I am going for Physical Therapy as I was worried about lymphedema, but it does not appear to be doing anything since after each fill, it feels like that area gets tighter.

Any one experience any similar problems.

Amandad29

I'm going through the same thing- had te's placed 02/04/15 and struggle with a lot of tightness and pain after each fill- primarily on one side (the side that I lost nodes. I have had two fills so far and not sure if I can take more

Amandad29

I too have pain in my back, shoulder and underarm area after fills. So far the first full was 100 cc and the second was 75 cc- both very painful for me

Gatorgrl

I had this problem throughout my TE process. Also numbness down one arm. PT and muscle relaxers helped quite a bit. I am happy to report it was gone immediately after my exchange.

scvmom65

It did for me. In my shoulder but mostly behind my shoulder blade on the left side. It was actually worse pain than in the chest area. Taking a muscle relaxer right before I got the fill helped. The good news is, after my exchange I was pain free! I woke up in relief! Best of luck to you!

trailrose

Yes, I tend to feel pain on my shoulder blades/upper back region. It really helps to take a muscle relaxer prior to the fill. Also, when my husband massages those areas it helps tremendously! He will use the protec foam roller. I'm happy to hear that the exchange surgery helps! My PS told me I am now one to two fills away from being able to schedule my surgery!

farmerlucy

I had terrible pain in the back of my neck whenever I did anything w my pecs. My PS said it couldn't happen but it did. It improved over time but if took many months. I also had pain and numbness in my arms. PT helped. I had the exchange 5 mo post Mx and it was a lot better after that/by then. Reconstruction was really tough for me. I thought it might be because I do a lot of physical labor and my pecs were pretty strong.

butterflybailey

I too have had pain in my back, shoulders, and underarm swelling. Thank you scvmom65 for posting this. I needed to hear that you felt better after the exchange. I have my exchange surgery on March 20th. I feel like it can't come soon enough with the way this TE's feel.

ThinkingPositive

Have any of you experienced the feeling at times that the breast felt like it was swelling or that it was filled to much..?? Trying to figure out if it could be caused by chest lymphedema or just the way the tissue expanders feel. The sensation that it swells a little comes and goes. I go for physical therapy but there is no way to tell if its swelling due to lymphedema.