Chest wall pain

01sadie

• I am new to this site and hopefully doing this right. I was diagnosed with DCIS in June. Had a mastectomy and lymph node dissection in August. No reconstruction. I have just started having pain in the chest wall. Very uncomfortable. Is this normal?

sm627

Hi Sadie,

Yes, it is normal I had my mastectomy back in June without reconstruction too. I have been having chest pain/tightness for the past few months. I talked to my Breast Surgeon and she said that it is normal. She told me that the tissue sticks together for the first few months and that has the months go by the inflammation will lessen, and the chest pain/tightness will go away. My PT told me to help reduce the pain in the chest wall is to massage it or put a warm compress to help loosen everything up. I also found that taking warm showers really helps make the pain go away for a while.

Wishing you all the best I know we are on a long journey to fully recover!

Hugs,

Sara

ravzari

As sm627 said, it can be pretty normal.

Massaging the areas 1-2 times daily can help loosen things up, especially if you can do (or can go to someone who can do) myofascial release massage.

chronicpain

If you had no pain in the chest wall for two months, it started now, and is persistent, I would check with your doc, who knows details about your entire medical history. I would not assume that pain onset two months after the surgery is just post-surgical tightness, though possible

BPgas

I had a BX June 2015, and recently developed chest pain for the first time. I rub my chest to avoid adhesions. I use a circular motion in both small and large circles. Sometimes the pain is where muscles/tendons etc are attached and I think well I've used those muscles more than usual. I'm not sure that's true but preventing adhesions is important.

Sometimes my chest aches really bad in a totally unrelated way. It feels deeper and massage doesn't really relieve the pain. I'll try a warm compress and see if that helps next time.

Without my large breasts my chest can get really cold. That is a different pain altogether. Some I wrap a winter scarf around my chest.

Best of luck to all,

Barbie