Shoulder pain after unilateral mastectomy

justbeatgeno

Have any unilateral mastectomy ladies (without reconstruction) had trouble with shoulder pain? The shoulder on the side with remaining DD breast keeps having on/off pain. Some days it's not bad. But other days it's hurts and radiates down my arm. Trying hard to not worry that it's something worse than it really is.

Icantri

Hi justbeatgo. I had unilateral mastectomy with no reconstruction but my remaining breast is small. During occupational therapy after my surgery I was told that there can be issues related to the chest being “off-balance” now and I would think the likelihood of that would be greater for you with a larger breast. Maybe try to see a physical therapist for an opinion. Might just be a postural strain thing that could be helped with some stretching or strengthening. Just a thought. Best wishes to you

Momine

Justbeat, it is called frozen shoulder, and it is not uncommon after an MX. I don't know why exactly it happens, but my PT told me that it is a common after effect.

You can fix this and it is not permanent. When it happened to me, I just kept lifting weights and stretching through the pain, and eventually it went away. This may not be the best approach or possible for all. You need a PT who specializes in breast cancer patients. The PT will know what to do and will probably also give yo some specific stretches to do. Do them!

Jennie93

After I had been on tamoxifen about six months, the joint pain started. Oddly enough the first place I noticed it was the opposite shoulder from the MX side. At first thought it was overuse, compensating for the now-useless left arm. But over time the pain was in every joint and the light bulb came on!

I happened to be going to PT at the time anyway, to try and get back function on the MX side (it had frozen up bad after rads) and they were very helpful as far as exercises, special tape to support it, etc. but the only cure was stopping tamoxifen.

justbeatgeno

Thank you all for the replies. I went to see MO yesterday. Of course, they blame stress and say I need counseling (I'm tired of hearing that). But, they are doing an MRI just to take a look. Hopefully they'll recommend physical therapy after.

Momine

Justbeat, grrrrr! No, it is not in your freakin' head. It is in your shoulder. This is a very common side effect after a mastectomy. Bleepin' breast cancer doctors should know this. Specifically it is inflammation of the capsule that surrounds the shoulder joint. Having had the ongoing services of a wonderful PT after my own surgery, I have come to believe that all women going through a mastectomy should be offered PT as a matter of course. It can greatly ease recovery and it can head off ongoing problems.

Sorry for the grumbling, but I am utterly sick and tired of women being told their physical complaints are "stress," "nerves" etc.

justbeatgeno

Thanks for being angry with me, Momine. I totally get the value of counseling, but it's a line I've heard all my life, and it's exhausting. When I was pregnant, not knowing I was pregnant, I went to the dr for nausea. It was a new dr. for me. She took one look at my chart and said, "oh, your mom died of cancer when you were young, so sad" and then said my nausea was from depression and I needed counseling. Two days later I took a pregnancy test and realized I was pregnant! Two months ago, I has having heart racing (I'm on zoladex to put me in menopause). Several dr's said it was anxiety and that I needed medication and counseling. Took the meds, went to counseling, but also saw a cardiologist. Cardiologist says, "meds aren't working are they? Cause you're not anxious, you have SVT (racing heart)." Now I have shoulder pain, and the nurse said, "you're carrying around so much anxiety from cancer, you're just tense and probably need counseling, yoga, etc). *sigh* I know they mean well, but it's exhausting.

No one discussed PT with me at all. I'm looking forward to getting the MRI over with, having the reassurance that there's inflammation issues, and moving on to PT.

Momine

Justbeat, it is one of my major pet peeves. Women constantly get dismissed by doctors this way, and it pisses me off no end. As you say, counseling can be great, and for sure there is stress and anxiety involved in dealing with cancer. But we are also actually dealing with CANCER, and all the side effects and other simply physical crap that goes with it. Not sure why so many docs are stingy with the PT. I am forever grateful to mine, because she knew exactly what was going on, had ways to make it easier and took it seriously. It helped physically, but it also helped psychologically to have this person who did not dismiss it, did not tell me I was mental and sincerely tried to help.