Suggestions for Chest Tightness?

sarabhealed, the skin over your mast site(s) should be able to slide and move freely over your ribs.  If it feels like it's "frozen" tightly to your chest, then you probably have adhesions--scar tissue--holding the skin to the underlying connective tissue.  Your scar needs to be "mobile" (moveable).

The best way to deal with this is to get a referral to a PT/LE therapist.  A good therapist will give you exercises and show you how to gradually release the adhesions under that skin.  It's long enough now since your surgery that the process might take awhile.

I think all of us who've had mastectomies without recon went through a period when the skin seemed glued to our ribs and it felt like there was a tight band around our chests.  It does get better, but if you don't catch it early enough, it's a tough job to correct on your own.

Hugs (gentle ones)...

otter 

I agree with Otter -- physical therapy is the easiest way to deal with this, and sooner makes it easier. But my PT says she' worked with women 3 yrs out, and it still works, only slower.

Flap recon should also do the job -- it will move the old skin off the chest muscles, after all -- but that's a lot of surgery unless you want to go that route anyway.

I've never heard of this.  I had a unilateral 19 years ago and was never told this tightness was a possiblility.  Does this only happen with a bilateral?

~elaine~ 

Nagem,

Excellent suggestion.  That is one of the things my PT had me do after my bilat.  I would also note that my chest still (almost 3 years later) feels like there is a band across it, but I think that is just due to the numbness.  The deep breaths helped a great deal with the tightness.  I was amazed at how much I could expand my chest, and I still do it when I think to!

Dawn 

Nagem's suggestion is an excellent one.  I was doing the regular stretching exercises after my mast/SNB, but couldn't relieve the sense of tightness across my chest wall.  My arm was fine--it was my chest that was bothering me.

Then I watched myself in a mirror while I did some arm stretches.  Turns out, I wasn't expanding my chest (my ribcage) as I stretched.  So, that scar tissue under the skin on my chest wall wasn't being moved around at all.  I started doing what Nagem has suggested:  I stretched my arm way up high, or out sideways, and then took a really slow, deep breath to make my ribcage expand.  It was obvious that I'd found the problem.  After that, I used a combination of deep breaths and complete exhalations where I even tucked/scrunched my ribs in, to move things around.

After awhile, I could breathe deeply with my arm stretched up or out, and not feel any tightness at all.  Then I realized I could put my hand over my mast scar and move the skin/scar around, just like I could on the "normal" side.

I had an LE/PT assessment a few weeks after that, and the therapist commented on how mobile my scar was.  (That was a good thing.)

otter 

I had a right-side mast in May 2008. My chemo treatments ended 11/20/08, and finished my rads on 2/13/09.  About 6-8 weeks after rads, I began to feel tightness across the affected side of the chest with some burning along the right side of the upper sternum.  I have Stage I lymphedema, so when it felt like my underarm was a little swollen I went to my onc and my lymphedema therapist.  I have been going to PT for two weeks now.  The Lymphedema Therapist said exactly what has been said above--Otter's 3/31 post and Erica's.  She also has given me several stretch exercises, such as where you just let your tummy hang out and take deep breaths where your tummy fills with air and the chest expands (like nagem's suggestion).  She also suggested rolling the towel, like moogie suggested above, and rest with it in place for about 5 minutes. She also said to continue doing the corner stretch (push-ups in the corner walls). Count to twenty out loud so that you make sure you are breathing as your are stretching.  One thing she did stress...when doing stretches don't go for pain.  As soon as you feel pain, let up.  When you feel that has gotten "comfortable", then try stretching a little further.  She has taught me some self-massage techniques to do at home.  However, she is having a little more resistance in the skin loosening near the sternum, but that's because the ribs and tissue there are inflamed due to irritation caused by my severe allergy cough.