Significant pain three months post -BMX

I had continued pain...as in a tightness...at the end of the day for several months.  It seems that the more I did (I'm a kindergarten teacher, and I went back to work 6 weeks after the BMX), the more I felt that tightness.

If it helps, I'm 10 months out now, and I don't notice it as much any more.

Hi,

I am also a slender person, but I didn't have the type of pain you're describing. However, I started PT, with myofascial release, two weeks after my BMX (in 2006) with a physical therapist who specializes in working with breast cancer patients, so perhaps that helped me avoid the type of tightness you're describing. But it sounds as if you've had lots of PT and it hasn't really helped. I hope you are seeing someone who works with lots of breast cancer patients.

The LE question is an interesting one. It's good you've explored that possibility. If you have any remaining doubts about whether you might have early-stage LE, the Lyphedema forum here has some real experts who could answer your questions about that. 

I hope your experience is like Bangotti's and that the pain eases up and eventually goes away. Tightness is a common early complaint, but usually it resolves fairly quickly. 

I described my pain to people as a bad sunburn that had been scrubbed with a wire brush and then taped/strapped down tightly.  Combine that with breath-stealing zings from nerves, and the almost never-ending axial LE tenderness - it all hurt pretty bad for the first year or so.  I'm more than two years out and it has tamed down a lot.  I still have some pain (and itching!)along the scars and axial area, which both BS and Onc say is normal(!).  LE flare-ups cause tenderness - like light sunburn/tightness now.  I wish that it was better, but it is livable without pain meds now.  It took almost seven years for tenderness from a broken wrist to totally disappear, so maybe I can outlive this pain, too!  Sometimes it's just a crapshoot.  I was told recently that new studies may show that those with fewer lymph nodes to begin with are more likely to develop LE.  If you had edema before surgery, you are more likely to get LE.  So something comparable could be true about pain, too.  If you've never been seriously injured or had cutting surgery, this may just be the first time your body has shown you how it deals with it - give it more time.

I have post mastectomy pain syndrome, now 15 months out but I am noticing it is getting less. I remember on another forum a fellow with lung cancer had his lung removed and said it took 2-3 years for the surgical pain to subside and reading about PMPS, the majority who suffer this WILL get better. I have also heard/read that DIEP flap reconstruction can aleviate the pain in the chest area...probably due to excessive scarring. I take a B-Vit supplement daily as that helps nerves. I've tried everything. Oddly, ativan worked the best but because of its high abuse profile, not a good solution. Antidepressants work. Nortrityline worked but I had one of the rarer side effects and now on citalopram (lowest dose)..if nothing else, it keeps the negative thinking in check. I use A535 before I go to bed; helps. Massaging helps...esp with aloe vera...cooling. Exercise works....babying it makes it worse. I bought a spray of sunburn med but haven't used it....Lanacain has a friction cream that is silcone based and that really helps with the "sunburn" pain and sleeves rubbing on it. Gosh....we were never told about this possibilty but suffering from it goes down significantly if you have an SNB and a BREAST surgeon rather than a general surgeon....that nerve that's responsible must be preverved as much as possible and breast surgeons have experience with it.

oh my gosh - that just sounds awful!  seems like loads of you are just suffering so.

i now feel very very lucky.

i have tightness, as if i am wearing a bra...

i have some touch tenderness under my snb armpit...

but my range of motion is good... and in general, i love being flat.

one thing to consider - maybe you are dealing with axillary web syndrome (AWS)?

i did get cording, but it's resolving and it didn't limit my range of motion much.

i fall into that category of relatively thin... and i'm super active.

i ended up in a clinical trial meant to study the prevalence of aws as well as how it progresses and resolves... the physical therapist in charge of it said that thinner women deal with aws more.  anyway, it feels like cords running from just below my armpit to about 1/3 along the underside of my arm - like guitar strings.  also, one of my tendons pops out and is kind of touch tender.  

i wish i had answers - seems like few have good answers... i do know that it seems to hurt more if i don't move and if i don't sleep well....

good luck....

lee

I have the rubberband tightness too and all I can really say is stretch. Wall walk, child's pose, do any sort of stretching that involves your upper body, arms and shoulders.

In the last three weeks I have been feeling much less restriction in my body and I wonder if it has to do with exercise. I started excercising at that time. 

I don't know about pain, my PT/OT counseled me against using pain killers and I pretty much stopped about two weeks after surgery. I sometimes wonder if I am feeling pain worthy of medicine.

My surgery was June 21, 2011. 

Wrongchick, I had tightness for a LONG time, much longer than I had expected and it made me cranky too. 

I am now 8 months past the BMX and I still feel tightness, but it is much less intense and not all the time.

Make sure you use some cream and generally massage the area a bit. I have also found that it really helps not to wear bras. I wear my foobs in a cami instead. 

I found foobs in a cami worked best for me...I wear a Still You cami and microfoam boobs, it is good "enough" for most pieces of clothing.

Everytime I wear a bra, I end up sore, and the fullness swollen feeling in my armpit, which turns out to be mild lymphedema. :-(

I am 8 months post also, and still have everything you described. Except now when I wear no bra, no breasts, I have almost no discomfort.

I have the same problems. Super tight, pain and sensitivity. I go to pt once or twice a week. She is wonderful, but progress is slow. I had surgery in November of last year and just had to have another drain put back in because of a seroma-again! Not happy! I can't wear a bra, I also wear a cami with micro bead forms. I am tired of the pain, well, more like an uncomfortable feeling. Nothing helps. Ibuprofen doesn't touch it, I haven't tried anything stronger. Surgeon doesn't see too concerned but it is wearing on me, as all of you understand I am sure. My range of motion is really bad, posture is bad. I exercise, stretch, and nothing really helps. Boo hoo! Sorry I am so whiny:) But I just want to feel normal again!

Wrongchick, glad you got the ok for pain meds. My nurse gave me such a bad time right after my bmx about how much I was taking, and I was just following what my doc told me to do, that I am afraid to ask for anything. Feels good to know we are not alone!

I don't think my pain was as severe as you all were describing, but I wanted to pass this on to you.  

I'll be 2 years out from surgery 7/1, and I found myself thinking this week that my pain has continued to improve even in the past 6 months.  I had phantom pain across my chest - sometimes my first thought when I woke up would be "Pain."  It's much better than it was a year ago.  I don't exactly know why, I assume something just kept healing.

I too bought silk cami's with no lace or trip, and that was the trick to "calm down" the pain sensation, but it took  about a year for that to happen. Although I still only wear breast forms maybe 2 times a week, more and I get sore again. but it is a different "pain" now. Before it was a sunburn, picking, burning, barbed wire feeling, now it is a soreness.