Arm Pain Strangeness

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phoenix9873
phoenix9873 Member Posts: 35
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer
Arm Pain Strangeness
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  • phoenix9873
    phoenix9873 Member Posts: 35
    edited October 2007

    Has anyone here ever experienced pain in their arm from the veins. This is the side where I had my nodes removed. I ask my surgeon about it the other day and he said that we have 2 major veins in our arms one on top of the arm and one on the underside of the arm. My pain is from the vein on the underside of the arm. He didn't seems too worried about it and told me to take some baby aspirin, why I need the aspirin, he didn't say. This pain is really weird, my arm hurts all along this vein from wrist to shoulder, to touch it feels like a bruise and I can't straighten my elbow without it feeling like a rubber band that is pulling too tight. When I try to straighten my elbow the pain is like a burn that follows along the vein and it actually feels like I could look down and see my skin puckering from the pull. Has anyone else heard of something like this or even where I could begin to look for a reason behind this weird occurrence? Thanks

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  • caaclark
    caaclark Member Posts: 936
    edited October 2007

    I experienced the same thing.  I actually worried that it was the start of LE but it ended up going away on its own.  It sounds like you don't have swelling, right?   It felt the same to me-like something was pulling on the vein.  It eventually went away but not until several weeks went by.  I think it may have had something to do with my mast.  I think it acted up several months post mastectomy.  Of course, check back with your doc if it continues.  No reason to be uncomfortable if something can be done.  I say that as a person who did not contact their doctor about it. :)

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  • Isabella4
    Isabella4 Member Posts: 2,166
    edited October 2007

    Could this be 'cording'?  Not that I know anything about it !!!!....but....I have read about it, on this site. As far as I can remember it can also occur down the front of the body, but it was certainly mentioned as happening down arms, after surgery.

    Might be worth a Google on this one? Surely your surgeon should have heard about this. Good Luck.Keep us posted.

    Isabella.

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  • Binney4
    Binney4 Member Posts: 8,609
    edited October 2007

    Hi, Phoenix,

    I agree with Isabella that it might be "cording", which is actually called "axillary web syndrome" if you want to research it. It's fairly common after our surgeries, will eventually resolve on its own but can be helped along by knowledgeable PT. (There are two schools of thought among PTs on this. One does gentle stretching exercises to relieve it and the other "snaps" the cord with one firm move. Either way, it gets resolved.) It is a hard "cord" that can run from the base of the thumb to the axilla, and/or from the axilla to the waist on your body. Once it resolves it can return, but again it will resolve itself.

    As  caaclark suggests, it's related to lymphedema (some of the tissue in the "cord" is lymph vessels), and the current wisdom says that if you have cording but no lymphedema yet, you should be very careful to follow lymphedema risk reduction practices. You can find these in the National Lymphedema Network's Position Paper on Risk Reduction, which is here:

    www.lymphnet.org

    I hope you get definitive answers soon and that it resolves quickly -- I'm sure sorry for your pain and frustration!

    Be well!

    Binney 

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