post-op pinching nerve pain behind the shoulder/armpit?

[Vestyn]

Hi all,

I'm 8 days post-operative and was wondering if anybody else experienced this weird pain, which doesn't seem to have a recognizable cause, unlike, say, the pinch when something pulls at the sutures or the dull ache from compressing swollen tissue.

This is like a hot, pinching nerve pain on my back in the armpit-area where there wasn't any surgical work. It's not constant - it usually fires up when I take off the support bandage, or the skin feels cold, sometimes when I stand up from lying down or when my chest *bounces* from getting jostled particularly heavily. Sometimes it's on one side, sometimes both. The pain is generally manageable with paracetamol and lying on my back, but of all the pains I've been experiencing this week, this one usually burns the brightest and has me the most concerned since I don't know where it comes from.

Any ideas? 

Thanks, guys.

[amd]

I didn't have any pain exactly like that. The closest I had is a kind of jabby pain in my nipples as they heal, which people have said is nerves reconnecting. The way you describe it, it does sound like a nerve that's reconnecting or healing. Or I wonder if it gets compressed/decompressed with certain movements? Did you mention it to your GP or ask your surgeon?

[anibioman]

I had a ton of pain in my right shoulder, trap, upper back. It was muscle spasms from holding my body in a weird position. Hunched over, to not pull my stitches.

[aleon515]

I had a ton of pain in my right shoulder, trap, upper back. It was muscle spasms from holding my body in a weird position. Hunched over, to not pull my stitches.

I know a lot of guys are hunched over after top surgery. I have no idea why as I didn't have this particular problem but it seems common. If you don't feel you have to, I don't think it's recommended by anybody. (But there may be another reason why guys do this.)

--Jay

[Alexthecat]

I don't think I hunched over any more than before surgery. After I healed I worked on straightening out and even went to the chiro to fix it.

[Kreuzfidel]

I'd just advise you to keep an eye on it and let your surgeon know or your GP.

I had a horrible time with  my left shoulder after I woke up.  I don't know if it's where they moved me on the hospital bed when I was under or what - but it went away a few weeks later.  Yours sounds like a nerve.

[Vestyn]

Hi all,

Thanks for your thoughts and advice. I'm 16 days post-op now and I just want to follow-up on this topic for future inquirers.

Though internal tugs and throbs remain, this shoulder pain has pretty much disappeared and in retrospect, I think it's because I was cramping the nerves and muscles in my back and shoulders in an attempt to immobilize my chest muscles and not strain the stitches. However, at my first follow-up appointment with my GP she told me to start doing "shoulder rolls" and other exercises to try to get better circulation at the incision sites because they weren't healing as quickly as they should be. I found some gentle post-mastectomy exercises for cancer patients online and started doing a full set once/day, which helped a lot of things: my confidence, first of all, that I wasn't going to ruin the surgeon's work by moving my arms; my range of movement so I could start reaching for things at shoulder- and then head-height and above; reduced inflammation of the underlying tissue; better healing at the incisions; and the disappearance of that awful burning nerve pain. I wish I had the money to get exercises tailor-made to my body from a real physical therapist; I think it'd be really helpful.

I read a lot of stuff online about healing from top surgery before I got it, but I don't remember anyone really mentioning anything about the importance of physical therapy-type exercises. For me it's made a huge difference, physically and psychologically, so I strongly recommend talking to your doctor(s) about it.