Hey! I have hEDS and just dealt w/ surgery for a second primary. This might have something to do with the inflammatory response of the body to surgery. I think it's cytokines? prostaglandins? or something like that which is aggravating pre-existing tenderness.. Fibro, and hEDS, is notoriously sensitive to inflammation.

I also think a factor I've yet to see any researcher discuss is that removing breast tissue may lower the body's estrogen levels in and of itself, in addition to potentially triggering/hastening menopause. Simultaneously, women on HRT are going off of it at point of surgery. This is well before any estrogen blockers. Estrogen itself is tightly coupled w/ tendon/connective tissue health--which a few hundred studies have established through 2023. That's why aches & pains are worse in older women & HRT and sSRI's sometimes help w/ pain. So depending on where you are in that situation, hormones could play a factor.

In fact, after the mastectomy I had in Sept last year, I thought i was developing polyrheumatic athralgia on top of hEDS. It was like I was being randomly stabbed w/ a fork across multiple joints, but for no more than 10-20 secs at a time. It's actually settled down now, even after my tissue expander exchange 2 mos ago, which does make me wonder about whether it's the tissue removal that triggers the estrogen and name-of-inflammatory-circulating-thingie and not the cut into your skin per se.

Finally, very little research is boing done on the demonstrated role that surgery--and multiple surgeries--can play in promoting angiogenesis for wound healing, but thus creating a tumor microenvironment more favorable to recurrence and/or mets. This isn't a matter of a lumpectomy releasing tumor cells, or even sending the cells into the lymphatic system--which are documented risks too . . . But on a deeper level, circulating tumor cells, which are understood now to be common once you've had any invasive tumor, even 2 mm, find it easier to set up shop b/c your body is doing a bunch of stuff to heal that wound. I don't think plastic surgeons are even aware of this when they rush you through planning.

keep us posted! 🙂