Tightness and swelling under arm after double mastectomy

Hello. I had a left mastectomy 6 mos ago. Still have lots of scar tissue and tightness under the arm. I do stretching exercises every day and have decided this may be the situation for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for sharing. I am planning to see an occupational / physical therapist. Have you worked with a therapist or just done exercises on your own?

Best,
Jane

I had tightness and some cording after my DMX. I had my breast cancer surgeon write me a referral to see an OT who specialized in treating BC patients. She was also lymphedema certified. The OT was wonderful. She got the scar tissue broken up and full range of motion back for me. I saw her for about 3 months, once every week it two. I still do my arm stretches every day. My surgery was in January 2023.

Thanks ver much. I plan to see an occupational therapist soon. Glad to hear that it helps.

I saw a certified lymphedema specialist who used both ultrasound and laser therapy and greatly improved under arm swelling with breast lymphedema after lumpectomy.

Thanks a lot for sharing. My doctor referred me to occupational therapy at this time. I will see if it helps.

I also had a double mastectomy with no reconstruction. I was given a whole set of exercises to do post surgery, but did develop lymphedema on the left side where most extensive surgery was done. I only had three nodes removed. The more you have removed, the stronger chance of developing lymphedema. I had a trained massage therapist work on it and it went away about 90%.
I also have a sore bump under that same arm, which my oncologist says is where they tie off vessels. The soreness comes and goes. I also had a seroma, which was painful fluid in the arm pit that had to be surgically drained. If you have lymphedema, best to get treatment right away.

Hi, I am also experienced breast surgery and experience similar scar tissue and tightness under the arm. Most advantageous to see been treated by an occupational/physical therapist who will teach you the many excercise which will help.
DEfiniately massage is a must. IT stimulates the whole area. I actually felt tingling after massage which was a good thing. I used castor oil and after therapist worked on me she would place a warn wool pad which had been soaked in Castor oil. Read up on Castor oil and uses. There are many benefits. Lastly the best reccomendation and postion I was taught to do was to sleep in a recliner tilted back/ I was instructed to purchase two stainless steel poles on each side of my recliner .( they are used to give patient IV DRIP medication or Blood). THey must be very secure to the floor so they do not tilt over. Therapist had me straighten my arm and postion them straight up toward the left and right side of my head. Both arms were secure to look this this.
| | with my head between, totally straight up. According to therapist. THis procedure helps to drain fluid that often builds up after a masectomy or lymph node removal. I questioned this procedure as I had never hear of such practice used by anyone before.
You have to know your body and how much it can tolerate. I build up the time from 30 minutes up to a couple of hours. I would take a rest and if the swelling had gone down even just a bit it helped a great deal. Over several weeks. the swelling went down. There is no formula set in stone on how long you should have hour arms in the upright position. IT was up to me ,, At one point I even slept over night and only speaking for myself. I was okay. Nothing happened beside the swelling or water puffiness decreased. This is just a suggestion.... ask you doctor if they would approve before you do such a procedure. My doctors said it was okay and non invasive. Every patient is different so this is why it's important to ask. your doctor first. For myself it made the world of difference as I also had 9 positive lymph nodes removed. Best of luck

Thanks very much. I noticed that a seroma is developing on the left above the incision. I only had the drain taken out this Monday, 4 weeks after the surgery. The drain on the right side was taken out earlier and there seems to be no issues. The fluid buildup does not seem a lot but it concerns me. Not sure what to do over the weekend. I will check with the doctor’s office on Monday. This is a never ending battle.

Thanks for the detailed response. I will start seeing an occupational therapist next week. I had two lump nodes on each side removed for lymph node biopsy. Will see how it works and share my results later.