Dr. Sumeet my pain on the upper arm so... - Breast Cancer India
Dr. Sumeet my pain on the upper arm sometimes becomes really unbearable. I exercise h 6/7 times a day. I take a Sumo then at night. Okay?
Dear rgci13, is the pain in the arm or is it in the shoulder joint and you find movement difficult at times of pain. Some women also have contracture of a muscle tendon, which gets stretched when they move the arm, and that causes pain. Is it something like that? Is there any swelling as well? Sumo at night is fine, but it would be better to reduce intake of these pain killers.
No there is no swelling and it is mainly on the inner side of the upper arm but no problem in joint movement. Is Crocin a better option than Sumo. I do not take it everyday and I do yoga thrice a week too. Have noticed just a little massage with downwards movement makes it better. Thanx for your enquiry and advise of avoiding the pain killers. My surgeon told me that the pain or the irritating feeling lasts a long time too.
rgci13, the pain you are facing is a very common problem faced by many women who undergo surgery for breast cancer. In fact, in my consent form and my breast cancer consent powerpoint presentation (which I show to patients before surgery), I explain that 80% of those undergoing surgery are likely to experience this pain for some time.
I will try to clarify what's wrong. You see, there is a nerve (the intercostobrachial nerve) which carries sensation from inner side of the arm and outer part of the chest, and conveys touch and other sensations to brain. This nerve runs through the armpit, and during surgery, this nerve is cut off (cancer can grow along nerves, so we need to cut it, so as to remove the nodes in the arm pit). When a nerve is cut, the nerve fibres tend to regrow a bit haphazardly, and are sensitive. This is what causes the typical pain on the inner half of the arm. Almost all patients will have it. Some will have it more, some will have it less. Over a period of time, it definitely goes down, say around 3 to 6 months from the date of surgery. There is absolutely no harm in taking pain killers during times of severe pain. They do help to make you comfortable.
rgci13, I can assure you, this pain will definitely go down, it's just a matter of several days or maybe a couple of weeks. There may be ups and downs as well. There will be times when you are completely free of pain. And suddenly one fine day, it might pain for some time, and will stop again. It must be distracting you from daily activities, I understand, but I tell you, 'TIME' is your treatment. Please do not worry, you will soon be all fine, just a matter of time.
Crocin (Paracetamol) in strength of 650 MG is a better option than Sumo, for sure. Crocin is less harmful to the body than Sumo. Continue the massage. You will learn for yourself what helps you and what doesn't.
Also, the following is a good article. Though it's more of medical terminology, you will definitely understand it and find it useful:
Doc your explicit explanation was very helpful and encouraging. It is true that there are days ( not very many) when the pain is almost nil and sometimes very irritating.anyway I will follow your advice that TIME is the best healer and the pain will subside with it. I read the article you referred to and it was very interesting though there are a lot of medical terms which naturally I did not understand . Anyway thank you once again for your prompt help and reply always.All the best to BCI team.
Doc the explanation has really put aside our concern for a lot of pain my wife is having in the underarm/upper arm area and shoulder area. We thought it was only her that was having the pain but now we realise its an effect of the surgery procedure.
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