Posted May 25, 2010 By debbiec
Hello !! I had a bilateral mastectomy April 19 and my incision area, which goes armpit to armpit is still very tight. Not really sore, but quite uncomfortable. I am wondering if anyone can tell me if this is normal, and how long it might take for the incision to "loosen up" a bit. Or does it stay like this ???
Any comment appreciated.
Debbie 10/05/24
Posted May 27, 2010 By Alice
Hi Debbie:
My incisions were really tight and my muscles really sore. It will get better. I had my bi-lateral mastectomy back on March 26 then they had to go in again for a complete axillary node dissection on April 21st... It took some time, but I realized one day about two weeks ago (first week of May or so) that I could raise my arms above my head and around without pain or discomfort. I can't stress how important the exercises are and how helpful they are. it just takes time to work through the discomfort.
Alice
Posted May 29, 2010 By Carolyn
I remember how I felt 11/2 years ago, after my double mastectomy. I was very tight and had always been used to full range of motion. I did my exercises diligently and it seemed to take forever. I remember thinking I will never be able to touch the floor behind my head with this staff in my exercises. I kept at the exercises and suddenly one day the staff I was using to exercise plunked on the floor. I was thrilled. The affected side is tighter than the unaffected side still but is now at about 95% of the range of motion I once had. Radiation did not help the tightness so if you are not doing radiation you will improve even more quickly. Keep the faith. Carolyn
Posted May 30, 2010 By Michelle
Hi Debbie,
I had a bilateral mastectomy in mid-Feb and found the first 6 weeks the hardest and then it gradually got a whole lot better. I did the exercices as often as I could. I now have complete movement in both shoulders and arms and no tightness. I also finished 5 weeks of radiation since then and found that it was very tolerable. Good luck and keep doing the exercices.
