Forum Discussion
It really hurts around the site of my drain tube scar?
Hi everyone,
I have pain that seems new (? Last fortnight or so) all round the area where my drain tube would have been, internally. If that makes sense. If you visualise the line the tube would have made from the skin entry point up inside the body about 10cm and into the side of my boob - it hurts.
It’s nearly 12 months since surgery. The drain scar tissue is lumpy but looks fine in its own special way. But if I press around the area even gently, I get quite sharp tender pain. The lumpectomy scar doesn’t even hurt this much! My beautiful breast care nurses tell me it’s normal to still have pain this long after surgery and it just takes Time (that most excellent healer).
So does anyone else have this kind of sharp tenderness around their drain site a year later? I know pain is kind of subjective, but yknow! I’m worried there’s something wrong or maybe the pain has ramped up as a side effect of Zoladex. Just seems too weird that it’s so tender still.
H x
I have pain that seems new (? Last fortnight or so) all round the area where my drain tube would have been, internally. If that makes sense. If you visualise the line the tube would have made from the skin entry point up inside the body about 10cm and into the side of my boob - it hurts.
It’s nearly 12 months since surgery. The drain scar tissue is lumpy but looks fine in its own special way. But if I press around the area even gently, I get quite sharp tender pain. The lumpectomy scar doesn’t even hurt this much! My beautiful breast care nurses tell me it’s normal to still have pain this long after surgery and it just takes Time (that most excellent healer).
So does anyone else have this kind of sharp tenderness around their drain site a year later? I know pain is kind of subjective, but yknow! I’m worried there’s something wrong or maybe the pain has ramped up as a side effect of Zoladex. Just seems too weird that it’s so tender still.
H x
28 Replies
- @Holly Prevails It's both and now I have broken sleep because I still roll onto my right side and the pain wakes me, I really hope my right leg settles down soon, a full night's sleep is starting to seem like a fond memory.
Is it from tenderness and pain that you can’t lie on your left side? Or is it just weird because it’s been numb? Or both! I can’t lie on my left side either. I actually can’t remember the last time I simply tried to lay down on my left. I have a phobia now!Kattykit said:My drain fell out and still 5 yrs later I can't lie on my left side and I am also numb under my left arm, which is making it really hard to sleep in any position but on my back as I still have pain from the nail inserted in my right leg for my bone Mets.- Isn't it a so and so! BC keeps giving; the hidden extras! I must have forgot to read the fine print.
Hope yours settles sooner rather than later
Wow 15 years :( I wonder if my pain is going to be a forever thing or what. I have the duct tape thing too! I have surely got irreversible nerve damage and have said goodbye to sensation in half my boob and armpit. Nerves can regrow and rewrite but they take a looooong time.TonyaM said:15 yrs later and I can still pinpoint where the drain was because it’s sore if I touch the spot.I think it’s nerve damage.I’m totally numb under the arm and have the sensation of duck tape across the mastectomy site.Things improve over time but we are never the same.- Thank you for the advice. I had cording the first time. I think I will have more physio just need to find the funds. The physio did do laser therapy and painful massage. I see an Endocrinologist for my thyroid a psychiatrist for depression/anxiety and a gastroenterologist for a benign tumour in my duodenum and previous precancerous bowel polyps it gets so expensive. Being a single mum and working on a low income it gets really hard. But somehow I will find a way. My sister in law has had a year of physio in both her breast as she had bilateral mastectomy she said it does help.
- You're right about the cost @chocolate70. A specialist physio is not cheap and not much is picked up by private health. As I understand it, the numbness may never really go if at all as it is due to a major nerve being damaged. However, the pain associated with cording and scar tightening can be worked on. I have done my exercises from the start but still developed problems. I have had 4 sessions on mine over a 5 week period, working with traditional (excruciatingly painful) massage, laser therapy and something called physio touch which is a suction cup pulling the skin away from the scar. Things aren't perfect but completely the other end of the spectrum from what they were. I've still got tenderness and a little tightness, and the cording hasn't disappeared but I feel my arm is usable now. The numbness of course is still there. I also massage - stretch the area under my arm every day using Bio Oil.
- Ladies it’s really a strange sensation the numbness and tightness and pain. It’s seems like it happens to most of us. I tried physio it was ridiculously expensive and after two visits I didn’t think it really did anything. The physio said it would take a year. I don’t have that kind of money and no ancillary cover. Even with a physio plan the out of pocket costs were really expensive. I’m just going to live with it and thank god I’m still here. Thinking of you all.
- My drain fell out and still 5 yrs later I can't lie on my left side and I am also numb under my left arm, which is making it really hard to sleep in any position but on my back as I still have pain from the nail inserted in my right leg for my bone Mets.
- So weird @TonyaM, I'm sorry to hear that.
I feel you @"Kiwi Angel". Glad that's over for sure. K xox - 15 yrs later and I can still pinpoint where the drain was because it’s sore if I touch the spot.I think it’s nerve damage.I’m totally numb under the arm and have the sensation of duck tape across the mastectomy site.Things improve over time but we are never the same.
