Pain after bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction when wearing sports bra

Blessedmomof3

Hi - I am new to this forum and had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction 4 weeks ago. My plastic surgeon told me two weeks ago that I could begin wearing soft sports bras but she also said many people just wear a camisole under shirts during reconstruction. I am self conscious about the irregular shape of my breasts at this point so I have been trying to wear very soft sports bras. I find that after I take them off and sometimes while I am wearing them I have horrible pain around where the band would be under my breasts. Actually sometimes I have pain in that location when I am just wearing a soft cami or tank under a shirt. Does this continue after permanent implants are in place?! Did most of you just wear undershirts or camis during reconstruction?? Thank you!! I am so glad I found this forum as I know I will have more questions as I go along!! - J

gshivers

I wear camis and

I wear camis and undershirts.

 

Lilly9

gshivers said:

I wear camis and

I wear camis and undershirts.

 

I had a lot of pain with the

I had a lot of pain with the sports bras.   I bought a bra thru my plastic surgeon's office - it's more of a tank bra - zips up the front and has adjustable straps.   I have since found them on Amazon   Comfortable and no pain.   I also wear a lot of cami's with no shelf bra -   I have had my permanent implants in for a while but I still don't like the feel of the sport bras.

Blessedmomof3

Thank you!

Thank you for the suggestions- my mom has one of the zip up bras from her lumpectomy that I think I will try beforw I order. Thanks again- glad it was not just me! - j

kln

Blessedmomof3 said:

Thank you!

Thank you for the suggestions- my mom has one of the zip up bras from her lumpectomy that I think I will try beforw I order. Thanks again- glad it was not just me! - j

Tank tops

I wear a tank top under my shirts. I have had the implants put in with lyposuctikn for filling. I still have to have another fill for the pockets that formed after theimplants settled. Still wearing tank tops underneath. Kelly

RozHopkins

I got the bras that you put

I got the bras that you put on over the head and stretch to your personal shape.  But just couldn't stand the feeling of them even 100% cotton. The sports bras were comfy but too thick and harness like feel.   All felt I was being strangled and made me very hot.  I simply can't stand them and haven't worn a bra for years.  Doesn't matter as they are pert permanently and much smaller than the real ones were.........  Plastic surgeon made a mistake balancing them up, VERY NOTICEABLE.  I just wore loose front tops, darker colors as the light ones show more contours.  Also a pattern helps people's eyes not be drawn to the chest.........  Soon you will be more 'level' and you should be much happier.  It doesn't help the fashion won't pass with these tight fitting styles, I like a little extra fabric.

 

i did have aching as I suppose internally I was healing.  But if you still have soreness way down the line I should make sure your team know about it now and then just in case.  But at the moment you are still fresh from surgery.  I must say I feel really comfy braless.  No one can tell.

Blessedmomof3

RozHopkins said:

I got the bras that you put

I got the bras that you put on over the head and stretch to your personal shape.  But just couldn't stand the feeling of them even 100% cotton. The sports bras were comfy but too thick and harness like feel.   All felt I was being strangled and made me very hot.  I simply can't stand them and haven't worn a bra for years.  Doesn't matter as they are pert permanently and much smaller than the real ones were.........  Plastic surgeon made a mistake balancing them up, VERY NOTICEABLE.  I just wore loose front tops, darker colors as the light ones show more contours.  Also a pattern helps people's eyes not be drawn to the chest.........  Soon you will be more 'level' and you should be much happier.  It doesn't help the fashion won't pass with these tight fitting styles, I like a little extra fabric.

 

i did have aching as I suppose internally I was healing.  But if you still have soreness way down the line I should make sure your team know about it now and then just in case.  But at the moment you are still fresh from surgery.  I must say I feel really comfy braless.  No one can tell.

Thank you!!

Thank you for sharing all of that!! I bought more tank tops over the weekend and I think that is the way I will go for now. I am also going to be smaller than I was which will help my back and like you said it is not really noticeable in looser shirts. Thank you again!! - J

ippy

Pain with wearing bra

 I had pain under my left breast( after bilateral mastectomy/TRAM reconstruction) and also in left armpit ((axillary node dissection). I had purchased so many bras and camisoles I have lost count! I thought  it was due to a little lymph edema so I was doing massage to try to alleviate the edema and pain. I went for a year with pain that would become more and more intense as the day would progress.At an appt with my plastic surgeon, he determined that I had a neuroma and I was experiencing nerve pain. He injected the neuroma with lidocaine which provided great relief! But it wore off after about 2-3 months. I had it injected 2 more times. Then, my oncologist suggested I try Neurontin which is an oral medication used to treat epilepsy and a number of other conditions including nerve pain. This has offered the best relief for that pain! I am taking 100 mg in am and at bedtime. It has been a lifesaver for me. I have a friend who has neuropathy, a side effect from her chemotherapy. She takes 1200mg two times per day. Every individual is different as far as their particular dose requirement. I am so thankful that I finally got that pain under control and found out what was causing it!

i realize that you are pretty new post op so maybe you are having post op pain. 

Good luck to you as you continue on with completing your  reconstruction and treatment.Let me know how you are  doing every once in a while. I'll be thinking about you.