Pain management for your mom after a mastectomy depends on the cause of pain. Pain can be associated with muscle or other tissue soreness, nerve sensitivity, infection, etc. Has she been evaluated by her doctor? Your mom sounds very brave!
Pain management post-surgery
According to Komen.org: "Although pain may occur after lumpectomy (also called breast conserving surgery) or mastectomy, it tends to last longer after axillary lymph node dissection. Thirty to 70 percent of women have some degree of pain following axillary dissection [116]. Typically, the more lymph nodes removed, the greater the pain [116]. In rare cases when a mastectomy is performed, injury to the nerves in the surrounding tissues can occur, leading to persistent pain in the area. For those with constant pain, blocking the nerve with anesthetics or taking pain medication, such as gabapentin or pregabalin, for injured nerves is often effective. For most people, however, post-surgical pain is temporary. It is important to let your health care provider know if you have burning or stabbing pain or skin sensitivity that persists for more than a month after surgery." http://cms.komen.org/Komen/AboutBreastCancer/Treatment/PainManagementTre...
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Pain management for your mom after a mastectomy depends on the cause of pain. Pain can be associated with muscle or other tissue soreness, nerve sensitivity, infection, etc. Has she been evaluated by her doctor? Your mom sounds very brave!
Pain management post-surgery
According to Komen.org: "Although pain may occur after lumpectomy (also called breast conserving surgery) or mastectomy, it tends to last longer after axillary lymph node dissection. Thirty to 70 percent of women have some degree of pain following axillary dissection [116]. Typically, the more lymph nodes removed, the greater the pain [116]. In rare cases when a mastectomy is performed, injury to the nerves in the surrounding tissues can occur, leading to persistent pain in the area. For those with constant pain, blocking the nerve with anesthetics or taking pain medication, such as gabapentin or pregabalin, for injured nerves is often effective. For most people, however, post-surgical pain is temporary. It is important to let your health care provider know if you have burning or stabbing pain or skin sensitivity that persists for more than a month after surgery."
http://cms.komen.org/Komen/AboutBreastCancer/Treatment/PainManagementTre...
The Susan G. Komen Foundation has a list of complementary therapies for "after cancer care":
http://cms.komen.org/komen/AboutBreastCancer/ComplementaryTherapies/inde...
Does this information help?
August 17, 2008 - 1:25pmThis Comment
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