For many patients, pain or discomfort is controlled with a combination of ice and over the counter medication such as Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Your surgical team may use local anesthetics (pain blocking medication) at the surgery site. This will block discomfort for hours to days. Ibuprofen provides as much pain relief as the opioid oxycodone, so your doctor may prescribe no opioids or just enough for a few days if pain is severe. By day 4, most people report no severe pain after an operation (see Safe and Effective Pain Control After Surgery). Pain from the surgical incision is usually gone in 7 to 10 days.
You may have a pins and needles sensation or numbness at the breast or down the arms or axilla. This can be from nerve endings that were cut during the surgery on the chest wall. Persistent pain can be a common side effect after breast cancer treatment.37
In a nationwide study, 15 months after breast surgery and treatment, 32.7 percent of women had pain almost every day. Many of these women were of a younger age, had more involved surgery, and received hormone therapy.38
At 7 to 9 years after surgery, 20.4 percent continued to report persistent pain. Reach out to your surgeon if your pain is lasting more than several weeks. They will recommend a pain control plan and complementary therapies to manage your pain.
A combination of therapies and medications will be used together for better pain control after your surgery. The goal is to:
Below is a guide that can help you with pain control options after surgery.