Tenderness

Hi Debbie

Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to the online community

My name is Ursula and I’m one of the cancer information nurse specialists on the Macmillan support line.

I am sorry to read that you are still experiencing tenderness and a feeling of bruising, five years from having lumpectomy and full axillary lymph node clearance for breast cancer 5 years ago.

It is reassuring that your last mammogram in October was normal, however I can appreciate you are worried about your persistent symptoms. As we are independent of the NHS we do not have access to medical records and are therefore unable to offer personalised advice. However, with any new, worsening or persistent changes we would recommend speaking to your GP or specialist team about these.

Usually, pain and discomfort starts to improve after a few months, however for some people this may continue for years after treatment. There can be different reasons for this including scar tissue and nerve damage. Research also suggests ongoing pain is also more common in people that have had all their lymph nodes removed. You have not mentioned if you had radiotherapy as part of your treatment. Radiotherapy can also cause changes to the breast skin and tissue for years following treatment

Breast Cancer Now have more information on this as well as managing the pain and discomfort here, but we would again recommend speaking with your GP or breast care team so that an appropriate assessment may be carried out.

I hope this information is helpful, and please don’t hesitate to get back in touch if you require any further information or support.

Sending best wishes,

Ursula

You can speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. 

Ref: UH/JF