Seroma

1. It can be. I've had a few of them post surgery in the breast itself. If you think of the site, scar tissue and movement  of the area, its not surprising its painful. Try an ant inflammatory like ibuprofen. The advice re massage and heat is good. It will become less sensitive the more you do. Good luck. D

Thank you for your reply. I did think things were going too well post surgery! Will persevere with heat and massage and see how it goes.

Oh than goodness I found this. I’m 8 days post op ( mastectomy with SNB and implant reconstruction) healing well no pain. Then yesterday afternoon really started to hurt when I leant forward and felt pressure on wound. Phone BCN who wasn’t available but secretary rang back having spoken to clinician and said they were not concerned, as no pain while lying down, no redness, no weeping no tightness or excess swelling no dressing movement etc.. but no explanation given. They will evaluate on Monday if still causing concern. After call I could feel small amount of fluid movement and had convinced myself my implant had burst! Having read this post ( and actually reading the post op leaflet I was given!) seroma makes sense and would explain everything. I now have hot water bottle tucked under arm and feel much better. Don’t know what I’d do without this site and you guys x

Thank you for your reply. Glad it helped you in some way. Mine still like a tennis ball in armpit and so swollen and painful. See the BCN tomorrow. Hopefully she will be able to help.

Hiya, I’m going through exactly the same atm I had my lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy two weeks ago - 6 days after Op I developed a small golf ball size lump and then after a couple days it was the size of a tennis ball. I had it drained last Thursday which felt amazing woke up Friday morning and it was the size of a golf ball again just very uncomfortable- I’m using a warm water bottle regularly - I’ve got another appt with my BC nurse Thursday to drain again - BC nurse advises they don’t like to keep draining due to infections etc but this is very common after the Operation -  and I will be starting radiotherapy so they need it clear asap.

i do know what your feeling right now ladies -  it’s not very nice  fingers crossed this swelling for us all will go very soon 

Hi 

I had this after surgery and then a couple of months later the area got so painful and hot and swollen that I couldn’t touch it ,  it was so painful . They ended up draining a load of pus ( sorry !) and I didn’t feel great at all , low grade fever but felt really agitated and out of sorts , I had cellulitis which took almost 8 weeks to clear . We are so susceptible to infection and I got mine from a paper cut ! 

Most of the time seromas clear up themselves with massage etc so  I’m not saying this to panic anyone only to say don’t put up with a lot of pain , if anything feels off get checked out asap 

huge hugs xx

Hi I'm 12 days post op. Lumpectony and full axillary lymph node removal. Also have seroma. My bcn said to leave it for now and hopefully it will get reabsorbed but like you can't put my arm straight against my body as it catches. Not sure whether to carry on doing the exercises I'm supposed to be or not as arm keeps catching on seroma! Hope you feel better soon. Its so sore isn't it?

Keep doing the exercises, just modify them to keep your arm away from your body. This will prevent a frozen shoulder and reduce the risk of lymphoedema. 2 things you really don't want! (Speaking as a patient and as a physio!)

Thankyou for the advice will carry on doing the exercises I am able to. 

Hi all, update to original post. Went to see BCN and it is a seroma. Tried to drain it but mine has solidified so nothing came out!!! Have to wait for body to reabsorb it itself, BCN said this can take weeks. In the meantime, paracetamol, heat for about 15 mins at a time with hot water bottle or similar and massage to try and deal with it and encourage drainage. BCN said to keep doing arm exercises as far as seroma allows to prevent shoulder stiffening and at points during the day to let arms rest, for example, on a pile of pillows to give the shoulder a reprieve. The arm should not go above shoulder height when doing this. She said I was carrying tension in my shoulder and posture was being affected as I was trying to protect my arm due to the pain and because of the position of the seroma, which is putting pressure on my scar site. BCN said to be aware of posture and to ensure shoulders are back when sitting and not hunched. Also to limit repetitive arm movements as much as possible, even such as arm swinging when walking, and I have been doing lots of walking. BCN said I've probably done too much too soon!! Hope this helps.