Regaining Mobility and Strength After Breast Cancer Surgery
If you have knee surgery, you and your orthopedic surgeon would expect you to go to physical therapy to re-gain your motion and strength and return to full function as soon as possible. Physical therapy is rarely routinely prescribed after breast surgery and/or reconstruction, although many women experience significant shoulder, armpit and chest wall pain following breast surgery and axillary node dissection. Many breast cancer survivors also experience range of motion limitation and weakness of the arm. These problems have been well documented in the medical literature. For example, 60-70% of women have painful axillary cording in the weeks and months after surgery (bands of tight, painful lymph ducts in your armpit). Even at 1 year post-op, 25% of women following mastectomy have a persistent limitation in range of motion.
Weakness of the shoulder is also a common problem after surgery, and studies have shown changes in the function of the muscles around the affected shoulder. Women often perceive this weakness as fatigue when holding their arms up for a period of time, such as when drying hair, folding laundry and driving.
Many women do not seek help for these issues because they assume that they will have to live with them, and don’t want to complain about such ‘small problems’ when the doctors are busy saving their life. The good news is that these conditions respond well to treatment, allowing women to transition quickly back to their usual activities and go from thriving to surviving!
So…let your doctor know if you have any of these symptoms—your surgeon or oncologist can refer you for specialized rehabilitation care.