I have the same pain on my left side. My arm hurts all the time and my fingers go numb at one point I thought I was having a heart attack so I went to my dr. and he said its nerve pain due to the expanders and it will not go away until after reconstructive surgery. Some days it takes me to my knees! Hang in there they tell be it gets better.

Much love to all!

@A MyBCTeam Member expanders are the first stage of reconstruction for implants. They are like hard baggies that are filled with saline over time to stretch the muscles to make room for implants. After the muscles are stretched, expanders come out and implants go in.

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A MyBCTea...

My expanders were uncomfortable. The only time I had pain was after injections. The pain would usually last a couple of days and then it was just uncomfortable again. In the beginning I also had pain on the left side but was told it was just healing. That pain did get better with time.

I had my expanders put in last June and they are still in. I just finished radiation so probsbly need to wait 4-6 more months for the radiated skin to heal. I had terrible pain the first 4-5 months. In November I got a referral to see a Lymphedemia PT. My ONC thought I was developing Lymphedemia on the side of my breast.. She examined me and said the swelling was not Lympjedemia but excess skin from m BMX. She noticed how tight I was and I told her I was in a lot of pain. She did some massage and accupressure and it really helped. She also gave me several sheets of daily exercises to stretch my arms and chest. It really helped with the constant pain. Now the only time I have expander pain is when I lie on my side.

I had a decent amount of pain with each fill. It took a couple days to settle down each time. I’m now at about 2.5 months with them, my last fill was over a month ago and it’s still uncomfortable and my skin is quite tender on the side the expander is on. I can’t handle any pressure on it. There’s also a weird bumpy spot near the bottom. Really hoping it will all be better once I get the swap!