I have pain with or without a bra or a sports bra. I can't even use the bras they gave me to wear at the hospital. My surgical scars are withing the nillpe area. And just lightly touching it even on accident makes me want to jump out of my skin. I am taking Tylenol and advice and the pain after 2 weeks is still there. Icing and heating does not help with the pain. So what I came up with that is making the pain more easy to live with, is I loosen the bra and put a microfiber cloth between my breast and my bra. I don't feel comfortable right now sleeping with the bra and the towel. But it is helping me with my sleep. Until I see the Dr next week this is all I can do.

When I had the mastectomy and seroma that needed to be manually drained every week for several weeks, I had to wear something with pretty tight compression. I don't know how that compares with lymphedema, but I think compression is inherently uncomfortable! For a while I wore a tight post-surgical bra. For a period of two weeks, I had an ace bandage wrapped tightly around my chest, with the end taped down. Wore it 24/7 except when showering. Ugh. I was compressed all right, but it wasn't fun as it felt a bit hard to breathe. I never found sports bras workable. Good luck. I don't know what to suggest beyond what you've already seen.

@A MyBCTeam Member
I received as part of a gift from a local BC site a little pad about 8 inches long that could slide over the seat belt, had velcro, and had some padding on it and soft flannel cloth.
This really protects the lumpectomy site while wearing a seat belt.
Perhaps if you know someone who sews, they can make you one.

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A MyBCTea...

Saw the lymphoedema specialist today and she said adding maxipads for compression under the bra when you are having trouble helps 🙄

Hi Sue,
The only way I can wear a bra is to get one much larger than the size I ‘should’ wear. Not a compression bra, but, to me they all compress your chest. I, too, am stunned that, they, whoever they are, think we should squeeze our sore bodies into these things!
So, anyway, my answer has been to wear a size XXL or XXXL, not the size M that I supposedly should wear. I’ve had very good luck finding sports bras that work at Marshals and TJ Maxx. There is also the benefit of removable pads, which work great if one breast is larger than the other. My once matching reconstructed breasts, no longer are the same size given the shrinking of the radiated breast that is still happening, so I wear a pad in the smaller breast and no pad in the other.

I hope you find something more comfortable that works.