Pain after breast cancer treatment
Pain and changes in sensation can be a late effect of surgery or radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer.
Pain and changes in sensation
Breast cancer treatment can cause pain or changes in sensation. If you notice any changes, tell your cancer doctor or specialist nurse. They can give you advice on how to help manage this.
If these problems continue or develop after treatment finishes, they are called late effects.
Changes caused by surgery
Surgery can cause changes in sensation in the chest area and in the armpit, shoulder and arm on the treated side.
Symptoms can include:
- sharp, shooting or burning pain
- aching pain
- sensitivity to touch or to the cold
- numbness or pins and needles.
These symptoms happen when the nerves in the chest area or armpit are cut or injured during surgery. They are common, particularly after surgery to remove all the lymph nodes in the armpit.
Symptoms usually improve with time, but sometimes they may take months or years to get better.
If you have an aching pain in the breast, it may help to wear a supportive sports bra during the day and a soft bra with no underwire at night. You may find that bras with adjustable straps, soft seams and full cups are more comfortable.
Painkillers
Describing your symptoms clearly will help your cancer doctor to prescribe the right painkiller for you.
Simple painkillers such as paracetamol, or anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, can often control the pain. But if you have nerve pain, you may need other types of painkillers. Nerve pain is shooting or burning pain.
Related pages
Changes caused by radiotherapy
Very rarely, radiotherapy to treat breast cancer can damage the nerves in the shoulder. This is called brachial plexus neuropathy. It can cause pain and numbness, often in the fingers and hands.
In extreme cases, it can cause loss of movement. Because radiotherapy techniques have improved, this problem is now very rare.
Although this condition cannot be reversed, the symptoms can be improved with drugs and physiotherapy.
A physiotherapist can show you exercises to strengthen the muscles and keep them supple. They will also show you how to use slings or splints to support your arm, if needed.
If you are unable to work because of damage to your arm, you may be entitled to some benefits. We also have information for people who are working while caring for someone with cancer.
Related pages
About our information
-
References
Below is a sample of the sources used in our late effects of breast cancer information. If you would like more information about the sources we use, please contact us at cancerinformationteam@macmillan.org.uk
Curigliano et al 2020. Management of cardiac disease in cancer patients throughout oncological treatment: ESMO consensus recommendations. Annals of Oncology. Vol 31 (2). Available from: www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(19)36080-6/pdf [accessed November 2021].
Fabi et al 2020. Cancer-related fatigue: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment. Annals of Oncology. Available from: www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(20)36077-4/pdf [accessed November 2021].
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Early and locally advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and management. NG101. Available from: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng101 [accessed November 2021].
-
Reviewers
This information has been written, revised and edited by Macmillan Cancer Support’s Cancer Information Development team. It has been reviewed by expert medical and health professionals and people living with cancer. It has been approved by Dr Rebecca Roylance, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Professor Mike Dixon, Professor of Surgery and Consultant Breast Surgeon.
Our cancer information has been awarded the PIF TICK. Created by the Patient Information Forum, this quality mark shows we meet PIF’s 10 criteria for trustworthy health information.
The language we use
We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.
We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:
- use plain English
- explain medical words
- use short sentences
- use illustrations to explain text
- structure the information clearly
- make sure important points are clear.
We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.
You can read more about how we produce our information here.
Date reviewed
Our cancer information meets the PIF TICK quality mark.
This means it is easy to use, up-to-date and based on the latest evidence. Learn more about how we produce our information.
How we can help