Has anyones post op pain travelled down to their..

[PeterBateman]

ribs, or stomach area?  I have what feels like strands or veins that are painful to rub over, and when i stretch my left arm over my head the area feels like its way too tight and hurts

[braveboy]

sorry pete i'm not stalking you,but i also have my uper ribs that are sore and a large strand of something going from my upper ribs to just about my nipple area and it also is very sore specially when i message it.

[braveboy]

but i have no limitation with movement ,no feeling of pulling or pain when i raise my arms.maybe the dr took alot more out of you than me.

[PeterBateman]

hey, no problem...any response helps, whether here or in canada...mine is below my nip about 2 to 3 inches, it is painful on left ribs, then over the end of the ribs (where they meet at the front below the sternum area) and travels over my left abs.  hurts like hell, but i can feel the strands...the only reason i think its a result of my chest surgery, is because i had the same sort of strands along my chest outside 'edge' up until the 3 week mark.  

i rubbed muscle cream on my chest and sore abs tonight...so far so good...mixed in some vit E gel after the cream, and so we'll see if my chest turns red in hives soon enough.

[desi]

it will get better with time.. just be careful not stretch or anything like that.. after surgery, i guess its more of a mind game.. just hang in there..

[Hypo-is-here]

There is a name for this type of tissue  (though I cannot recall it).  I had it under both arm pits streching down into my stomach.  It felt like huge veins that limited my movement.

I was told that they should be streched and that they should be snapped if possible.

They should go away with time and stretching.

When I had them I snapped some of them and my PS snapped others.  When this happened there was a loud and quite horrible audiable crack, but each time it was done movement was far easier.  the last one I had could not be snapped but was streched more and more over time and now can no longer be felt.

[flex1appeal]

Yes, I too experienced this both surgeries. I currently have that feeling now and I did exactly as Hypo was told to do. My PS gave me the same advice. And it works/helps.

flex

[PeterBateman]

thanks guys...what do u mean by snapped???  i press on them trying to elongate them, if thats what you mean...come to think of it, i did hear something the other day when i rubbed over it length wise...i use to have them on the sides of my chest nearing my armpit too...

[Hypo-is-here]

just remembered the term......it is called cording!!

The ones near/under my arm pits could be snapped by streching the arms above the head as far as possible (movement was limited by these by the cording) and then pressing or having someone else press on them.

Because of the tension they snapped and this resulted in increased movement and flexability.

This made things much easier.

I did not do this as some crazy idea this was something I was told to do by my PS and something that they in fact helped me do.

It doesn't always matter if they snap or not, just the exercises post surgery and the stretching of the arms etc and the pressing on the cording will at the very least loosen the tissue and allow for greater mobility and over time this sorts the problem out.

I would advise people who have cording to only try this after taking a decent pan killer as doing this is somewhat uncomfortable.

I would imagine it would be harder to stretch cording if you feel it in your chest or stomach and would say you need advice from your PS on how to deal with this.  It might require certain specific exercises to break it down.

When cording does snap the body absorbs this scar material and you don't come to any harm, as I said it aids mobility.

Of course everyone should get advice from their own PS before dealing with things like this as you don't want to be forcing things too much post surgery, especially if you don't know what you're dealing with- some get the advice from your PS.

If your surgeon doesn't know what it is (some wont) tell them it is cording and to look into it for you.

[PeterBateman]

thanks again, im trying to stretch and push into it ...it f'ing hurts...