18 days post surgery skin sticking how to tell ?

[shaker]

Hi,
18 days post op here, when i lift my arm up straight in air my left side struggles and i do not feel much pain but am not able to raise my arm fully straight in air. Is it because skin has stuck to the muscle and it moves with the muscle  ? Under the left armpit i have hard tissue as well under the nipple. Right side same story but lesser skin movement.  I started massaging day 10 very light massage, now i am trying to make massage bit vigorous .

Wondering here if its normal to feel the pull/stretch and bit discomfort when trying to put your hands vertically straight in air or am i just being paranoid that skin tethering might be happening ?

[gyne_nomore]

10 days post surgery, I also can not lift my arm fully. I don't think my skin in sticking to the muscle but there is general soreness on my sides starting from armpit to a little over waist. It is also badly bruised. I don't know if this helps.

[waves]

I was the same at that time and beyond.  Couldn't believe that some people were actually back at the gym or running by 21 days...I was still very sore everywhere and especially noticed it when lifting my arms up or trying to lie on my side or face down at night (impossible!).  Now I'm over 6 weeks out and virtually pain free.  Started hitting the gym at week 5 and have even gone on a couple light jogs.  Still have some soreness, but able to lie on my side and front if I can bear the now minor pain.

Each week seems to bring an improvement!

[shaker]

I was the same at that time and beyond.  Couldn't believe that some people were actually back at the gym or running by 21 days...I was still very sore everywhere and especially noticed it when lifting my arms up or trying to lie on my side or face down at night (impossible!).  Now I'm over 6 weeks out and virtually pain free.  Started hitting the gym at week 5 and have even gone on a couple light jogs.  Still have some soreness, but able to lie on my side and front if I can bear the now minor pain.

Each week seems to bring an improvement!

O i was able to sleep on the side for 10 mins i believe it hurt initially but got better as i stayed in the position, so you also had problems straightening your arm in air vertically ? 10 days post op i did not bother trying but am close to 3 week and most of the pain is gone just tenderness and a big chunk of hard tissue under left armpit . Morning the swelling goes down a lot i been noticing and by evening it feels bloated chest.. just took some shots this morning and i was amazed at how flat it was starting to look now, even with the right side fairing better !! But just worried that i might get skin sticking on left side, i am going to start massaging bit more on left side to try to get rid of the sticking feeling, even though i have big chunk of hard tissue .. maybe it will soften up a bit and start disappearing.

PS: I do not have any crater effect so far standing straight or when i put arms straight up in air, so i am hoping this will disappear anyone else having similar experience please share. Tks.

[waves]

Shaker, looking at your immediate post-op and comparing to now IS amazing!  A huge improvement.  See, all that worry for nothing!   

Even today (6.5 weeks post op) when raising my arms I can feel it's still a little tight.  I thought it was sticking too, but either that was just because it was still tight/sore or the massaging helped.  My PS said to watch the nipples when you raise your arms.  If only one is moving up then the other is sticking and you need to massage.

I find the most pain I have is trying to cross my arms over my chest.  Still hurts to do that although not nearly as bad.

[shaker]

I did be meeting my ps on 1st so will ask him these questions and will see what he has to say as well.. i am sure he be excited to see the results too. It looked so bad post op.. and now its getting better, i believe whats happening is that i massage and swelling returns and in evening its worse than morning and night rest give best compression to chest from the vest and swelling goes down.  Lets hope massaging is actually helping than making it worse, will be massaging more the side or area that feels like sticking.

My sitting shots are also looking bit better :p

PS: i see both nipples moving when i do both arms at same time but i see only 1 per arm if only do 1 arm at a time .

Do you have any recent shots of ur chest since its been like 7 weeks for u. And i also do not understand how guys go in to gym right after 4 weeks, i am going to wait till april end for any weights stuff.. but will try cardio in 3 weeks time.

[waves]

Every day I say I'm going to take more photos and then it never happens.  Although I was determined to do it this weekend.  Tough with a small house and inquiring kids around.  I'll try again tonight.  (famous last words...)