Massaging after surgery

[shaknbake]

Ok, so its about that time for me to begin massaging after my surgery.  I'm one week out, and feeling pretty good.  While at the one week PS visit, they recommended a hard massage to help using Arnica gel 3 times a day, for 5 minutes (per side I assume) to break up the now forming scar tissue.   Now to quote the nurse, her exact words were "if it doesn't hurt, you aren't massaging hard enough".   I'm quite tender to the touch still on the sides of my chest, so I'm hoping I can get through this without having my wife on standby with a spatula to peel me off the ceiling! 

So how did this all turn out for you guys?  Any advice or experiences you want to share before I embark on this journey of pain and agony?   .   Cheers guys!

[scott6459]

I have not been on this forum for a long time...I had my surgery about 3 years or so ago, by Dr. Jacobs. (I am still thrilled with my results)
I recall the massage process. Yes, at first it is more difficult due to soreness. I massaged more 'deeply' sections of my chest that were less sensitive, and the areas more sensitive (near the incision site), I was more gentle with. You need to realize that while the chest is healing, there can be 'strange' things that happen. Lumps come and go. Some areas are soft sometimes, hard sometimes, and reverse for no reason. One side can heal more quickly for a few days, and then the other. It takes time! There has been a lot of trauma to the area. As time progresses, your massaging can be done more deeply without any pain. I am pretty sure I massaged for at least 6 weeks. Maybe 2 months. After that time frame, I recall that my chest became 'whole' again. It had the same consistency in all areas. Lumps went away. My incision site did form a slightly raised scar after time that I had injected with some kind of steroid by my dermatologist that flattened it out. (Probably a year after the surgery). I do remember thinking all the time 'am I doing this right??" Looking back, it was a combination of my body taking care of it, by slowly healing, and my participation by 'helping' my body do its job. Hope this helps!

[shaknbake]

Hi Scott.  Do you remember how soon after surgery it was recommended that you begin to massage?  As of today, I'm one week out.  I started to gently massage Arnica Gel around my chest and sides under the arms last night.  It's excrutiatingly tender under the arm area right now if I continually massage it.  I'd like to think I've got a pretty high pain tolerance, but that was too much for me to continue for the full 5 minutes.  I ended up gently rubbing the gel all over as best as I could stand, and that was about it.  I'll press harder as I am able to I guess.  But back to my original question, how soon did you start?