how long til the pain goes away?

[notobvious]

post op?

[moobsbrah]

it varies. Done by a solid surgeon you should have minimal pain after a few days (to the extent that you require no painkillers)...swelling/bruising might persist for weeks to months though. Most important thing is to follow post-op instructions, and wear your compression vest for a 6-8 weeks (depending on what the surgeon recommends)

[pr0digy]

post op?

I stopped taking painkillers about 6 days after, and I was fine.
For a few weeks after you'll have sharp pains that come and go quickly (only a few times a day)

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Pain is obviously very subjective -- one man's annoyance is another man's excruciating pain.

I have had patients who never took a pain pill after surgery -- and others, with similar operations -- who couldn't gobble them down fast enough.

In my experience, however, most pain is similar to having been pummeled in your chest by Muhammed Ali (in his prime) -- sore, but it definitely diminishes or disappears within 2-3 days.  Some patients, though, take longer.

Dr Jacobs

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Giantfan -- I disagree with you.  As I previously said, the same careful surgeon doing the same operation on different patients will end up with varying degrees of pain in these same patients.  Pain is a very subjective thing.

Dr Jacobs