Sometimes when I am on a computer, I will get stabbing pains in the shoulder and then my arm and hand go completely numb. Somedays it hurts to breathe. After more than two years of pain an oncology nurse listened to me. When I went for an appointment with my primary care physician, he knew all about post mastectomy syndrome. I also told Ernest H. Rosenbaum, MD about this under reported syndrome.
Acupuncture is very helpful.
I continue to have intermittent shooting pains in my left breast one year after lumpectomy, in the scar area. Also there is an area of my rib just under and to the side of the affected breast that still hurts to the touch. No one has satisfactorily identified the cause of the pain, but I have been seeing an osteopath, who works on breaking up what she identifies as adhesions throughout the affected area, so the pain has decreased. My left breast is still warmer to the touch than my right breast, and slightly swollen. I have had mild chest wall lymphedema, despite having had only the sentinel node removed.