WHY IS SOME CORDING HARD TO RESOLVE? Mastectomy Scar Tissue and Cupping for Cording

[@ing3666]

Thank you Jen! Your statement of “you have look at other areas” and to “persist”. Your videos, as well as others, have helped me so much.

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

You're very welcome! Thank you for watching my videos. Jen :)

[@mindystahl7701]

Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful!

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Thank you for your lovely feedback Mindy! I've launched a Private Group on Facebook 'The Compass Community' - a global online Breast Cancer Education & Support Network with free weekly live education sessions and Q&A. There is much more interaction on this platform. Here is the link if you would like to join: facebook.com/groups/breastcancercompasscommunity

[@pamjones3377]

Thank you so much for these videos on cording. Mine is really tough and stubborn, 3 1/2 weeks after axillary dissection. I had my mastectomy and lymph node sampling two months before that. I have a fairly full range of movement, but it’s painful, especially first thing in the morning. I also still have a seroma from the recent surgery. I realise it’s relatively early days, but I would so love the cording to go away! I feel reassured after watching this, that all my stretching exercises and massaging are the right thing to do.

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Hello Pam! Thank you so much for commenting and watching. My best piece of advice with persistent cording is keep working at it! I have seen some amazing resolutions of cording if people keep up with their massage and nerve stretching. Sometimes it can take months which is frustrating, but at least I can tell you it can get better completely in most cases with the right treatment and time. Jen x

[@pamjones3377]

@@TheBreastCancerPhysio thank you.

[@ruthkyle3744]

Thank you Jen! You’ve been so helpful in your videos! Looking into other areas that may be restricting the cording from letting go is something we need to figure out. It seems like my cording moves around and is branching off to different directions. I didn’t realize that radiation could have contributed to my cording until I saw your videos. I had radiation on left side for about 30 days in 2 012 (lumpectomy) and again in 2019 after mastectomy on the left side. Cording really has become a real issue in 2022 - it was not noticeable before. I wonder why it got worse - maybe there is tightness elsewhere.

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Thankyou for your lovely feedback. It is very possible there is tension around your shoulder and / or surgical scar tissue that is contributing to the cording. I saw another patient with this just yesterday. Once I released a lot of tension around the shoulder her movement improved and the cording reduced. I have a Private Facebook Group called 'The Compass Community' - a global online Breast Cancer Education & Support Network with weekly live education sessions and Q&A. I will be able to assist you more on this platform. Here is the link if you would like to join: facebook.com/groups/breastcancercompasscommunity

[@joanneedwards9364]

Hi Jen, neural tensioning and physio massage helped me a lot...in fact I got normal range of movement back as the physio massage on its own wasn't enough. So thankyou! I do have a Q though...I've recently got a lot of pain in that arm between my elbow and wrist. I can straighten my arm but the higher I raise my arm (whilst straight), the more pain I feel in that area. I have almost full range of motion if I keep my elbow slightly bent. My physio can't feel any cording between the elbow and wrist area and suspects it's actually my tendon causing the pain. From your experience could the cord and tendon pain be connected somehow? Or am I indeed dealing with two separate issues?

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Hi Joanne, the way your pain is behaving is actually suggesting deep cording. Have you tried continuing the neural stretching for your elbow / wrist to see if this makes a difference? Jen x

[@joanneedwards9364]

@@TheBreastCancerPhysio the pain is making that pretty difficult at the moment. It's just strange how it has come on so suddenly. I will persist! After having full range of motion this is really frustrating! Thanks for the response. :)

[@clewishowe968]

I have some persistent cording as well after my mastectomy and radiation…and recently noticed as the pain from the cording lessened that I started getting little pea sized bumps on the cording line…one larger one at the lower end of my bicep close to my elbow and then two smaller ones on the inside of my forearm nearer to my wrist…have you ever seen that happen as the tension is released?

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Hi Clewis, yes I see this occur quite frequently. The bumps can be concerning but they typically resolve as the cording resolves. If you have any concerns please have your medical specialists assess the lumps.

[@LindsayMcMahon-md4jy]

Is cording in abdomen common? I have been having rib pain after my double mastectomy and radiation and believe I just found cording below my rib into my abdomen

[@kangarookids7497]

What can we do about this? What are all the available treatments?

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

As I mention in the video - massage, 2 levels of neural stretching and addressing tight areas of tissue around the cord. Jen

[@shamsaaraf5190]

Sorry just to be clear is cupping treatment used on people with active cancer or once people are clear from cancer.

[@heidisiewert7850]

I had double mastectomy in November because of invasive ductal carcinoma had cording on left arm pit where they took my sentinel duct. Had phyio in Canada here look at it and she gave me exercise to do and after Christmas it was gone .. started back to work 2 weeks ago and the cording has come back .. what should I do?

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Hi Heidi, cording can certainly re-occur. I have a Private Facebook Group called 'The Compass Community' - a global online Breast Cancer Education & Support Network with weekly live education sessions and Q&A. I will be able to assist you more on this platform with the cording issue. Here is the link if you would like to join: facebook.com/groups/breastcancercompasscommunity

[@kathrynhuffman9826]

I had cording before my mastectomy and lymph node removal and it still has never went away have you heard of that before?

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Hi Kathryn, yes cording is nerve tension so it doesn't necessarily only occur with axillary surgery. I would try and find out why the cording is occurring in the first place but it may just be tension in that region. I hope this helps. Jen

[@kathrynhuffman9826]

@@TheBreastCancerPhysio thank you I have been dealing with this about a year and my PT says she had never heard of it before lymph node surgery so I was afraid something else was going on with it. I love watching your videos they are all very informative

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

@@kathrynhuffman9826 it definitely can happen, it's just not that common. Are you treating the cording and it is not getting better Kath? Jen x

[@kathrynhuffman9826]

@@TheBreastCancerPhysio It gets better with excercise it just hasn't ever went away totally. And occasionally I still get the pain that radiates down to my wrist

[@jayneteske1963]

Not clear on how cupping was done.

[@TheBreastCancerPhysio]

Hi Jayne, sorry, when I made this video I wasn't competent with layering my videos to include treatment techniques. I have a Private Facebook Group called 'The Compass Community' - a global online Breast Cancer Education & Support Network with weekly live education sessions and Q&A. I will be able to assist you more on this platform. Here is the link if you would like to join: facebook.com/groups/breastcancercompasscommunity