Medical Oncologist
After your operation
Numbness in the chest, armpit and upper arm after surgery
Numbness after breast surgery is caused by small nerves being cut, which is unavoidable when tissue is removed. Sensation usually improves over months as nerves recover from the edges inwards, but some areas stay permanently numb. This page explains which areas each operation affects, and how to keep numb skin safe.
MM
Medically reviewed by Dr. Muralidhar MuddusettyConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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The short answer
Will the feeling come back?
Partly, and slowly. Numbness after breast surgery is caused by small nerves being cut, which is unavoidable when tissue is removed. Sensation usually improves over months as nerves recover at the edges, but some numb areas are permanent.
Why it happens at all
Nerves supplying sensation to the breast skin, the chest wall and the inner upper arm run through exactly the tissue that has to be removed. They cannot be preserved and still clear the cancer, so they are divided deliberately.
Where you will notice it
Across the chest and around the scar after a mastectomy, and in a patch on the inner upper arm after armpit surgery. Reconstructed breasts have almost no sensation, which surprises women who were told only about the appearance.
What recovery looks like
Improvement comes in from the edges, so the numb area shrinks rather than the feeling returning evenly. Most of the change happens in the first year or two. Pins and needles, itching and odd shooting sensations as nerves recover are a good sign rather than a bad one.
Numb skin burns and scalds easily. Test bath water and hot-water bottles with the other hand.Where and why
The areas affected by each operation
Knowing which nerve was involved explains both the pattern and the likely recovery.
The inner upper arm
The commonest and most noticeable. A nerve crossing the armpit is often divided during node surgery. The numb patch usually shrinks but rarely disappears entirely.
Around the scar
A band of reduced sensation either side of any breast incision. This tends to recover better than the armpit, and often substantially over the first year.
Odd sensations here are nerves recovering.The whole chest wall
After a mastectomy, most of the skin over the chest is numb. A reconstruction fills the shape but does not restore feeling, because the nerves were divided when the tissue was removed.
The nipple, if it was kept
A preserved nipple usually has little or no sensation. It looks like your nipple and does not feel like it. This is the single most common disappointment after nipple-sparing surgery.
Tell your team about
- Burning or electric-shock pain
- Numbness that is spreading
- Weakness rather than numbness
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Expected sensations, and ones to mention
Expected, and often improving
Worth telling your team
A numb patch that is slowly shrinking
Numbness spreading to a new area
Pins and needles, itching or crawling feelings
Constant burning or electric-shock pain
Occasional brief shooting sensations
Pain severe enough to disturb sleep
Skin that feels thick or padded to touch
Weakness in the arm or hand
Heightened sensitivity in patches
Pain that is getting worse rather than settling
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Words you will hear
The vocabulary, in plain language
- Intercostobrachial nerve
- The nerve crossing the armpit that supplies the inner upper arm. It is often divided during node surgery.
- Sensory loss
- Reduced or absent feeling in an area of skin. Different from weakness, which involves muscles.
- Tingling
- Pins and needles. Often a sign of nerves recovering rather than a problem.
- Hypersensitivity
- An area that feels uncomfortably sensitive to light touch or clothing. Common alongside numbness and usually settles.
- Post-mastectomy pain
- Persistent nerve-type pain in the chest or arm after surgery. A recognised condition with specific treatments.
- Desensitisation
- Gently rubbing and stimulating the area to help the nervous system readjust. Often taught by physiotherapists.
Living with it
What helps, and what to be careful about
The main practical issue is safety. Numb skin does not warn you about heat, cold or pressure, so burns and scalds happen where you would normally have pulled away. Test bath water with the other hand and keep hot-water bottles away from the area.
Gentle stimulation helps
Rubbing the area daily with a soft cloth or moisturiser, once the wound has healed, helps the nervous system readjust and often reduces the uncomfortable hypersensitivity that sits alongside numbness. Your physiotherapist can show you how.
Clothing matters more than you expect
Seams, wires and firm straps pressing on numb or hypersensitive skin cause problems you will not feel until the skin is marked. Soft, seam-free fabrics in the first months are worth the trouble.
Check the skin by looking, not by feeling
Get into the habit of looking at the numb areas each day, in good light and with a mirror for the chest wall. Cuts, pressure marks and early burns will not announce themselves, and a small break in the skin that goes unnoticed for days is how infections start on an arm that is already at risk of swelling.
Tell the people who touch you
A partner cannot tell which areas feel nothing and which are painfully sensitive. Saying so directly avoids a great deal of awkward guesswork, and it is a conversation most couples find easier once it has been had once.
Commonly believed
What women are told about numbness
The numbness means the surgeon damaged a nerve.
The nerves supplying that skin run through the tissue that had to be removed. Dividing them is unavoidable, not an error. Your surgeon will have preserved what could be preserved without leaving cancer behind.
Feeling will come back completely in a few months.
It improves from the edges over a year or two and usually improves substantially. Some areas, particularly the inner upper arm and a reconstructed breast, stay permanently numb. Expecting full return leads to real disappointment.
A reconstructed breast will feel like the original.
It will look like a breast and feel normal to a partner's touch, but you will feel little or nothing in it. This is the point women most often say they wish had been spelled out before surgery rather than after.
Tingling and shooting pains mean something is wrong.
Those are usually nerves recovering, and a good sign. What is worth reporting is burning or electric pain that is constant, disturbs sleep, or is getting worse rather than easing, because that is treatable.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about numbness
How long before I know what is permanent?
Most recovery happens in the first year, with slower change for a year or two after that. What has not returned by about two years usually will not. The numb area typically shrinks from the edges rather than the feeling coming back evenly across it.
Is there anything that speeds it up?
Nothing reliably regrows a divided nerve. Gentle daily stimulation of the area once healed helps the nervous system readjust and reduces hypersensitivity, which is often the more troublesome symptom. Ask your physiotherapist to show you.
My armpit feels numb but also painful. Is that normal?
Numbness and hypersensitivity together are common and confusing, because the same area can feel nothing to light touch and be very uncomfortable against clothing. It usually settles. Persistent burning pain is worth reporting, as it responds to specific treatment.
Can I have laser hair removal or waxing on a numb area?
Be careful and ask your team first. You will not feel a burn developing, which is precisely the protection those treatments rely on. Many women switch to a safer method on the affected side.
Does numbness raise my risk of arm swelling?
Not directly, but they often follow the same operation. The indirect risk is that a cut or burn on numb skin goes unnoticed and becomes infected, and infection does trigger swelling. Check the skin regularly by looking rather than feeling.
Will it affect intimacy?
Often, and it is worth saying out loud rather than working around it. A partner cannot tell which areas feel nothing and which are sensitive. Many couples find the conversation harder to anticipate than to have.
Should I see a physiotherapist about it?
Yes, particularly if there is stiffness, cording or hypersensitivity alongside the numbness. They can teach desensitisation techniques and check that your shoulder movement is recovering. Ask for a referral rather than waiting to be offered one.
Is persistent pain after surgery common?
Nerve-type pain lasting beyond the usual recovery is a recognised condition after breast surgery. It is not something to endure quietly, because specific treatments exist. Tell your team rather than assuming it is simply how things are now.
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Sources
- Cancer Research UK — Problems after breast cancer surgery
- National Cancer Institute — Surgery to treat cancer
- Breast Cancer Now — After breast surgery
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.