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Long-term pain after cancer surgery | CION Cancer Clinics
Some people still have pain months after cancer surgery, long after the wound has healed. It is a recognised problem, often caused by irritated nerves, scar tissue or a stiff joint, and it can usually be helped. It should always be checked, because the cause decides the treatment. This page explains where it shows up, what help looks like, and when to ask sooner. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
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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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On this page
- Is it normal to still have pain months after cancer surgery?
- Which operations are more likely to leave long-term pain?
- Ordinary healing or long-term pain?
- What happens when you ask for help with long-term pain?
- What do the words in a pain clinic letter mean?
- What stops people getting help for long-term pain?
- What can treatment do, and what can this page not tell you?
- Common questions about long-term pain after cancer surgery
The short answer
Is it normal to still have pain months after cancer surgery?
Some people do. Pain that carries on long after the wound has healed is a recognised problem, not something you are imagining, and it can usually be helped. It should always be checked, because the cause decides the treatment.
What doctors call it
Doctors call it persistent or chronic post-surgical pain. It means pain that started with the operation and is still there months later, once ordinary healing should be complete. It is often felt around the scar, but can spread into the arm, chest wall, shoulder, groin or leg near the operation.
Why it happens
Surgery cuts through skin, muscle and small nerves. Most nerves recover. Some stay irritated or send confused signals, which causes burning, shooting or tingling pain. Scar tissue can pull, muscles can stay tight, and a shoulder or hip that was not moved enough can stiffen. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery can add to it.
How common it is
It is more common after some operations than others, such as breast, chest and limb surgery. Most people do not develop it. The ones who do often wait too long to mention it, because they think it is the price of treatment.
Where it shows up
Which operations are more likely to leave long-term pain?
These are the patterns doctors see most. The list does not mean the operation was done badly. Nerves in these areas are hard to avoid.
Breast and armpit surgery
Burning or tightness in the chest wall, armpit or inner upper arm, often from a nerve in the armpit. It can follow removal of the breast, a lump, or lymph nodes.
Chest surgery
Aching or burning along the ribs after lung or food pipe surgery, where the nerves running under each rib can be stretched or pressed.
Neck surgery
Shoulder pain, stiffness and difficulty lifting the arm after neck lymph node surgery, when a nerve to the shoulder muscles is affected.
Often helped by
- Early physiotherapy
- Shoulder exercises kept up at home
Amputation and limb surgery
Pain in the stump, or pain felt in the part of the limb that has been removed. This is called phantom limb pain and is a real nerve pain.
Tummy and groin surgery
Pulling or burning around a long scar, a hernia at the scar, or pain in the groin after lymph nodes are removed there.
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Ordinary healing or long-term pain?
Usually part of healing
Worth raising with your doctor
Soreness that fades steadily week by week
Pain still there, or getting worse, months later
Numb patch around the scar
Burning, shooting or electric-shock pain
Tightness that eases with stretching
Pain that stops you sleeping, working or lifting the arm
Occasional twinges when the weather changes
New pain in a different place from the operation
Getting help
What happens when you ask for help with long-term pain?
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Your surgeon or oncologist checks the cause
The first step is ruling out problems that need a different kind of treatment, such as infection, a hernia, a fluid collection or the cancer coming back. This may mean an examination and sometimes a scan.
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The pain is described in detail
You are asked where it is, what it feels like, what makes it worse, and how it affects sleep, work and mood. Burning and shooting pain point towards nerve pain, which needs different medicines from aching pain.
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A plan with several parts
Ordinary painkillers often do not help nerve pain much. Doctors may suggest medicines for nerve pain such as pregabalin, gabapentin, amitriptyline or duloxetine, alongside physiotherapy and exercises.
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Referral to a pain clinic if needed
A pain specialist can offer nerve blocks, skin patches, a small electrical nerve stimulation device, and help with sleep and coping. Many large hospitals in Hyderabad have a pain or palliative care team.
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Review and adjustment
Nerve pain medicines take time to work and are changed slowly. Expect several visits. The aim is less pain and a better daily life.
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Words you may hear
What do the words in a pain clinic letter mean?
- Chronic post-surgical pain
- Pain that began with an operation and has lasted well beyond normal healing.
- Neuropathic pain
- Nerve pain. Pain caused by a damaged or irritated nerve, often burning, shooting or like an electric shock.
- Phantom limb pain
- Pain felt in a part of the body that has been removed. It is a real nerve pain, not imagined.
- Nerve block
- An injection of numbing medicine near a nerve to calm pain signals. It can help for a while and sometimes longer.
- Palliative care team
- Doctors and nurses who specialise in pain and symptom control. They help at any stage, not only at the end of life.
Commonly believed
What stops people getting help for long-term pain?
"The cancer is out, so I should not complain about pain."
Pain that stops you sleeping, working or looking after your family is part of your recovery, and it deserves treatment. Mentioning it is not ungrateful.
"Long-term pain always means the cancer is back."
Most long-term pain after surgery comes from nerves, scar tissue or stiff joints. It still needs checking, because a new or changing pain should never be ignored. Let the doctor examine you rather than fearing the worst alone.
"The doctor gave me a depression tablet, so they think it is in my head."
Some medicines first made for low mood, such as amitriptyline and duloxetine, also calm nerve pain signals. They are used for the pain itself, and often at lower doses than for mood.
"Moving the arm will make it worse, so I keep it still."
Keeping a shoulder or arm still can make it stiff and more painful. A physiotherapist can show you safe exercises that loosen it gradually.
Being straight with you
What can treatment do, and what can this page not tell you?
This page cannot tell you what is causing your pain, or whether it will fade. Some long-term pain eases slowly over many months as nerves settle. Some stays, but becomes much easier to live with. Only an examination, and sometimes tests, can separate the causes.
What treatment can realistically offer
For many people, treatment reduces pain rather than removing it completely. Better sleep, being able to lift a child or return to work, and needing fewer tablets are all real gains. It helps to agree with your doctor what a good result would look like for you.
Who certain treatments may not suit
Some nerve pain medicines cause drowsiness, dizziness or weight gain, and some do not suit people with heart rhythm problems, glaucoma, kidney problems or those on certain other medicines. Nerve blocks may not suit people on blood thinners. Your doctor weighs these before choosing.
When to ask sooner
Ask quickly about pain that is new, spreading, worse at night, or comes with weight loss, a lump, weakness or numbness in a limb.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about long-term pain after cancer surgery
How long is too long to still have pain after surgery?
Most wound pain fades steadily over the weeks after surgery. If pain is still there once the wound has healed, is getting worse rather than better, or is affecting sleep and daily life, raise it with your surgeon or oncologist. You do not have to wait for a set amount of time.
Can long-term pain start months after the operation?
Sometimes nerve pain or tightness appears once the swelling settles, or after radiotherapy. But new pain months later should always be checked by your doctor, because it can have other causes, including a hernia, a fluid collection or, less often, the cancer coming back.
Will I have to take pain medicines for life?
Not necessarily. Many people take nerve pain medicines for a period and then reduce them slowly with their doctor's help. Others need them longer. Physiotherapy, exercise and pain clinic treatments can lower how much medicine you need. Never stop these medicines suddenly on your own.
Are strong painkillers used for long-term pain?
Sometimes, but they are usually not the first choice for long-term pain after surgery. They often help nerve pain less than expected, and long courses carry risks. Doctors tend to try nerve pain medicines, physiotherapy and other treatments first, and review strong painkillers closely.
My arm swells and aches after breast surgery. Is this the same thing?
It may be a different problem. Swelling of the arm after lymph nodes are removed is called lymphoedema, and it needs its own treatment with compression, exercise and skin care. Nerve pain and lymphoedema can happen together. Ask your team to check which one you have.
Can yoga or exercise help?
Gentle, regular movement often helps stiffness and long-term pain. Start slowly, and ask your physiotherapist which movements are safe after your operation, especially if you have had lymph nodes removed or a stoma. Stop any movement that causes sharp pain and tell your team.
Is Ayurveda or massage safe for this pain?
Gentle massage away from a fresh scar may feel soothing. Tell your doctor about any herbal medicine, because some interact with cancer medicines or blood thinners. Avoid deep massage near a lymph node operation site unless your team says it is safe.
Who do I see first about long-term pain?
Start with the surgeon or oncologist who treated you, and bring your operation notes and recent reports. They can check for causes that need other treatment, then refer you to a physiotherapist or a pain or palliative care specialist if needed. Keep a simple pain diary to bring along.
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Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
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Dr. Vinay Mamidala
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Sources
- National Cancer Institute — Cancer pain
- NICE — Chronic pain (primary and secondary) in over 16s: assessment of all chronic pain and management of chronic primary pain
- Cancer Research UK — Cancer and pain control
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Cancer information and support
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.
Keep reading
Related pages
Nerve Pain After an OperationBurning and shooting pain around a scar, explainedWhen Is Post-Operative Pain Abnormal?The pain patterns that need a same-day callRecovery, Eating and Getting Back to LifeGetting back to work and daily life after surgeryThe Emotional Side of Cancer SurgeryLow mood and worry, which make pain harder to bear
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