Hi southwest123,
Thanks for posting your question. It’s good to hear that you are healing well after your surgery for breast cancer.
Many people worry about restarting exercise after surgery and when it may be safe to lift weights. This will vary depending on the surgery you have had and the activity you were doing before the operation. The risk of developing lymphoedema after having a sentinel lymph node biopsy is very low, and keeping active helps to reduce this risk further. However, it is important to start slowly and build your activity back up over time. How long this takes will be guided by your body and how you are feeling. It’s also important to talk to your treatment team or breast care nurse before returning to exercise so they can guide you.
You may find our Facebook Live about exercise after breast cancer helpful to watch. Jen McKenzie, a breast cancer physiotherapist, also has a video about lifting weights after breast cancer treatment which may be helpful for you.
You can ask your breast care nurse if you can be referred to a physiotherapist for advice about returning to exercise. Some hospitals have rehabilitation programmes to help people learn which exercises are safe for them following their treatment.
Once your wounds have healed, it is ok to wear an underwired bra, if it is comfortable for you. You can find some information about post-op bras here.
You may be interested in our Moving Forward resources that are for people who have had a diagnosis of primary breast cancer and have come to the end of their main hospital treatment within the last 2 years. They include our Moving Forward booklet and Moving Forward courses. The courses cover many areas of life after cancer, such as exercise, diet and coping emotionally.
We also offer a range of free supportive services for anyone who has had a diagnosis of breast cancer which you may be interested in. They include face to face and online courses and events. For more details about all of these services, please see the information in the link.
Do call our helpline if you would like to talk this through or have any further questions. The helpline team have time to listen, talk things through and signpost you to more support and information if necessary. Your call will be confidential, and the number is free from UK landlines and all mobile networks. The number is 0808 800 6000, (Relay UK -prefix 18001).
If you would prefer one of our nurses to call you. To do this, please complete this form ticking the box agreeing to a call back.
Our usual opening hours are Monday to Friday 9am - 4pm and 9am -1pm on Saturday.
Out of hours you can leave a message and we will call you back when we next open.
Best wishes
Cassie
Breast Care Nurse
Please read the Ask Our Nurses disclaimer Full details on how we collect and use your data can be found in our Privacy Policy
As we are unable to monitor for further replies, this thread will now be closed. If you have any additional questions or would like to provide feedback, please start a new thread, call our helpline, email us or request a call back.
