Persistent pain after breast cancer - addressing quality of life

Many people can experience acute pain or discomfort in the initial stages of treatment for early breast cancer. However, for some people, pain may continue for weeks, months or years after treatment has finished. Persistent pain can present in varying forms, including, pain from surgery scars, phantom pain after a mastectomy, neuropathic pain associated with surgery or joint pain related to hormone-blocking treatments.

You will hear from Naveena Nekkalapudi, BCNA Consumer Representative; Professor Paul Glare, Pain Medicine Specialist and Dr Charlotte Tottman, Clinical Psychologist.

If you are looking for more information you may like to:

• Hear more from Dr Charlotte Tottman, Clinical Psychologist in her podcast series What You Don’t Know Until You Do and her episode titled Pain without fear: pain, persistent side effects and palliative care.
• Read the article Managing pain related to breast cancer treatment.
• Watch Managing side effects of hormone blocking treatment.
• Hear more from Naveena Nekkalapudi, BCNA Consumer Representative in Managing long-term side effects of breast cancer treatment with Professor Bogda Koczwara, Medical Oncologist.
• Join our Online Network to talk to others online and share experiences in a safe online community.
• Register or login into My Journey to access our symptom tracker where you can keep a record of where and when you experience pain.