Body Image Disturbances After Mastectomy

The main concerns for many women after a mastectomy are pain and anxiety about the possible return of the cancer. However, another concern that is often overlooked is a woman's body image. She is not always able to reconcile how she looks now with 'being a woman.' The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of these kinds of issues to the field of nursing. In a study by Bredin (1999), the issue of body image after mastectomy was addressed from the point of therapeutic massage and listening to help women feel better about the way that they look now. The purpose of the article was to show whether this type of intervention was beneficial to these women. The sample for the study was limited to three participants because the intervention was so time consuming. The method was for these women to participate in two semi-structured interviews of one hour each and six sessions of therapeutic massage. Initial interview and massage sessions were conducted by the study's author. The follow-up interview was conducted by an independent researcher and focused on the massage intervention's effects. The results indicated that showed that each of the three women felt positively regarding the intervention. It is possible that they simply did not want to provide negative feedback, but there is no evidence that they found the massage unhelpful in adjusting to their new bodies. Bredin (1999) concluded that intervention techniques like massage can go a very long way toward making women more comfortable with their bodies after mastectomy and should be part of an overall wellness plan for these women, because their mental and emotional states are important, as well as their physical state. In summary, the literature indicated that there is still much more to be studied where women's health and wellness following mastectomy is concerned. The nursing implications related to this issue are vital because it is nurses who often mentor to the emotional and mental state of their patients. Nurses can use these kinds of techniques to help patients recover better.