Weird pains near ICD area.

I had my ICD implanted on March 23, 2011. Ever since then I have had these weird pains. They come sudden and sometimes feel like an ant stinging me then other times it feels like someone poking me with a needle or something.

I just want to know if this is normal. It is really aggravating.

16 Comments

Me Too

by sue uk - 2011-06-09 02:06:36

Hi
I had aPM in April & it has been really slow to heal around the incision site. I get a lot or "stinging" & random sharp pains also look & feel as though it is constantly bruised around that area. Am going for my first PM check tomorrow & l will definately be asking why !!! just dont feel as though it has healed l even get that "pulling" feeling you get with the stitches but its been 9wks now, they wont still be there will they???Will let you know if l hear anything worth passing on to you. Take care,
Sue

Had those same feelings

by nm - 2011-06-09 03:06:39

Hi, I have now had my pacer since 4/5/10 and I had those stinging pains and also thought I was a voodoo doll because of the pin poking feelings so it is normal. At least I had it too. My incision was itching a lot, too. My dr. told me to just stop thinking about myself when I asked her if it was normal and I said who else will think about me.I will never go back to see her again. She had no bedside manner or empathy with me or probably any other of her patients. I am going to the dr. who did my surgery. I would not ever want her to talk to me like that again I had only seen her two times and she did not even know me. Take care of yourself. The bothersome pains finally went away. After three months I barely even was aware of my pacer.

Pacemaker Area Pain

by J.B. - 2011-06-09 04:06:57


I don't hink it is normal. I had pains like that for the 1st year or two after I got my pacemaker. My doctor told me there was nothing he could do as it was probably just nerve endings regenerating and that the pain would go away. He said in the meantime I could get an over the counter 5% lidocane solution and spray on the area 2 or 3 times a day. I did and it would take about 3 or 4 minutes for the pain to be completely gone and stay gone for several hours.

It is also very good for bug bites and scrapes. You might ask your druggist if they carry it as I did have a little trouble finding a source. Of all places to find it was our local supermarket. I can get a 3 oz. bottle for 4 bucks. I have even used it for muscle cramps, but that is hit and miss as it doesn't always work for deep leg muscle cramps.

Since it is an over the counter medicine you might give it a try. Just follow the directions on the label.

Another over the counter med you might consider if you can't find the lidocane solution is Lanacane cream. It works fair, but not nearly as good as the lidocane solution.

me too!

by sweetp - 2011-06-09 09:06:32

I got some sharp, needle prick like pains too. Luckily, they don't last long. I asked the nurse about it and she didn't seem concerned. Just another quirk we have to live with.

My guess...

by Pookie - 2011-06-09 11:06:23

nerve pain.

I too had it. It felt like I was getting stung by bees. Once while at the ER an intern gave me a numbing ointment and it worked like a charm.

It eventually went away, but it took almost a year.

But to this day (6yrs later) I still sometimes get that weird sensation from time to time.

Take care,
Pookie

I'd say normal

by turboz24 - 2011-06-10 12:06:51

I'd say it's normal as long as the pain is not severe/lasts a long time. I've had my ICD for over 3 years, still get a range of pain, from just dull pain that lasts for a while to sharp stabing pain that is over quickly. You do have a large foreign object under you skin that your body is doing it's best to destroy...

I also probably tear the scare tissue almost on a daily basis from working out, so the last tech said that it was hard to image from the scar tissue, which apparently covers the majority of my left chest.......

tearing of mending tissue

by chris2 - 2011-06-11 01:06:23

i was told this at my first follow up - tissue that was mending is torn by a movement and to wear a bra night&day for 6months. also told it may not go away - a movement may aggravate the muscle the pacer is embedded in/next too. it still has be taken seriously in rare cases could mean an infection or allergic reaction to the pacer.

me too......

by pippt36 - 2011-06-26 09:06:36

I have had my ICD for just over a year and a week or so ago I must have given the ICD a whack in my sleep as it was realy sore the next day or so. It has calmed down somewhat no, but there is one small area (at bottom of leads but above the connection point) that seems to sting. If I tough it very llightly it does not hurt at all but straight away afterwards it sort of stings for ages. It seems worse when I am in bed. Area is not red. I have been booked in for an appointment for the leads to be checked and for a specialist nurst to check it. I am so disappointed because it took almost a year for it to really settle so that I wasn't aware of it at all.

pin prick pains

by Selwyn - 2011-06-27 08:06:55

It is not that unusual to have pricking pain in some surgical wounds that use the method of skin closure where the sutures are buried under the skin.

Although the suture material is absorbable, it seems to take ages to do so (weeks).

I would suggest this is one reason why there is a pricking, sharp sensation, maybe from a buried knot, where the short end of the suture material is supported by the knot, and so acts as a small spike.

This should settle down.

It is worse now than ever.

by w3il3r01 - 2011-07-29 08:07:35

I hate to be grumbling over this after most said it is normal. It went from being every once in a while to constant with sudden sharp pain. The is also a very painful spot in the middle of my scar it is very painful if I touch it or my two young kids accidently hit it. I go back to my dr in september and it is a 2 hour drve to his office and we just don't have the means right now to go see if before then. so i dont know what to do for some relief.

pin pricks

by mjo - 2011-11-03 02:11:56

Ive had the same thing with my medtronic bi ventricular PM and you should explain to the technician what the problem is .It's not normal , usually it's the voltage on the PM thats set too high and they can remedy this problem easy by the reducing the current on the particular lead . I contacted the technical people directly without going to my doctor first and they were very helpfull and spend about an hour finding the perfect setting until the jerking stopped .and now after theyve reprogrammed the PM , I have 2 more years of battery left so its worth it . good luck

what my dr said

by w3il3r01 - 2011-11-03 11:11:33

When I went back to my dr in september he told me the leads had become uncurled or something like that. The way he put them in anyway they have moved. My only option is to let him cut me open again and fix it. Right now i don't think it bothers me to the point i want surgery espically if it is like it was when it was put in not a good experience because i felt everything they did even though they gave me enough meds to put 8 men out.

Pain in pacemaker area....

by Alwys4areason76 - 2013-04-21 04:04:43

So I am a newbie and recieved mine for a long asystolic heart pause which gets the docs jumpin. But my pain began at week 7 post surgery. The good stabbing pain, localized around the site and and almost as if a yarn needle were trying to escape my chest. Turns out I had a blood clot in my subclavian to axillary vein or to be frank, the vein where my leads travel from my device to my heart.

So that is part A of my pain in my pacemaker area. So if you find you are losing mobility in your arm, then some swelling or even just black and blue or a small vein obstruction seek medical immediately so you too can add stomach injections to your routine.

Needle like pains around pacemaker.

by RobN - 2016-03-29 07:03:21

Hi all, I first had my pacemaker fitted when i was 19 years old. I'm now 31 and am on my second pacemaker. I have had sharp needle like pains around the pacemaker alot since i've had them. I thought it was due to the muscle being torn or over stretched and thought i was the only one getting these experiences untill i came across this website. Which has given me more info and reassurance about the pains and that others are experiencing the same. These pains only really happen when i wake up and stayed untill around midday then fade away. They have also made breathing in a little difficult as when i do breath in the sharp pains get a little worse. Does anyone else experience breathing difficulties?

Me too!

by Corty070 - 2018-03-14 00:42:59

I have the same issues every once in a while. No need to worry! I believe it is another thing we have to just deal with. If it happens again, try changing position and make sure to stay calm :) If this happens really often I'd check in with your doctor to make sure everything is alright. Hope this helps! Stay strong!

Pain doesn't go

by Eva ngu - 2019-02-11 10:26:06

Hey! Everyone I'm new hear. Just got my PM last year. Its gonna be a year soon with pm. Me too I feel pain like stabbing ,pricking on the implanted area.but people say its normal. So I'm still confused. 

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