In this episode in the MedStar Health DocTalk series, host Debra Schindler talks with Dr. Meghan Milburn, FACS, director of the Breast Center at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, about an important and emerging advancement in breast cancer surgery: breast nerve preservation and resensation after mastectomy.

Dr. Milburn explains why loss of sensation is so common after mastectomy, affecting up to 60–80% of women, and how it can impact far more than physical feeling. Numbness and nerve pain can affect safety, intimacy, emotional wellbeing, and a woman’s sense of connection to her body, even when reconstruction looks cosmetically successful.

The conversation explores how newer surgical techniques allow surgeons to identify, preserve, and reconnect nerves at the time of mastectomy and reconstruction, helping restore sensation to the breast and nipple over time. Dr. Milburn explains how nerve regeneration works, what patients can realistically expect, and why recovery can take months to years, but with meaningful improvements for many women.

Listeners will learn:

• Why numbness and neuropathic pain occur after mastectomy
• How breast neurotization and nerve grafting are performed
• What recovery and rehabilitation look like, including sensory “retraining”
• Who may or may not be a good candidate for these procedures
• How restoring sensation can reduce pain, improve quality of life, and help women feel whole again

This episode offers hope, education, and empowerment for anyone facing breast cancer surgery—and highlights how advances in surgical care are focusing not just on survival, but on long-term quality of life.

If you would like to comment on this podcast, or recommend a topic for another episode of DocTalk, send an email: DocTalk@medstar.net

For an interview with Dr. Meghan Milburn, or for more information about this podcast, contact Debra Schindler, media relations.