This is highly variable and can depend on whether implants are placed under or over the muscle as well as the size of the implant relative to the breast.
Oftentimes the problem arised from the operation being performed on two sides leaving the patient to compare one side to the other. Sometimes pain can be confusing as well. Let me explain. Sometimes the side on which nerves are injured can be numb and this is interpreted as normal. Whereas the otherside with normal nerves that are intact is more painful.
Sometimes nerves "shutdown" after being stretched or compressed kind of like your leg falls asleep when you sit on it. But when it wakes up, it is painful and causes pain and needle sensations we call dysesthesias.
There are other nerves on the side of the breast that travel from between the ribs into the inner part of the upper arm. These can be stretched in a thin indivdual with a small chest and a relatively big implant that causes pain to radiate into the arm.
Most of these resolve with time as the nerves are stretched. Doing breast displacement (massage) exercises can help but I would leave this up to your surgeon. If this is the cause, the pain is generally worse at night when you are least active. Ask you surgeon about the exercises.
It should get better!
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