Muscle in armpit swollen/painful to move after breast augmentation?

Congratulations on your recent breast surgery.  Your experience with not being able to completely lift your arms straight up and the tightness in your upper arm is common with surgery patients.  To assist your arm in stretching, place your thumb at the base of your armpit and massage the tightness all the way down the arm to the elbow.  It will take a little bit of time for you to recover completely, it takes a bit of patience.  Good luck.

Hello,Thank you for your question. You may be describing a mondor's cord, nerve-related pain or tension related to deep internal sutures creating the pulling sensation. I recommend that you visit your Plastic Surgeon for assessment.All the best

In my office we call this chords. It doesn't happen to everyone, but it does happen. As stated before, make sure you are massaging and stretching. Stretching would be reaching as far to the ceiling as you can and any other positions that you feel the pull. They usually appear a week or so after surgery and can persist for a few weeks after it has developed. Stretching and massaging will aid in the elimination of the chords.
I wish you the best of luck and if further assistance or demonstration is needed, I suggest calling your surgeon or scheduling an in person follow up.