Background: Previous literatures showed no evidence that wearing an external breast prosthesis may prevent changes in body posture in women who underwent mastectomy.
Objective: To determine whether the weight of an external breast prosthesis can contribute to posture changes in women post mastectomy.
Methods: Fifty-one women with unilateral mastectomy (age 58 ± 11.39 years) were divided into 2 subgroups by their operation side. Asymmetry of body posture was evaluated by using the electromyography activity of erector spinae muscles with four different weights of breast prosthesis.
Results: Despite the operation side, the erector spinae muscle activities on the operation side and non-operation side were significantly different. Overall, for patients who had operation on the left side, their erector spinae muscle activity imbalance will be smaller, compared to the imbalance among patients with right operation side. The weight of the external breast prosthesis did not influence the differences of erector spinae muscle activities on the operation side and non-operation side.
Conclusions: The weight of an external breast prosthesis for women after mastectomy may not be crucial when choosing a proper prosthesis.
Keywords: Breast cancer; electromyography; erector spinae muscle; postural asymmetry.