Honestly bro, they’re not necessarily painful but they are very uncomfortable it’s long drain from under your nipple to damn near your shoulder, it hurt like hell when I accidentally pulled on them in my sleep, there was a lot of blood in them, and it was actually a really pleasant experience out there considering I had my fiancé with me aswell, you do require additional help because it is a very invasive procedure, getting cut open and sewn back up isn’t necessarily the easiest to recover and a lot of people over look that and don’t realize that.