Shirt design for Lymphedema

Galsal

Purple, I had a therapist at OT for several months both after the BMX and after the attempted recon. 

She had taught me to do the harder strokes to "wake" up the nodes and the the soft strokes to move the fluid towards the nodes.  The abdomen was pulled so tightly during the attempted Diep is why it's like this.

cfdr

I just recently started using a swell spot (a Kimbe from Solaris, which I tuck under my left armpit). I found that my long sleeve compression shirt from UA is not tight enough to hold it in place. It's very comfortable under my WearEase camisole or my Spanx tank. Really has made a big difference!

cowgal

I'm not familiar with swell spots.  I looked them up on the Solaris page but don't completely understand that either.  Who needs them and how do they work?

GmaFoley

I need them cowgal - they are pads that help to move the swelling out of that area.. I have two jovipak pads that were given to me and I use them under my arms to move the swelling down the side. I also helps pad my nerve pain areas..

purple32

WOW!

Thanks Carol, journey... and all.

carol57

cfdr, so...do you have the impression that more compression in the T shirt would be needed to hold the spot in place? Perhaps a fabric with a higher percentage of spandex/elastane?

Journey

Carol thank you for all the research and posting. I would like to say that if a manufacturer is at all interested still PLEASE understand that most of us would be delighted with the basics. We are like kids filling out our Christmas wish list for Santa....throwing everything in there but would be thrilled with a few! If we could just keep the interest of a manufacturer to develop the basic shirt ....improvements and various options might be viable later once they have significant sales for their efforts. It's a business.

carol57

Journey, I could not agree more about first priority being just the basics. I thought that in sharing our most expansive wish list, I would not be second-guessing what a shirt maker could or could not do.  They will know quickly enough what's feasible from the list and what is not, but I'd rather put something out there that a garment maker has to say 'no' to, than leave something out that might be possible, even if I suspect it is not.  I'm hoping there are some very creative garment designers out there who might find an unexpected way to solve some of our more difficult issues.  But as you say, we will all understand if the 'ideal' shirt cannot exist.

cowgal

Thanks for the explanation GmaFoley.  I think I may need to look into getting some as well. I wonder if they can help with back swelling too?

carol57

Cowgal, I think they do!  I have a spot on my back that acts up, and I put a 'chocolate bar' (made of foam; looks like a bar of squares of chocolate) under my compression shirt at Binney's suggestion.  It works like a charm--just seems to tell the fluid to keep on moving.  I use it when I'm exercising, which is normally what triggers the itchy, twitchy mushy feeling I get near my shoulder blade.  Now, getting the darn thing onto the right spot makes me be somewhat of a contortionist.  When DH is around, he helps. Otherwise, it might just be humorous to watch me slide that thing into place, cause really, the darn spot is just out of reach!  If you want to investigate, here's the link to where I bought my 'chocolate bar.'  http://www.bandagesplus.com/prd/152/780/Chocolate-Bars.html

hugz4u

As per Journey's suggestion on the first post, I know we should keep this post only to shirt design so I will be brief.

I insert my own swell spot etc by myself usually.

Heres a trick. Put the swell spot into the compression shirt,aligning it up to where you want it to go. Hold it, along with the tee with one hand to keep it relatively in the place you want. With other hand. Slip your body into it still holding the swell spot to the tee. Jimmy it into place.( the hardest part to do)



All that moving around also stretches out that nasty rad and surgery tightening.



Maybe we should start a thread on donning LE gear and leave this thread to shirt design. I know I had a devil of a time just learning how to don a sleeve. We all have punched our own noses haven't we?

GmaFoley

Huz4u - OH YEA - in fact, I did the nose punch this morning LOL

cfdr

Carol, yes, I think more compresion would help keep it in place. Of course the UA shirt is not designed for our need for compression, so it's not quite as snug. I can keep in place just fine with my WearEase camisole or Spanx tank top.

carol57

I should update on the shirts I bought from Go Athletics.  I bought two: one a 'compression' shirt and the other a 'TRUE compression' shirt. They arrived, and I did a rousing workout in the 'true compression' shirt this morning.  The garments are lovely; well constructed and the seams are flat! I like the feel of the fabric much better than my UA compression shirts, which feel plastic-y in comparison to the feel of the Go shirts. I have the impression that the Go shirt wicks better than my UA shirts.

But--I think I needed to order a 'cold gear' compression shirt to get the compression I need. At least that's what I'm guessing, because the amount of spandex in the shirts I bought is much less than in the UA shirts, and the Go Athletics website explains that their Cold Gear shirts are comparable to the UA shirt fabric.  The Cold Gear shirts do not seem to be offered in short-sleeve versions, which is why I did not look at them.  I do not find fabric composition (spandex/elastane percent) for any of the fabrics on their website (and I don't now if that's available on the UA site--never looked!).

I have heard from Go Athletics and they are indeed reading our posts and working on addressing our needs, so wow...that's just terrific, and I am content to see how that plays out.  I rather imagine that if any of us asked for a short-sleeve version of their Cold Gear shirt, they would help.   

hugz4u

Carol, OOoohhhh, I am thrilled and thanks for the comparison test. So your saying that the cold gear(the summer ones are called heatgear I believe,also with compression)  has better compression than Go Athletics. Hummm that is very important for sure if not our main concern.

We just need a range of sizes for petites to Plus size like me.  Definately a wider bottom to fit our women hips so they don't creep up.

Breathable please because this stuff is hot as "dragon's breath"

Thanks Carol

carol57

Hugz, the regular 'compression' shirt and 'true compression' shirt I bought from Go does not match the degree of compression in my UA shirts, and I cannot tell from the UA labels if my short-sleeve UAs are their 'heat gear' line or not.  But Go has a 'cold gear' compression line (looks like long sleeves only at present) that their site says matches compression of UA 'heat gear.'  Confusing, no?  I plan to ask what it would cost to purchase a Go 'cold gear' shirt with short sleeves, so I can wear it with my compression sleeve.  Then I think I'll be comparing apples with apples, so to speak.  

If you check the wish list on a page back or so, you should see the 'for all sizes' wish!

carol57

Update: I spoke with Corey, and the company is busy investigating various avenues to producing a compression T that will meet our needs.

Here's a question for all who have trouble with seams in compression wear.  Take a look at the TRUECompression photo on this page http://www.goathleticapparel.com/compression-series/true-compression-shirt. Click on the photo for a close-up view of the seams.  These are the flat seams that are currently available. My question for you is whether this type of seam irritates whose with truncal issues along the side of the body, or elsewhere where the seam falls. The seam is about 1/4 inch wide and has a certain thickness to it, so while it does not stick out like a regular seam, it does create a slightly stiff spine, and you can feel the stitching with your fingers. I don't happen to have those issues, so I'm not the best one to judge. Has anyone had any experience with this type of seam?

Journey

Thrilled!  My problem is the area where a raglan sleeve would rub on my back near the side.  It's the area that most tank tops and genie type bras rub.  I'm not familiar with a flat seam but my thought is that if the neckline and compression are good I could always wear the shirt inside out to avoid the rubbing.

carol57

Journey, they make both raglan and traditional sleeve styles, so I suspect a choice of both would be possible.  The flat seam is kinda thick on both sides of the garment, so wearing it inside out would not solve the problem if you have seam sensitivity.  That might argue for a traditional sleeve, worn inside out.  In any case, the idea for now is to just 'chat' about how garment construction affects us, so creative minds can think about how to solve garment issues. Go Athletics is following this thread, and if anyone else out there who designs garments is also interested, the information is available to all.

A while back, wasn't there a fashion garment designer with LE who expressed an interest in working on camouflage garments (i.e. to hide the sleeves when they're not beautiful like the Divas sleeves)?  I wonder if she might have some construction suggestions that could help the compression garment folks understand our needs.

Anyone who can articulate how the technical details of a garment, especially a compression garment, either works well or irritates, that I missed explaining in the wish list a few pages back--please chime in here.  (sorry 'bout the run-on writing here...I'm taking an exercise break and typing very fast and need to bolt back to my workout!)

Carol

hugz4u

Just to note that if I have too many seams even if they are flat I get irritated.

By too many seams.... if you look at some compression tees you will notice some manufactures add extra material insets which create more seams. It may make a great fashion statement with all those flat seams but its not good for LE.  When seams cross eachother also that is not good but some seams are unavoidable. Would a raglan sleeve would be better? I am not sure.

Yes there was a girl on the le board that was a fashion designer. I think she had started a thread but not sure.

I will take a better look at the link you gave Carol.

Journey

Bumping for my LE friends.

cowgal

carol57, thank you for the link for the chocolate bar.  I will have to check into it.

hugz4u

So I was looking at Wearease website and I saw a tee shirt that you can reverse into either a boatneck or scoopneck by just turning it around. This might be a good option for those that swell in different places. It wasn't a compression tee otherwise I would have ordered it on the spot but I just thought this might be an idea to throw out there.

purple32

I love this design for a cami tank :

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_027VA47262801P

Galsal

Can any one find the sizing chart for that Purple?

purple32

sorry- no chart.

I would just guess and return if needed  or perhaps  go to the store to try on.

Journey

Hi Carol, any more contact from GoAthletic folks? Trying to stay hopeful here!

carol57

Journey, YES!  They are experimenting with some new fabrics, and they sent me some samples to evaluate.  The fabrics were excellent, with one offering a bit more compression than the other, and I am expecting to have a follow-up discussion this week. I'm sure it will take some time for them to develop the product, but for sure they are serious about it and working on it.  So we should stay hopeful!

Tamiami

I just found this link and am adding to my favorites so I can follow!  Thank you Corey...and Carol!

KS1

I've been scouring Juzo's site looking at glove options, and I noticed that Juzo has a compression vest (VT) that comes with with and without sleeves.  Has anyone with truncal LE tried the vest?  Since it is customizable, I bet you could customize the length of the sleeve.  Here's the URL where I saw it:

http://www.juzousa.com/dealer/PDF Files/Expert09.pdf

KS1