More pain with Lymphedema in dominant arm?

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comingtoterms
comingtoterms Member Posts: 421
edited March 2015 in Lymphedema

Greetings!

I experienced my first "flare" in December, which resulted in moving me into Stage 2. Since then I have been working with a trained therapist. Despite MLD, my experience has resulted in ongoing levels of pain radiating from my upper back and shoulder, inyo my arm and down to my fingers. I am never without some level of pain. I am bandaging at night and wear a compression sleeve and glove during the day.

I wonder if smaller women experience more pain because the tissues are nearer the surface? The pain is really affecting me all the time and I don't know if this means I simply will have to live with it for the rest of my life. My lymphedema is on my dominant side. Can that increase pain? Also, I loved to do yoga and haven't taken a class in over a month, which makes me incredibly sad. :(

Any info anyone can provide would be so greatly appreciated.

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited March 2015

    Think I probably/might come under the realm of a 'smaller woman' - I'm 123 lbs but am 5'6".

    I have no pain associated with my LE (dominate side). I do not do yoga but I am very active in many 'things'. The more active I am, the less LE issues I deal with. I wear my day garments everyday, my night garment and run my FlexiTouch daily.

    You say your upper back is hurting - have you checked out what might be going on there that is not related to the LE? My upper back is an issue pain wise and was long before LE but did get worse. I've had arthritis for many years in upper back (non LE side shoulder too thanks to a lot of riding injuries) - long before IBC or LE. Last Sept I started seeing a Chiropractor to see if it might help - it did. I had always been a skeptic about chiropractors for me though I have used them for years with competative horses with great results. Anywho, I have gotten great results from seeing the Chirp and only wish I had done it before.

    You might want to find out if there are other issues causing your pain.

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