First timer

lg10

Hi everyone. I will be seeing a specialist tomorrow, but I wanted to see how people have handled mild le flare ups in their hands. This is my first experience and it was brought on by radiation. I feel a lot of tightness around the joints in my hands and there is some mild swelling. I read that is was hard to treat lymphedema in the hands so I wanted to see if you ladies had any suggestions or advice. Anything specific i should ask my therapist tomorrow? Thanks so much!

Morwenna

Hello there.

If it is both hands it's pretty unlikely to be lymphedema. I see you recently started on Tamoxifen as well and that can cause joint swelling.

If you do have hand lymphedema there are compression gloves that one normally wears with a sleeve. Hand lymphedema alone is also unusual.

Just be prepared to describe when and where you notice swelling, if it follows any pattern and what makes it better or worse if anything.

Lymphedema arises when the normal lymph drainage channels are damaged and unable to cope with transporting the lymphatic load from the tissues in the affected area which then back up with fluid collecting in the tissues.

lg10

Thank you for your response! I’m interested to see what she says tomorrow. I don’t notice any swelling in my arm. It’s mostly located between my knuckles—only on my surgery hand. Maybe I just have some severe inflammation from the radiation.

Outfield

Ig10, my arm is affected, but my hand not so much - only very occasionally. I do have a glove that I can wear if it does swell, but I've found that wearing my nightgarment, which covers my fingers to their tips, is often good enough. I also learned how to wrap, including my fingers.

Everyone's lymphedema is unique, so if you do end up getting a lymphedema diagnosis it's definitely a good idea to research strategies, but you'll have to experiment a bit to find what works for you.

hugz4u

if it’s le and in your fingers it would be wise to get a well fitting glove