Breast LE, scars, and MLD

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cookiegal
cookiegal Member Posts: 3,296
edited June 2014 in Lymphedema

So I was wondering how helpful those of you with breast LE found MLD.

I have anchor shaped scars from my reduction/lumpectomy.

I wonder if the scars are blocking the flow.

Do you still do scar massage with your MLD?

Sometimes my LE breast feels hard and lumpy, but I have had recent mammo and several exams, plus it comes and goes.

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  • Suzybelle
    Suzybelle Member Posts: 920
    edited November 2010

    Cookie, I don't have breasts now since my bmx, but I can tell you that scar tissue needs to be massaged.  My bmx was 9 months ago and I am still healing up - I guess eventually I won't have to massage, but for the foreseeable future I have to do it. I also massage in between the ribs starting at the base of the rib cage on my LE side and going from my side, working my way across the rib cage on the LE side and just gradually move up.  This really helps my truncal LE. 

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  • Leslie1962
    Leslie1962 Member Posts: 233
    edited November 2010

    Had double mastectomy one year ago today and my scar tissue is a problem. My LE therapist says the scar tissue isn't allowing the fluid to drain as it should. Have been dealing with my arm now for 365 days! Some days are better than others, but still...what a pain!

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  • cookiegal
    cookiegal Member Posts: 3,296
    edited November 2010

    Thanks for the answers. :)

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  • mrsnjband
    mrsnjband Member Posts: 1,409
    edited November 2010

    I agree with Leslie, my LE therapist said the fluid or waste can't drain through scar tissue.  I had  lot of swelling in the lymph that I had no ideas was there if it were not for the pain I was having in my arm.  Plus the inflammation on my right side. 

    Until I went to the LE therapist I didn't know anything about massage the scar tissue. She said she couldn't do much scar massage until the inflammation wejt down.

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  • GmaFoley
    GmaFoley Member Posts: 7,091
    edited June 2012

    Cookiegal - I'm just wondering how you are doing after this time - Have you had your problem resolved at all? I am new at this and finding any post on just Breast/truncal LE is hard - Your post actually came up on a google search .. 

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  • kira66715
    kira66715 Member Posts: 4,681
    edited June 2012

    Okay, now that I'm an official CLT, of about a half a day, here's what I understand: lymph doesn't drain through scars, but all scars are not the same, and some are small and in the right direction and some are deep and stuck and run crossways to the drainage path.

    Scar work should help.

    The drainage for breast LE is to do the standard trunk clearance: neck/deep abdominal work--really important--open up the good axilla and drain across the chest and the upper breast drains to the axilla and the lower drains to the ingunals, so open up the inguinals on the "bad" side and make a path down that side--clearing low to high, and then drain the lower breast to the inguinals/groin and the upper breast across the chest to the good axilla/arm pit.

    the deep abdominal work is really great, and can help a lot: KCShreve does it with a tennis ball.

    See, 135 hours, and I seem to have retained something...

    Kira

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  • GmaFoley
    GmaFoley Member Posts: 7,091
    edited June 2012

    You know even though i'm uncomfortable, I looked at my scar this morning, after using the jovipak pad over my scar since last weds, some of the swelling just under the scar has gone down! Thats the good news - bad news is it is also waking up the nerve endings... Oh My... thank goodness for gabapentin!

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