Great news about kinesio tape!!!!

Options
Suzybelle
Suzybelle Member Posts: 920
edited June 2014 in Lymphedema

I went to my LE therapist today for my twice weekly session (thank you, flare.) and was asking her about what we had been discussing in the kinesio tape thread.  I am finding my compression garments to be more and more uncomfortable.  I think part of it is because my arm is swelled, although it has begun to go down.  It ain't QUITE so big and fat now.  I think another big part is mental...and they're just not comfortable to me.  I can't breathe in them...I feel hot and stifled...I dunno.  Anyway, I was asking her if she thought I could use the kinesio tape in place of the compression garments.  She said yes.  Hurrah!!!  So right now, I'm having to learn, and I mean, seriously learn, how to apply this stuff.  It's not just slapping some on my arm...but I know I can learn how, and I'm so excited at the prospect of a summmer without compression garments!!!

Of course, when I'm doing any exercise, housework, yardwork, etc., I have to wear them, and I'm still doing my Solaris oven mitt and bandaging...

I guess it says alot about  LE and BC that I'm so jazzed about just wearing tape on my arm and side rather than compression garments...it's amazing what we can live with, huh?  Cool

I'll let you guys know how this goes.  I'm in a sort of 'experimental' mode.  This may not work at all, but I'm giving it a shot.

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • kira66715
    kira66715 Member Posts: 4,681
    edited March 2011

    Go for it Suzy,

      You'll figure out how to be a master taper and if you can get a break from compression garments, which Stanley Rockson MD from Stanford called "our iron lung"--then do it and let us all know how it works out.

      My LE therapist likes to "mix it up" and keep the LE guessing, and this sounds like a plan.

    Kira

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • alex56
    alex56 Member Posts: 136
    edited March 2011

    Good for you Suzy!  I can't wait to hear how this goes for you so please keep us in the loop.  I'm a huge fan of kinesio tape although I never had it applied to my affected arm.  My therapist used it on my chest and trunk and the fluid just disappeared!  It also helped the tightness in my armpit. He also used it on my torn rotator cuff and a lower back issue - worked like a charm again.  My LE is pretty mild, so the prospect of being able to tape instead of wearing a sleeve in the hot summer is VERY appealing.  I would love to learn how to do this.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Suzybelle
    Suzybelle Member Posts: 920
    edited March 2011

    Kira, you are so right about the 'iron lung' and compression garments.  They are such a bear.  I hate to gripe when other people have much worse health issues, but wearing those things every day, for at least 8 hours a day and then having to wrap and or wear the oven mitt at night gets to be such a grind, as we well know.  I am soooo excited about this prospect of not having to wear the compression constantly.

    Alex, I am learning how to do it, thanks to my therapist and some literature I got...you can really jack it up (my scientific term) if you don't know where to place the anchors, because you are so right - it really does move the fluid.  So I'm having to learn, but I'm very, very hopeful.  I'll keep you updated.

    And thinking about it, it makes sense.  I have always used kinesio tape since I got diagnosed with LE April 2010, but I have always worn the compression garments over it, which probably keeps the tape from working the way that it should - the tape is stationary under the compression.  Or at least that's my uneducated opinion.  I have plenty more uneducated opinions on a whole range of topics.  Tongue out

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Suzybelle
    Suzybelle Member Posts: 920
    edited March 2011

    Hi, Ladies:

    I wanted to give you an update on my experiment w/ kinesio tape and no compression garments...I'm on my 4th day and my arm actually feels awesome.  Of course, this may be because I'm being hyper vigilant about MLD and night-time wrapping, too...but I really think the kinesio tape works better without the compression garments. 

    I'll let you know how it's working.  I think the big test will come when I'm out of therapy and back to taking care of it myself. 

    Happy Friday, my friends!
    Suzanne

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • o2bhealthy
    o2bhealthy Member Posts: 2,101
    edited March 2011

    How exciting Suzybelle!!! I hope you continue to have success with the kinesio tape once you are on your own

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Marple
    Marple Member Posts: 19,143
    edited March 2011

    Fingers crossed for you Suzy.  What a lift!!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SleeveNinja
    SleeveNinja Member Posts: 178
    edited March 2011

    Suzy - Makes perfect sense that KT would work better without a garment over it. Maybe you can post a picture of your arm with tape on it?

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Suzybelle
    Suzybelle Member Posts: 920
    edited March 2011

    Okay - I'm going to attempt to post these photos - sorry they are not better quality.  In the other kinesio tape thread, Binney posted a great link to Linda Lou's info. on kinesio tape.  Please note that the really full part of my upper arm is where most of my swelling is.  The goal is to direct fluid away from the sites where it will collect with nowhere to go, so the anchor placement is critical.  Notice there is no anchor anywhere where the fluid could pool up.

    Well, I've been trying to post these photos for an hour and am too stupid to figure it out.  Help!  I'm trying to copy them from my fb account.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories