anyone treat LD with Graston Technique?

Jancye, unfortunately, there a plenty of not great therapists out there, and with pressure from insurance companies, it only seems to get worse.

Good LE therapy works. It often takes a few attempts to find a good person.

It's a weird situation where PT/OT's manage a chronic disease--that's not really their treatment model.

Here are some links:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified_Lymphedema_Therapist.htm 

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/treatments_for_lymphedema.htm 

Also, the National Lymphedema Network has a position paper on the treatment of lymphedema, and you should review it with any therapist you got to:

http://www.lymphnet.org/lymphedemaFAQs/positionPapers.htm 

It's really easy to get fed up with LE, and dealing with therapists, but unfortunately, it's not just swelling, when the lymphatic fluid stays in the tissues it causes inflammation and fibrosis and can make things so much harder to treat.

We all want quick fixes, and we've all toyed with alternative therapy, but I've never heard of a chiropractic technique that works for LE (and I've gone to chiropracters.)

Let us know how we can help.

Kira 

if you pm Onebadboob--she lives in CT and knows good therapists, closer in to NYC. 

I've had the Graston Technique done by a lymphedema O/T.  Did wonders for the pulling I had in my ribs with no additional swelling.  The procedure is not pain free and I understand it is controversial.

Elmcity69,

So sorry to write this response so late, but I wanted to share my very positive experience with Graston. 

About my lymphedema--I developed lymphedema after my failed flap surgery in 2011. I spent oodles of time and money on massage and garments and compression pumps. My right leg resolved, but my left leg and left arm never resolved. My left foot and ankle were most acutely affected, followed by my abdomen and left arm. The failed flap was a TUG flap, so there was alot of scar tissue and huge adhesions in my groin area, as well as a huge amount of scar adhesions on my left chest wall and left leg, due to the open wounds and wound vac which I had for 5 months. I was unable to exercise due to the pain in my legs. When I went to a lymphedema physician, they explained the entire protocol, put me on a pump and taping and hose and massage. He told me that they now know via imaging that lymph can make it through scar tissue, albeit slowly. To me, that meant that I needed to break down the scar tissue to make it easier. But how to do that was the issue. I had so much scar tissue and I was constantly fighting it to help move the lymph. I tried everything, including bouncing and inversion.

In 2014, I interviewed for a job at a company that focused on soft tissue management. When doing the competitive research, I discovered Graston Technique. I was most concerned with my scar tissue pain and identified a clinician (a chiropractor) using the website grastontechnique.com. 

After one month of treatment, all of my adhesions are hugely improved and softened, sensations are back in my legs and chest, and swelling is greatly reduced. I am exercising heavily and I now have a normal gait with no pain. I no longer have the feeling of being stung by bees where I was swelling. I now have very minor swelling in my left ankle and left arm (maybe by about 1/2 an inch), and the trunk swelling is totally gone. I do not need compression hose anymore except when travelling and standing for long periods. 

Graston people have these special tools which they use to break up the scar tissue. They gently rub the tools over areas where there are inflamed tendons or scar adhesions, and a special lubricant is on your skin so that it rarely hurts--feels more like a gentle massage. The quality of the skin and scars is much softer and more natural. She even works on my fibrous tissue on my ankle and it also is helping. At its worst, my left ankle was swollen by an extra 5 inches. My abdomen at its worst looked like I was 8 months pregant.

It worked for me and I'm amazed by the results. However, I will say that my lymphedema was due to massive trauma and scar adhesions. I only had one sentinel node biopsy on the left arm, which caused my upper arm to swell only slightly. 

Here is one other paper on lymphedema and GT: http://www.grastontechnique.com/file/sites%7C*%7C...

There is probably more info out there if you google it. I recommend this for people with LD if they have a lot of scar tissue.