Help with Hand Lymphedema and Glove

Foreverhopeful,

  I can totally relate: I developed hand and forearm LE three weeks post op. Hands are TOUGH!

  It's been over three years, and it has gotten better: I primarily wrap at night, as I also found the Solaris isn't that great for my hands.

   I have a custom Juzo glove, and one thing the fitter and my LE therapist have said to me is that "sometimes less is more with hands"--I use a compression class one, the glove goes to the nail beds and the forearm--about 4 inches or so below my wrist.

   It took 5 tries to get the first custom Juzo right.

   I found that at the start I really had trouble with the top of my hand swelling  and some of the palm. I tried foam inserts in the gloves with some benefit.

  A lot of the time, when I was having a tough time getting things under control, I would hang out at home or in the car, in a gauze finger wrap, rather than a glove.

    My swelling started at the back of my hand, and moved into my fingers and palm. And the forearm was an issue for a while.

    It has gotten much better, but there have been times of great frustration along the way.

    It's not uncommon for it to take a while before you get a hand under control--it's not a simple cylinder like an arm.

    Maybe the class 2 is too much for you and it sure doesn't sound like the fingers are doing their job.

    We pay a lot for these gloves, they should work. I sent it back 5 times. The Juzo rep got a bit ticked off, but we finally got a glove that worked.

   Hang in there.

Kira

Forever, my problems with swelling in my hand were helped when my fitter ordered gloves for me that were LOOSER around the palm, not tighter. If it's tight, that causes your hand to "collapse" inward in a resting position, which leaves the palm completely un-compressed. (Did that make sense?) The tighter glove also made my hand ache because of the effort it took to open my hand when I was using it all day. And achiness or pain also draws more lymph fluid to the site, so that was another factor that led to more hand swelling. I use a "Palmer" swell-spot from Solaris for my palm when it's flaring, but normally don't need it if my glove fits well. Using a palm swell-spot can sometimes work without needing to add a dorsal swell-spot, because it pulls the fabric tighter across the top of your hand as well.

This is all so much trial and error, but it's good to know all the variations that have worked for different women so you can try them out and see what works for YOU. I hope Jinky will be along with her suggestions, as she's been at this for a while too.

Let us know what you discover!
Binney

Good luck.  My therapist cut a special foam pad which I wore on top of my hand under a Class I custom glove.  Sure made it difficult to put on the glove, but worked.  However, because the glove seams irritated my skin, now I wear a Jobst seamless which is a Class II.  (I don't think Jobst makes a Class I seamless.)  I was afraid that it would be too tight, but once the fingers are stretched out (large magic markers do the trick--capped of course!), it is just fine.