Does anyone have CORDING without LE?

FLwarrior I think you've posted in the right forum.  Cording doesn't MEAN you'll get lymphedema but it can be a contributing factor. 

I had cording but I also have LE so I won't elaborate on my experience.  I do know stretching helps........a lot.  I had cording and didn't even know what it was at the time but I had an urge to stretch which I did.  It resolved.  I suspect professional intervention would be a good idea.  Someone more knowledgeable than I will hopefully come by soon.

Hugs.

I had cording that ran parallel to my SNB incision and down my inner arm.  One visit to an LE specialist, my cord was popped and never to be seen again.  I had seen a generalist PT who attempted some lymph massage, who also suggested self-massage, but the real result came with the  LE specialist.  I can't remember if the LE PT said cording and LE were related or not, but my BS said they were not.

I had more cording in my right arm than my left (right after BMX). My left arm has minor LE. My right arm (knock on wood) seems to be OK. 10 nodes left, 4 nodes right. No rads but did have chemo (taxotere/carboplatin)

Currently no cording

Florida Warrior, my cording came on a couplle of weeks post op, but those little piano wires/harp strings have shown back up again--sometimes for no reason, and sometimes with increased activity.

I don't think it's the bending over--I think it's the pulling weeds that bring it on.

Some of the LE PT's who know a lot about cords think that old cords can hang around, possibly for a long time, and act up occasionally. They are "fibrosed" lymphatics and some veins and sometimes the body resorbs them, and sometimes they open back up and sometimes they hang around as scar tissue.

When mine first popped up, I felt it down into my thumb.

Kira

I HATE this format also.

Oh, I forgot to answer your question: cording is a risk for LE, especially early and extensive cording, from stepupspeakout--there was a study in British Medical Journal, if early PT could prevent LE, and it did--except for the women with extensive early cording:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/essential%20informat%20for%20healthcare%20providers.htm---Axillary Web Syndrome is a risk factor for lymphedema: In a study of early PT to minimize lymphedema, a subset of patients who developed axillary web syndrome at 3-4 weeks post-op had an almost universal development of lymphedema, despite intervention http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20068255

BMJ. 2010; 340: b5396. Published online 2010 January 12. "We also found that 12 of the 18 women who developed secondary lymphoedema had axillary web syndrome during the second and third week after surgery. The axillary web syndrome is a known but poorly studied complication of surgery. No study has shown any link between the axillary web syndrome and the onset of secondary lymphoedema. We and others suggest that the axillary web syndrome may be a sign of injury to the lymphatic system and it could produce a lymphatic overload as a result of failure of the lymphatic system. This overload, together with other factors, could be responsible for the onset of secondary lymphoedema"

My LE followed a ton of early cords, but it was a cascade of events: early stretching overhead, big axillary seroma, tons of cords, then bug bites on a hot day--and a surgeon who wasn't delicate with my tissue--her goal was a cosmetically great lumpectomy and she literally rearranged all my tissue. Talk about trauma and bruising....

My cording developed after my SNB.  I had my BMX a month later and I was at the generalist PT, trying to resolve this issue, before my BMX, so it occured after the SNB, but before the BMX.  Once the LE PT popped it, it never recurred, atleast thus far.

Southern Soprano I know the place I had my PT will charge less if you have no insurance. Something about the "agreed upon" price they have to charge with insurance. It's crazy I know. So maybe see how much a few sessions would cost. At least you might get educated with some at home exercises and guidance.