Hot tub after ALND?

Hot tubs and even hot baths definitely exaccerbate my otherwise mild truncal LE, but I'm not sure how they impact risk if you don't already have LE issues.  If you don't have any symptoms of LE, I would err on the side of caution and not soak my upper body and arm(s) very long, if at all.  If you have any signs of LE, I wouldn't get anything more than maybe my legs and hips in -- definitely not my upper body.     Deanna 

Hi Lanagraves,

In addition to the advice from your fellow members, the main Breastcancer.org site advises "Avoid taking unusually hot baths or showers and immersing the arm and upper body in high-heat hot tubs or steam baths. If you wish to use a hot tub, keep your affected arm out of the water and limit your exposure to 15 minutes or less."

You can read more on the Reducing Lymphedema and Flare-Up Risk: Things to Avoid page.

Hopet this helps!

--The Mods

I have arm and truncal LE, but really hated the idea of giving up my hot tub when my LE therapist advised it.  I worked out a deal with her - I will hot tub, but no more than 15 minutes, and the water temp will be no hotter than 102.  I don't hot tub when I'm having an LE flare, and I'm very careful about it otherwise.  I also will wrap my arm or use my night sleeve after hot tubbing if I feel any symptoms at all, but so far I've been able to hot tub without problems. 

However, I already have LE so in a way I have a bit more freedom to experiment knowing that I have the skills and training plus the compression wrapping and garments to deal with an LE flare.  It's a bit trickier if you don't have LE already - you don't want to risk anything that might trigger the onset. 

Like you said, stupid cancer! 

Hello,

I take a whirlbath every week (if not two), about 109°. I stay in for as long as I want, and I do soak my arm (partial node dissection last August) time to time. It's like my feet, they don't like to stay in hot water for more than 5 min straight, so I take them out too. I must say, that at first I was quite scared and nervous about lymphedemarisk + jacuzzi, but personally it's fine for me. I just don't let the whirly massagethings get too near the area around the incision (that includes a part of the back, just behind the armpit if you see what I mean), and I don't have my hand or underarm in for more than a couple of minutes at a time. But it's certainly doable! I really think 'this is life' when I have a bath with my DH, and a node dissection shouldn't take that away from you, if you don't have any symptoms of a beginning lymphedema. My housedoctor, oncologist & chiropracter all told me I'm 'in the clear', as I don't suffer from swelling (knock on wood), because swelling and other issues come along not so long after surgery; I don't consider myself in the clear; we should ALL be very careful about edema! I met a woman abroad and she had edema in BOTH arms! One from yogapractice apparently, and another one from some kind of fight where someone had grabbed her arm very tightly..

I kind of test my arm daily, what I can do, and if I see it's doable, I try a little bit more next time etc. Baths, yoga, cleaning...It takes such a long time, and the pain can still be severe; but isn't it nice when you notice you can do that little extra that you couldn't the week before?

Hmmm..in the exercise thread Hugz asked the pool fairy to drop off a pool. This thread makes me wonder: is there enough water in a hot tub to provide the kind of compression benefits we get from a pool? In other words, would a not-too-hot-tub (hot tub kept at a temp that is low-risk for LE) be deep enough to provide LE compression benefits, and if so, could we not adapt some water exercises that do not require even deeper water?  I suppose there are maintenance issues on a hot tub not maintained at a high temp.  And of course, others in our lives might think a luke-warm hot tub is not worth hopping into.  But could it be a pool-fairy option?  (I have to think about whether a warm-ish hot tub is something I would hop into during a Michigan winter, too!)

I was told to stay out of hot tubs & saunas. The gym I work out at has both. Since I get cold easily & the gym is over-airconditioned, I sometimes duck in the dry dauna to warm up(less than 5 min), leaving before I start to sweat. The jacuzzi(102 degrees) I use before I swim. I get in just past my waist. This helps to prevent leg cramps I experience when swimming laps, caused by the cold(79 degree)pool water & probably Tamoxifen. I'm such a whimp. This is my compromise. Our backyard hot tub will remain mothballed for now. I did the upkeep & used it the most.

I have a jacuzzi tub at home, and I love it for my fibromyalgia. I've been fortunate - no LE so far. I think the water temp is around 100- 101 degrees. (Usually I'm reading while I'm in there, but if I get cold, I do put my arms under water and near the jets.)

I do go for water exercises at the local rehab hospital, and their therapy pool is heated to 94 degrees. I can run and jump and move in ways that I never could on dry land, and the heat is sooo soothing to my painful joints. The only problem is walking up those steps to get out of the pool. I feel like I gain 100 pounds with each step out of the water!

The one place I would never use a hot tub or a jacuzzi tub is at a hotel or spa. OMG - just the thought of what germs and other things lie in those pipes makes me cringe. I clean my own jacuzzi tub religiously, but you can't be sure what hotels do.

The pool at the hospital is VERY carefully monitored and cleaned.