sore wrist with glove - suggestions?
I'm very new to the lymphedema drudge. I just got my new glove and sleeve 2 weeks ago after 2 months of wrapping. I'm thrilled not to have to deal with all those bandages anymore! My question is, I have double compression where the sleeve and the wrist of the glove overlap. My wrist is becoming quite sore - and it's only been two weeks. When I take them off each evening, my hand/wrist looks very strange because of the tightness of the compression (from overlapping garments at the wrist), and takes several hours for the fluid in that area to redistribute normally. The area is fine with the night garments, but start hurting again pretty quickly after donning the glove and sleeve in the morning. I'm worried about skin breakdown starting in this area because it's so sore. Has anyone tried wearing something under their garments to cushion the skin?
Comments
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Do they fit properly? Is the sleeve under or over the glove?
Im not an expert and that's about the only questions I have...but hopefully a bump to your topic will get someone who can help more: ) -
Some fitters purposely make either the glove or sleeve loose at the wrist to minimize the double compression where the two overlap. A way to completely avoid double compression at the wrist is to get a one piece sleeve/glove combo. A warning ... they're a pain to get on and off. KS1
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Fuzzy may be on to something. Can you try reversing which one you wear over the other and see if it helps? Depending on what type of sleeve or glove you have, you can maybe "stretch" one a little to make it more comfortable. Fitting sleeves and gloves can be incredibly complicated. Your fitter or therapist may be able to offer advice or even a remake on one or both of the garments if they are custom-made. If you have had your garments for 2 weeks I would call and ask about returning or modifying the garments because they are causing problems. With custom garments there is a small window to have a garment remade or modified. If they are off the shelf, you might want to consider getting remeasured.
What works for one person doesn't always work for another, but I would think you could try adding some light padding ( cotton, foam, stockingette,etc) and wear it for a couple of hours. Then check and see if it is helping or making it worse. It sometimes takes a couple of tries to find the combination you like. I am on my 3rd sleeve/glove custom made combo. Each time I reorder, I change the measurements to better address problems I see. Good luck! -
thanks for the advice. I'll try the guaze wrap tomorrow, and try stretching out the wrist and reversing sleeve over glove. My glove is custom and is currently being remade because they measured my fingers too long. I told the fitter about the double compression issue and she said she would order it with an extra centimeter to the wrist, but I'm not sure that will be enough? We'll see when it comes. Where do you find sleeve/glove all one piece? thanks again for all the great feedback!
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Surfdreams, you can order custom garments one-piece or separate. They're not handy because you can't remove the glove easily to wash your hands or whatever--have to take off the whole thing. And they can be harder to don in the first place.
Garments should never cause pain or soreness. Pain draws lymph to the area (advance troops to take care of any possible invasion of bacteria or evacuation of dead cells, etc.), and that's the last thing you want. It may be there's too much compression in the area, in which case the last thing you want is to add any sort of padding, which will compress it more. (If you buy both glove and sleeve from the same company, they are aware of the double compression and generally compensate for that. Off-the-shelf garments or even custom from different companies can create extra compression in the overlap area.)
But there are other possibilities as well. You might talk to your therapist about gentle and gradual exercises to strengthen your hands/wrists, because garment-wearing really does require some extra effort to use our arms, hands and fingers efficiently.
Actually, a centimeter may be plenty--very small measurement, but because of the snug fit of our garments very small adjustments can make all the difference.
Do let us know how the remake turns out!
Hugs,
Binney -
surfdreams, There are a few companies that make off-the-shelf combined gauntlet+sleeve, but Although several companies make all-in-one CUSTOM glove+sleeve, I don't know of any companies that make an off-the-shelf combined glove+sleeve. For my custom Juzo glove+sleeve combo, my therapist (who is also my fitter) took measurements for a Juzo Expert glove and measurements for a Juzo Expert sleeve and then included a note saying that the measurements are for a single fingertip to axilla garment.
Binney's right that glove+sleeve combos are a pain to get on. I have both separate glove + sleeve, and an all-in-one glove+sleeve, and I alternate which one I wear. Whereas it take me just a couple of minutes to get my separate garments on, it takes me about 10-15 minutes to put on the all-in-one glove+sleeve (I have arm weakness so I probably am slower than most).
On the days I wear the all-in-one sleeve+glove, there is no way I am going to take the darn thing off to wash my hands. Instead, I slip on a disposable glove for dirty activies, then when I am done, I wash and dry my hands wearing the disposable glove. I make sure that the hand with the garment and disposable glove get a very good scrub. Depending on the situation, after washing & drying my hands, I either toss the disposable glove or save the dry disposable glove for the next messy activity. KS1
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I usually just stretch out the glove at the wrist by putting it over a bottle or something bigger. Works better if you do it the night before, but I've done it in the morning while I was showering and getting ready.
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all very good information and can't thank you all enough for the help! I put the glove under the sleeve today, rather than the other way around and that helped a LOT! In retrospect, my OT had told me when bandaging that I should never leave the end of bandage at a joint, and that is what I was doing by wearing the sleeve first - causing it to pinch at my wrist. It had looked like I had been wearing a tourniquet at the wrist by the end of the day. I reversed it today and with the sleeve under the glove, I didn't have all that direct compression at the edge of the wrist/joint. The other benefit is that it kept my glove from migrating - kept it in place all day. I'll also try stretching the glove wrist out by placing it over a bottle to dry tonight when I wash it. My current day garments are Jobst. I am interested in the all in one garments when I get to reorder in 6 months. I use an arm butler to don my current sleeve, and it works so great. I wonder if the all in one sleeve glove combo would work with the arm butler? You ladies are awesome to give me such great advice!
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When you stretch the glove wrist, it's better then to use over rather than under and be compressed.
I've seen videos of all in ones being put on by arm butlers. No doubt it will be trickier.
Good luck!
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