LE & flying

I flew for the first time last October with a sleeve and hand gauntlet even though I don't have LE and never had any physical therapy.  After reading  the LE threads, I decided it was better to wear the sleeve and gaunlet for the 4 hours each way as a preventative measure rather than risk dealing with LE.  I went to a women's medical boutique and got measured for an "off the shelf" LE sleeve and gauntlet.  Make sure you get a sleeve and gauntlet/glove and wear both at the same time.  Just wearing the sleeve alone may cause LE.   

Also remember that packing and carrying suitcases can also be risky for folks with lymphedema.  Pack light, take it easy and enjoy the trip.

I agree with Hugz on the UnderArmour t shirt, making sure it's a short-sleeve version so you are not putting compression on top of compression.  Hugz is a better reader than I am, because I missed the part about your truncal issues.  If you are very tiny, you might need to find a youth size large.  Hugz is correct about the problem of the women's versions having sleeves that cut into the armpit. The men's sleeves are longer and in my case, overlap the compression sleeve by about two inches, although the UA sleeve is not tight at that point, so it does not feel like it is adding compression over my compression sleeve.  Also, I think most of us wear the UA inside out, because the seams are not flat and can irritate.

I go through the TSA checkpoints with my sleeve / gauntlet on all the time, and it has only once provoked even a look.  One time, a TSA officer wanted to swab my sleeve with the little pad that helps detect explosive substances. The other hundred or so times I have entered an airport in my sleeve--no response  whatsoever.  As for the UA shirt, which I don't always wear while flying these days (my truncal issues don't bother me very often), I do try to hide it under another garment that does not look like outerwear. One time a year ago or so, I had my UA shirt on under a sweater that zipped, and the neckline of the UA showed above the sweater.  A TSA agent insisted that I had to remove my 'outerwear' and I really, really did not want to be standing in a crowd in my super skin-tight UA. I quibbled a bit but in the end settled for a private screening.  Now I make sure that the UA does not show.  Which is not so easy, and one of our biggest disappointments with UA shirts--even a V neck hugs the neck at the top and back, so it's hard to camouflage with normal wardrobe items.

Anyway, kdholt, these kinds of precautions are minor compared to the P-I-T-A factor if your LE worsens.  No one really  knows if air travel causes LE or makes it worse, because it would be unethical to put a bunch of patients with LE on airplanes and forbid them to use compression, just to find out.  But when I think of the water bottles that I see flexing, shrinking, and crumpling in flight...I just don't want my arm hanging out there with no protection from those pressure changes.

Oh, dear...sorry. Pain in the posterior, if you know what I mean.  Control tank or cami might work, if it compresses where you have truncal swelling issues. That can be a hard  job for a tank or cami, if your swelling is quite close to the armpit.