Gloves and blue fingertips

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RosesToeses
RosesToeses Member Posts: 721
edited September 2016 in Lymphedema

I was diagnosed with stage I LE and today got a sleeve and glove from a fitter my PT recommended.



But I'm finding when I keep my fingers still too long the tips look kind of blueish. I mentioned this to the fitter and she poked and pulled at the glove and told me it was a good fit. I brought it up again and she remeasured my hand and told me it was right. Stupidly, I figured, she knows more about it than I do and I need to do something about this swelling, so I bought the glove and sleeve from her.



I guess I was hoping they would get better as I got used to the glove, but it doesn't seem to be (not worse, either, though). I checked the Step Up Speak Out sit fitting page and the fit isn't obviously bad in any of the ways the site talks about (aside from the occasionally blueish fingertips). But still. And the fingers aren't blue all the time, but enough that I'm concerned about this stupid glove.



Please, someone who's BTDT, am I right in assuming even occasional blue fingertips is a bad sign? Or could that possibly be just something that happens with these things?



And, assuming this is a fit issue, what can I do about it now? Would a gauntlet be better? My PT likes the gloves because she says gauntlets can push swelling into the fingers, but maybe for me it would still be better to use a gauntlet? Could a size larger be better or would that just mean I wasn't getting the compression I need? And, since I've already been wearing the stupid thing, is it even something I can return at this point? Would I need to buy a new one? And all that $ wasted?



For what it's worth, the glove is a Jobst Elvarex Seamless.



I am just so frusturated! Thanks for any help you can give me.

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited March 2013

    See a CERTIFIED Lymphedema Therapist - not some PT.

    Fingers should not turn blue. Or swell.

    Before you can get the right measurements for correct fit you need to have been wrapped to bring it down first so y ý get the right measurements of what your arm/hand should be - not the swollen size.  The compression level could be wrong - I can not wear heavier compression as it makes my LE worse.  Some of us are not built to fit in Off The Shelf sizes.  I don't so have to have custom garments.  Also my fingers are slightly 'webbed' so that definately takes modifications - It took us several different times over 2 1/2 years of changes every time my LE Guy reordered new garments for me every 6 mths.  But we finally have it down right.

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  • carol57
    carol57 Member Posts: 3,567
    edited March 2013

    Roses, no kidding...that's incredibly frustrating.  I'm in a gauntlet and the thumb stub sometimes makes my thumb turn ever so slightly blue, so I know the problem. Some ladies here have suggested putting batteries or something similar in the fingers of the gloves and gauntlets, as the garment dries. The idea is to have it dry around something that's slightly thicker than your finger.  I've tried that with my Juzo gauntlet on the thumb, and it does indeed work.  That's no substitute for a glove that fits, and I wonder if you need a custom-made (and horribly expensive) glove.

    I hope others who have had similar glove problems will give some other ideas.

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  • hugz4u
    hugz4u Member Posts: 2,781
    edited March 2013

    Kicks. Glad you have found a solution to those webs. That must have been so frustrating.  Yah my new off shelf wants to leave my fingers just a bit off color with a slight swell. The rest of the glove fits so well. I thought once they loosen up it may get better but no, once they are washed they tighten up in the fingers pretty good again.

    I thought maybe I shouldn't wash them tonight and see how they feel tomorrow as they are looser than this morn. Thing is, I hate to have that unsanitary glove go on again tomorrow. I like to start out with a fresh one each day. They pick up so many germs. ooh gross!

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  • RosesToeses
    RosesToeses Member Posts: 721
    edited March 2013

    Thanks, Kicks!



    The PT is LANA certified, but no idea about the fitter. Do fitters get certified?



    My PT and the LE PT who recommended her to me both said they thought the sleeve and glove would be a good first step to bring down the swelling over the next few weeks since it's only stage I right now and no one mentioned wrapping.



    What a pain lymphedema is...

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  • RosesToeses
    RosesToeses Member Posts: 721
    edited March 2013

    Thank you, Carol and Hugz, sorry you've been dealing with some finger problems, too.



    I'll try that battery idea tonight--certainly can't hurt to try it, right?

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  • hugz4u
    hugz4u Member Posts: 2,781
    edited March 2013

    Rose, I know that my jovi fitter took a course how to fit the product.

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  • kira66715
    kira66715 Member Posts: 4,681
    edited March 2013

    Fitters aren't really certified: when I took the CLT course, we had a 4 hour lecture from BSN/Jobst, and got a certificate that we were certified fitters. It just meant we could set up an account and order from them.

    I find fitters so frustrating: the good ones leave and often even good ones have no control over what happens in the factory in Germany--I once sent a custom Juzo back 5 times.

    I just used a new, highly recommended fitter, and she forgot to take my wrist measurement for my new custom glove! Why did my former fitter change jobs????

    I find my finger tips get a tad dusky at times. It shouldn't be painful, but like Carol, I've had problems with my thumb going numb--in my very expensive, custom gloves. The fitter did make it wider, but it still happens.

    Gloves!!! What a pain.

    Supposedly fitters and DME companies don't make hardly any money on lymphedema garments, and that's why there is so much turn over in the field.

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  • hugz4u
    hugz4u Member Posts: 2,781
    edited March 2013

    Dang gloves anyway. It's the most pitiful part of my cancer journery. I just want veer off the road and leave the glove off. I really don't have much swelling there. My LEist has to practically hunt for it. It's the glove that causes my bit of swell at the finger tips otherwise I don't get it when not wearing it.  I wonder if I should try a gauntlet for a week.  I have a lymphediva gauntlet but usually wear my glove daily. I am just so compliant, Maybe I am overkilling.

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited March 2013

    My 'fitter' is my Certified LE Guy (who has his Masters in OT).  He makes 'no money off' of me as my care is thru the VA.

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  • carol57
    carol57 Member Posts: 3,567
    edited March 2013

    kicks, I think we want to clone your certified LE guy so we can have his help everywhere. I have resorted to driving 3.5 hours to Chicago so I can be accurately measured. 

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  • RosesToeses
    RosesToeses Member Posts: 721
    edited March 2013

    I tried the trick with batteries, etc., by putting highlighter markers and a large sharpee in the finger parts overnight, and I think they are a bit better now. The pinkey finger is much better, so I probably need something a bit fatter in the others.



    So, round 2 tonight, and a huge thank you for the tip, suggestions, and commiseration. The commiseration lifted my mood enormously!

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  • sushanna1
    sushanna1 Member Posts: 764
    edited March 2013

    Glad to hear that you are stretching the fingers just a bit.  My therapist suggested using fat magic markers.   It works better if the fingers are damp. Good luck.

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  • KittyDog
    KittyDog Member Posts: 1,079
    edited March 2013

    I wear a gauntlet and still off and on have problems with my fingers turning purple.  My toes do the same thing and I have seen the toes do it with no compression on.  They have decided it's a circulation problem.  So I take the gauntlet off and make make a fist and squeeze it tight.  I let it rest and try again.  Toes I don't take the compression off but I try to move my toes often.  Funny it only seems to be bad when I get a new set of compression.  I am  just watching it for now.  I am not sure I believe the Dr.

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  • RosesToeses
    RosesToeses Member Posts: 721
    edited March 2013

    Sushanna and KittyDog, thank you.



    The fingers do seem better now--I ended up with fat markers and a pencil together in each of the fingers but the pinkey and that seems to have done the trick, or at least it's a lot better.



    But last night I washed it and let it dry without the markers and so far so good, so who knows?



    I have really skinny veins, the kind that make people sigh before they take my blood, so I think you may be on to something, KittyDog, about the circulation.



    This whole LE thing just seems so random, like it's a lot of guesswork and no rhyme or reason to it at all!

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  • Chemist
    Chemist Member Posts: 33
    edited September 2016

    Though this thread is over 3 years old, I want to thank everyone who contributed. As a newbie with blue fingers and going-to-sleep thumb, I learned a lot from this discussion. I don't think anything has changed in 3 years. Thanks very much for helping me out, and I wish you all the best.

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