Exercising with a sling?

Its funny how we have to reinvent the wheel to be able to cope with LE. Looks like you did a good job.

So when you go for longer walks you may want to take your arm out of your sling and stick it straight up in the air and slowly fist pump about 25-30 times. This will help move your fluid out of your arm and seeing that you will have it stuck in one position I think this would be a good idea.

I heard there is a purse out there that looks rectangle like and it has a arm sling support on the backside to slide your arm through. I am not sure if they stopped manufacturing it but it is the same principle that you are using: support. Just watch that you are not putting too much pressure on your neck and getting it sore.

I am such a big fan of nordic poles because you hold them at a 90 degree angle and that gets your arm in that same sling position. You need to get the lightest pair. Once you build up using them slowly then you can put a bit of muscle into using them.  They are a fantastic way to get upper body exercise and you are walking anyway. Burns more calories.

I like Exerstriders (no I don't work for the company) because they have no straps but yet stay in your hands when you walk and they are telescopic so you can take the anywhere. They also have rubber booties on the end that are erognomically built to making the pole move seamlessly.

Please do join our exercise thread. We all go at our own pace and are not competitive as we each have our own limitations.

A few months ago DH and I were in a beautiful place and we could not resist walking miles and miles each day. I was in my sleeve and I'm accustomed to walking 4-6 miles at a clip, but we were doing 10-12 miles daily and I could tell on the second day that my arm was feeling it.  So I did what you did, tamiami--I had a big pashmina with me, and I fashioned it into a kind of sling, and it was a great solution. I also did the fist pumping every so often, but really I think the sling had a lot to do with keeping me out of trouble.  

Binney makes a very good point. Make sure that you're rigging it up so that the top of the sling--that holds the weight of the arm--distributes weight as broadly as possible.  Using a pashmina, my 'sling' was quite wide, and so even though it was on my other shoulder, I think the weight of my left, LE arm was spread out on my right side. It was winter, too, so my jacket gave a lot of cushioning under the sling, which I suppose also minimized pressure on that shoulder.

tamiami, yes- pashmina is a very large scarf, like one you might put around your shoulders if you get cold in a meeting room.  Wool or similar, so for summer something lighter would work better.  I think the best point to ponder is how you can make something like a sling that spreads your arm's weight over an area wider than just one little strip of that opposite shoulder.

tamiami, yikes, that's a terrible string of issues you're dealing with!  What an interesting question about cellulitis lingering, and unfortunately, I have no clue.  With luck, some of our very knowledgeable LE ladies will see and answer your question.

I'm almost afraid to type this, but I've never had cellulitis despite life's little incidents, like bug bites, cuts, minor burns. The other day I cut my LE thumb, and yesterday I got some kind of bite on my arm, right where I have most of my LE issues. That bite is a total mystery, because I was in a sleeve/gauntlet all day and I'd just love to know how that critter got in.  When I noticed it, it looked just like a spider bite.  

I do have some routines that ***may*** be helping, and I'll post them here but I sure don't want to say that I think they're remedies or preventatives that will help LE problems. Heck, I have no clue if they work for me, could be that I just THINK so!  And they are:  1) drink two or more cups of green tea each day; green tea is known for its anti-inflammatory properties and I figure it cannot hurt.  2) put ginger in my green tea (slices of ginger root), also an anti-inflammatory. 3) When I get a bite, or at least as soon as I notice it, I dab it with tea-tree oil mixed with emu oil (50/50 mix). Both are anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory. The tea-tree oil is pretty caustic, and by experimentation I found that mixing it with emu oil seems to do the trick of stopping my itch-and-swell response from mosquito and spider bites (meaning the swelling that comes from the bite, not any arm swelling from a lymphedema reaction). Maybe that's helping to prevent infection from the bite?  I can say for sure that it calms down the usual bite irritation pretty fast.

Here's a study about tea-tree oil: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360273/.  I don't find emu oil studies except those sponsored or reported by emu oil vendors. The reason I even have any emu oil at home is that I tried it for its purported scar-reduction properties after my diep recon. Truly that did not work, but last summer I was experimenting with tea-tree oil for mosquito bites, planning ahead for a week of kayaking in Michigan's UP where the mosquitoes make you have a real swat-fest. That oil was too strong and turned my skin white around bites (believe me, I was not experimenting on my LE quadrant), so on a hunch I mixed it with the emu oil.  I have it in a little bottle that has a brush inside and I find that it really works to calm the bites down.  So maybe--just maybe--the antibacterial/anti-inflammatory properties of this potion are helping to keep me out of cellulitis trouble.

Your history might be suggesting that you're just prone to it?  I guess immune systems are not standard-issue, just as humans seem to have lots of variation in how robust our lymphatic systems are.

I do know that I'll never clear my living quarters of spiders.  We spray the perimeter, but I don't want those chemicals  spread throughout the house, and even if we did that, I cannot imagine we'd get rid of all the bugs. Our house is 100% located in the woods and as you know, being on a lake multiplies the problem.

Please post when you're able to, after you see a doctor today.  I sure hope you can dodge cellulitis or at least nip it in the bud so that oral antibiotics are all you need to take care of it.  So, so sorry you have to deal with this.

Carol

Oooh, what an on-the-ball team you have! I am so impressed--well, and also so sad for you. What a dizzying bit of news to have to cope with!

Actually four or five days in the hospital on IV antibiotics IS fairly common, but it can stretch to a couple of weeks too, so getting to do this at home is a real gift. Glad you've got an ID doctor on board.

Huge hugs, and my thoughts and prayers will be with you tomorrow and in the days ahead. Thinking healing thoughts for you as well as chocolate!
Binney

Thinking of you this morning, Tamiami! Be well, y'hear?!
Binney

tamiami, you're incredible for even thinking of typing us an update!  What a day you've had!  Cheering you from over on the other side of the state!!

Carol