Hand "cupping" in new Tribute: suggestions on redo?

KS1, I personally think Solaris does a really bad job with hands. And we've asked them time and time to address it--their Caresia gloves are better sewn and created.

I'm not sure what you mean by cupping, but mine chafes the heck out of my buried fingers, right at the nail base on the ring and pinkie, and I have to put a swell spot in the palm and wrap over it to get adequate compression.

New palmar swelling is just not acceptable. I hope they figure out a solution.

It's not like this is something new, just something they have not figured out, despite many women having issues.

The cupping sounds awful. I must be very lucky that their glove part of the glove/sleeve works for me. I would love to see what the Caresia line feels like. Or that other major brand of night garments. I am momentarily blanking on the name, but you guys know who I mean.




Edited to add: KS, I am bad with medical names of the hand, but I think you are talking about the fleshy area on the palm below the pinky and ring fingers that meets the wrist? Not sure that makes sense. (not the pads under the knuckles) My therapist taught me to move the fluid in that part of my palm toward the wrist. The Rovig video has a good demonstration of how to do this effectively on yourself. I find it hard sometimes to figure out how to do the same moves my therapist does because my opposite hand can't quite replicate her position. She has both of her hands free, is facing me and has much better access. Very frustrating. Re the pads under the knuckles, my therapist has moved the fluid toward the fleshy area I just mentioned. However, on the Rovig video I saw her move it between the fingers to the top of the hand. I have found that when I do self massage that this works better for me. Those are my two problem areas. Maybe it helps to not send it all in one direction when I do it. Kira should have solid info on this though.

KS, I spent an insomniac hour in the wee hours this morning thinking about your cupping problem, and I think you're on the right track.

I'm assuming there are no finger spacers in the glove, since you're wrapping the fingers, yes? Since I always have the finger spacers in my Solaris sleeve/gloves, this has not been a problem. But I have had this happen with day garments, and it sure does make the palm swell, because there's not only no compression there, but the compression on the rest of the hand forces everything straight there.

Let's see if I can explain what's happening with the cupping (I always called it "collapsing"). Our arms are like cylinders (tube-shaped), so when we put on compression garments they compress just about equally all the way around. But our hands are flat (paddle-shaped). When we compress them the pressure focuses on the sides of the hand and squeezes it in on itself. Because our fingers are made to bend toward the palm, that's where the pressure forces them. They collapse in on themselves.

With my day garments that were doing that, I was awake and could keep my hand straightened out, but after just an hour or two my whole hand ached with the effort (and it made my arthritis considerably worse). When I gave up and let my fingers ease inward there was zero compression on my palm and...well, you know what happened then.

So what I did is to have the fitter measure across my palm VERY loosely. That eased the sideways squeezing pressure and allowed me to keep my hand open without strain. With the hand open there was then some compression on the palm, which solved the problem.

What some therapists do to solve this paddle-shape problem when wrapping is to pad both the palm and dorsum heavily with chip bags (foam chips sewn into a shaped cloth). That makes the hand tube-shaped and evens out the pressure. I don't think you can get quite the same effect with a palmar spot, so you might consider including a chip-bag or two in your hand wrap before you don the garment.

Another thought would be to wrap your hand well and ask Solaris to make the hand part gauntlet-like instead of glove-like--letting the wrapping alone do the work on the fingers, so they don't collapse inward with the pressure of the garment.

Mind you, that was all thought out in wee hours, so take it with a grain of salt. But I do hope it help some, anyway, as you and your therapist (and Solaris) work out the best strategy.

Keep us posted, please!
Be well,
Binney

 (grandma said I have good piano hands)

OMG , Tina. I just had to comment !
My grandfather used to say that about me !  When the woman was measuring my hands the other day, she said : " You're hands look very good- and slender".  I told her I wore a size 4 1/4 ring ( which is OFF) originally.

All while she measured, I looked at the hand and recalled what my grandfather said and wondered  how differen they would be now!

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My fitter called to get my Solaris revised. They are going to open the hand compartment, put in velcro tabs so that I can loosen or tighten the hand compartment as needed. The rest of the garment was pretty good, so I am thinking it will be easier to put some chip bags in the hand section without having to get them in through the very tiny wrist. I should have it back in a couple of weeks and will let you know how it works. Right now I have a new LT therapist and have sort of started from scratch, doing intensive DCT for 3 weeks because the first therapist really did not do this, tried to get me into sleeve after a week or two, long before I had given the arm enough time to get what I think would be reasonable decongestion. So now it has been going on for 4 months and I have some fibrosis in the wrist area. Not exactly sure what that really means, what it means for treatment options, what it means for hopes for improvement for hand swelling & function, etc.