Mld

Bhd - are you doing the Lebed opening exercises?  For me, those worked much better that self-MLD.  As Binney says, a quick node clearing can work wonders, so maybe skipping the rest for a time as a test might help you decide whether a full self-MLD is worth the time.  

We all have only so much time we can invest to manage LE, so I try to identify the management techniques with the best ROI (Return On  Investment) for me.  Self-MLD has very little ROI for me in terms of LE management - I can invest a lot of time on self-MLD yet I get very little in return for all that time.  I get much better management when I invest 15 minutes on the Lebeds.  

MLD by a trained LE massage therapist, however, has a great ROI for me.  I have to self-pay as insurance won't cover it, but $125 for a 90 minutes MLD session gives me fabulous relief.  

Here's a link to the DVD on Amazon for the full exercises, including the opening:  http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Through-Therapeutic...

Here's the Lebed website - you can order the video there, too. https://www.gohealthysteps.com/store/?productID=3

I was lucky - my LE therapist gave me a copy of the DVD.

mnmbeck, I've never had the experience of added swelling after MLD, but I do know that my LE has improved over time.  I had pronounced swelling in the first year post-surgery (bmx/diep in July 2011), but over time that is largely gone-reappears rarely--and my primary symptoms now are achey, burning, heavy feelings when my LE is flaring. 

I wear compression generally only during hard activity and while flying, and I use a Tribute night garment every night.  Also don the sleeve/gauntlet when I'm feeling a lot of discomfort, and fortunately the sleeve almost always relieves the ache/burning/heavy feeling. I have truncal issues, too and here I still see the sporadic swelling, and it feels tender, so I find that wearing a compression T or cami instead of a bra works to minimize those problems.  

In short, I think that the first year was a bit of a battle with LE, and the second year and a half has been a time of gradually reduced LE issues.  I wish I could promise the same for you, but it's really impossible to generalize our experiences. I'll be interested to see what others share about their MLD experiences.  That's a very good question you've asked.

mnmbeck - When you do your MLD are you starting in the lower body area and working up, over and down?  Not just arm.

Early on before I had my Flexi-Touch, a few times I didn't bother to do the MLD on body to clear nodes to be ready for what would come to them when I did arm as I was taught to do it.  My Flexi-Touch starts in the upper leg/lower abdomin. It moves up in sections, around and down gradually so the nodes are 'ready' for the ones that need help moving fluid.  It takes 1/2 hr to work through the areas.  The next 1/2 hr, massages up, over, around and down continueally to move fluid on move the areas that are readyfor it..  

Has anyone compared the Lebed DVD to the vids that are on YouTube? Just wondering if there is much difference.  I just started doing the vids a week ago.  So far, I have found that when my CLT does the massage, it goes down.  (some in arm, but mostly truncal)  the self-massage is iffy at this point if it is helping, but I'm going to keep trying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6f7N8dtJLM