Sleeve Gauntlet hand swelling, thumb numb

vaper
vaper Member Posts: 113
edited June 2014 in Lymphedema

I finely got my custom sleeve, fitter said I did not need custom gauntlet. It took the fitter a half hour to get sleeve on me! Gauntlet does not lay flat across inside of hand, as if maybe to big but thumb is so tight it goes numb.  My hand swelled with in the first hour. The fitter says I am just not use to these things and need to gradually build up time of wearing them.
The second day the sleeve went on a lot easier and has wrinkle by inside of elbow. After washing and drying it is very hard to get on again.

So does it have to be that tight because it loosens so much

Is one wrinkle by elbow inside normal?
Is hand swelling from the wrist being so tight?
Has anyone had thumb go numb and stretched thumb out by wetting and putting over top of a water bottle or something?
Is gauntlet suppose to lay flat across inside of hand?

At top of arm where sleeve ends how tight is right? Do you have the spots from the band that holds it up on arm for a long time after taking off? 

Thank you!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2014

    Welcome vaper, sorry you are having issues.

    It's very true you need to "ease" yourself into your garments or there is a "breaking in period". That said, ill fitting garments can do more harm than good. From what youve described it sounds to me like your fitter is incompetent. Is the fitter qualified?  I'll try to answer some of your questions with some tips...

    If you wash your sleeve in water too hot it will shrink and that can make quite a difference especially with a new sleeve. The shrinkage is typically length-ways.

    It shouldnt take 1/2hr to get sleeve on. There are devices to help donning easier. The ease of donning can be dependent on the grading of the material. Mine is a heavy grade and sure took some getting on when it was new, and yet once on it didn't feel like it was clamping me. 

    Your thumb should NOT go numb (I have experienced this) BUT, depending on whether the fit is just "somewhat" off then yes you can stretch it out with something slightly larger than your thumb. 

    Im not sure if you mean the garment with a wrinkle, or skin that wrinkles. The elbow area can be VERY problematic. I have some skin wrinkling around the elbow area. Often you'll also get a red line on inside of elbow and that goes as the sleeve is "broken in".

    It's very hard to say "how tight is right". You dont say how long your marks remain, but the silicon grip spots can leave little indentations for a little while, maybe an hour, again especially if the garment is new.

    Aside from the minimal discomfort that accompanies "breaking in" it should not cause more swelling and other issues like pain. These are red flags that your garment is ill fitting. 

    Lastly do not be afraid to stand your ground with your fitter if these garments are not to your satisfaction. Im from NZ and Countries differ widely in what procedures you must go through in dealing with LE. If you are from US, lets hope the US ladies will chime in and give you a heads up on what you should do.

    Hope this helps and all the best..

    Musical

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  • carol57
    carol57 Member Posts: 3,567
    edited February 2014

    vaper, 

    Try wetting the thumb and inserting a marker as it dries. There should not be a wrinkle in the sleeve anywhere, so try using the palm of your other hand to smooth things out. Some use a rubber glove to help get traction for that. As Musical said, there are donning aids. Look on the bandages plus website for that. (I think--I am writing on my phone so no easy way to check and insert links).

    The dot marks from the grip studs do last a while. My sleeve is juzo and the marks stay for 30-40 minutes I'd guess. 

    Maybe someone can insert a link to the stepup site's page on how to know if a garment fits, which includes photos. 

    The gauntlet has a hard time hugging the palm of the hand because if you look closely, your palm is not flat. You could try inserting a piece of firm foam cut to sit inside the cup of your palm, although I don't know how well it would stay put. Maybe someone here has tried that and will comment. 

    I think you will find that donning gets easier over time and that you will get used to the feel of compression. But everyone here knows exactly how you are feeling about the frustration that comes with LE, including the garment challenges. 

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  • Marple
    Marple Member Posts: 19,143
    edited February 2014

    Here is the link mentioned by Carol above.  http://www.stepup-speakout.org/proper_fitting_of_lymphedema_garments.htm 

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  • kira66715
    kira66715 Member Posts: 4,681
    edited February 2014

    Vaper:

    Reject that sleeve--send it back!!

    I have had to reject 5 custom gloves at one point. Shame on the fitter: no sleeve should be so hard to don, and no sleeve should ever push fluid into your hand.

    Juzo and Jobst have fit guarantees and you normally have two weeks to reject a custom garment. Yes, the fitter has to do more work, to remeasure, check with the manufacturer--as often the garment is wrong due to their knitting process, but this garment is not doing you any favors and should go back, IMO.

    And don't take any grief from the fitter. It's your right.

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited February 2014

    Thumb should not go numb.  Stretching by wetting will only help, if at all, til you wash them again.  Should not take 1/2 hour to put on - I literally just got my 2 new sets about 20 min. ago so they haven't been washed yet (I always wash and dry several times before wearing them).  It took me 2 min put to a brand new set o.  I do realize I have 4 yrs experience so can do quicker than you can now but early on I owuld say it was probably 5 min +/-.    

    You may have gotten too heavy compression that caused hand swelling.  Garments come in different compression levels and some absolutely do not work for some of us.   I got my first set while still in Rads and picked them up about 35 miles from where rads were.  By the time I got to Rads my hand was humongous - more than doubling in size.  I put calls into my CLET Guy as did the RN.  Long story shorter - My Guy had ordered high compression which it turns out, my body can not handle.  For me, low compression works great.  We are all different.

    A gauntlet may not be the best answer for you either.  My Guy has always insisted on gloves even though I have very little LE issues in my hand.  He was right!  I insisted on getting 1 for riding so I had better feel than the glove gives - it does work for feel when I am really working them but have to go back to glove when not riding.

    The palm side of gauntlet or glove will not contour to it.  It 'cups in'.  I don't know what company you are getting from but Juzo has pads for palm if you need it.  Tthey also have pads to go in pockets on the back of your glove if you need.!  My garments are custom and I have the pockets on back or hand as it just feels the best - do not use the pads.  It took a long time to get my gloves right - never knew it but my hands are some what webbed so they really have to be different to not literally cut webbing. 

    Dots at top - I don't know how long they 'show' - never thought about it.   The band they are on is so much more comfy for me than the sleeve I had that did not have the band (returned).  It stays nicely in place but without it that one rolled and slipped BAD.

    I am in a very different situation than most are.  My fantastic care is through VA and my CLET Guy is also my fitter/orderer.  I do not understand just going to someone who is not a CLET to decide what you need (a 'fitter').  Just me and my experiences and thoughts.

    added - You should have gotten care (washing/drying) information with them.  Mine say can wash and dry in a machine on cool or hand wash/air dry.  No fabr4ic softener or dryer sheets.

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  • Lia13
    Lia13 Member Posts: 52
    edited February 2014

    hi everybody, hope you're all doing well :-) vaper, I hope you got the sleeve crises fixed! just wanted to thank you and all the ladies for the thread, as the information here and on speakout helped me a lot - yesterday I put on my first sleeve ever and long story short, the shop lady (although lovely) didn't care for my arm length at all (I had the prescription right there but she took her own measurements-NOT the length), because it turns out they only have one size mediva for all...they just don't import the longer size, which I found out after I went back with my top arm more swollen than before. It could just be my arm's reaction, but I don't feel safe using that sleeve anymore.

    I'll get my money back (apparently they don't make custom sleeves), but I'm afraid I'll have to  resort to ordering online... oh, well. it is what it is! :-)

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