Caresia sleeve

alrz, There is a lot of debate about the use of compression in an arm that is not swollen--however, there was a study done by Nicole Stout, where she took all comers from surgery, and put them in Jobst sleeve and gauntlets--Jobst says it is 20-30 but since it comes in only 3 sizes, the compression varies, and they do sell a 15-20mm sleeve, and she defined LE as 3% increase in arm volume and she found that only some women progressed to frank LE. Now, she had no control arm and likely she treated a lot of post op swelling that was going to resolve. But, many therapists use that study to put compression on women "at risk". The other controversy is compression on "at risk" women when flying, and some LE therapists will use the lower compression sleeve--WITH a gauntlet. The NLN has back pedaled and won't endorse or not endorse the use of compression for just "at risk" women with flying.

Back to the night garment--the Caresia--realize that it has chipped foam, which is really meant to break up fibrosis, and my LE therapist considers it "aggressive", but personally--the Tribute garments, which are 20-30 mm don't work well for my hand, and I did get a Caresia when I trained as a CLT, and I find it nice and snug, although a bit large, and if I use it, I finger wrap below it and use 2 short stretch garments over it. 

The jovipak--which in some of it's literature describes itself as a liner, meant to be wrapped over, has lower stated pressures--without a jacket, they're considered to be around 18 mm.

So, you can use the Caresia without a short stretch and see how your arm feels, and experiment with how firmly you wrap over it.

There was a great study of short stretch bandages which showed that arms reduced better with LOW pressure wraps--and I've been wrapped so firmly that it hurt and there is no point in that, and it's actually counterproductive.

So, talk to your fitter about the lower pressure sleeves on the market--definitely Jobst, and Solaris has made an Exo line for day wear, and it will soon be available on-line, and I do like their soft line. Try Juzo soft. 

Solaris sent me samples of their Exo-soft and Exo-strong, technically both 20-30 mm and I couldn't tolerate the strong for more than a few moments, but the soft was very nice. 

Long answer, but talk to your fitter and try the Caresia and experiement. JMHO

Kira

the video for i caresia bandage  liner says you only need one layer of bandaging?  I thought the  standard for wrapping  was three different width bandages.  If tyou use only one bandage , which one do you use ?

I've used just two bandages, a 6 and 8 cm, I got the idea from a Caresia kit sold by Bandages plus. I used to wrap with 5 bandages, for my normal wrap, but am down to 4, and the extra is a 4 cm I use on my hand. Previously I used two 10 cm, per my CLT, to complete it. Although my CLT thinks every bandage should be 4 or more, I was taught to use three, in CLT class, a 6, 8 and 10 cm.

I think with Caresia you can experiment and see what works for you.

just bumping!

I don't use a Tribute, but I would consider the Caresia just a tad more comfortable than my Jovi.  The Caresia is "softer" in my opinion.