Lymphedema Treatment Frequency?

I had lymphedema treatment in an NCI center that has multiple certified LE therapists. I did not have appointments that frequently, and my therapy consisted of discussion, supervised light exercise, and lymphatic drainage by the therapist. Toward the end of my active lymphedema treatment I was also taught to do MLD on myself. Others at appointments were wrapped (I have a friend who required this and went to the same center), and then were taught to wrap themselves. I attended therapy initially twice weekly for about a month, then once weekly for another month, then was discharged to care for myself. I can go back at any time if I feel the need to. My therapists did not fit sleeves and hand protection, but rather wrote the order for compression level and I was sent to a specialty medical device company, that also does custom prosthetics, and they measured me and ordered my garments (I have bi-lat LE) and billed my insurance. I don't know what the experience is for others, but there are a number of BCO members here in Tampa and I believe their appointment frequency is consistent with mine. Wishing you luck as you navigate this.

3 times a week. actually the sleeves aren't too bad in the summer or winter, the ones I have anyway. the material is like the best girdles are made of. the problem I came up with was that gloves (regular kind) don't fit my left hand anymore. I use an xl on the right and 4xl on the left. had to go to an army navy store to find one big enough for the left hand. we had some days below zero this winter, and without a warm glove, that's uncomfortable.

I have been going once weekly

I'm sorry you have LE on top of everything. You deserve a break.

My LE treatment was eight or ten sessions plus an initial evaluation. They wanted them ideally twice a week, but I too was fitting them in around active treatment and radiation, so it was challenging. I did several in the afternoon after radiation in the morning. But at the height of the radiation, I was badly burned and didn't want any MLD, so we stopped for a few weeks to let me heal.

I think a lot depends on the therapist. Mine was lovely, and I always felt that I got a lot out of the sessions. In retrospect, though, it might have been better not to have done them while in radiation. It was just a bit too much, and I was too distracted to ask the right questions of the therapist. My LE therapist was scheduled to have a baby right after my treatment ended, though, so that was an incentive to finish up quickly!

But the LE treatment is very educational, and I did come out of it feeling that I could manage the condition on my own, for the most part. I'd go back if I had a bad flare and do call occasionally with questions.

Good luck to you!

There is the ideal, then reality of patients' lives! Ideally, a patient would go to a clinic (or have someone come to their home) daily for 2-6 weeks for measuring, MLD, bandaging. The patient would wear the thick bandages at home for 23 hours, come back the next day for more MLD and bandaging. After several weeks, after the volume of the limb has stopped decreasing, the patient is "discharged" and put on "maintenance", meaning they and their therapist select daytime/nighttime home garments, and the patient learns self-care/donning, and doesn't have to be seen again for 6-12 mos until it's time for a checkup. Because the daily visits are so hard to get in, patients discuss with the therapist what they can manage, perhaps MWF, for example.