I stopped MLD/Lebed and you won't believe. . .

Leydi
Leydi Member Posts: 146
edited October 2018 in Lymphedema

Sorry for the click-bait subject line, my poor attempt at humor, I guess. I was frustrated that I could find no pattern in my lymphedema symptoms. Some days were a little better and some a little worse. I would spend whole days doing little else but resting/elevating as well as MLD and Lebed exercises. By bedtime, it was sometimes a little better and sometimes a little worse. Other days, I did little to nothing for lymphedema self care and by bedtime, it was either a little better or a little worse.

So, I guess I gave up. I've done absolutely no MLD (not even node clearing) or Lebed exercises for several weeks. I still do my usual aerobic and weight lifting exercises and wear compression 24-7 (Juzo day sleeve/gauntlet and Tribute night sleeve).

Results?

No worse! Leaning a bit towards the better end of my typical range. It's a relief not to spend significant time on all the MLD and Lebed "duties" and I don't find wearing compression all the time to be too burdensome. The one weird thing, to me at least, is that even the pocket of truncal swelling under my arm has improved and I'm not wearing compression there.

I know each of us respond to different methods and some women do great with frequent MLD and don't always wear compression. Just wanted to share my self-experimentation results.


· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Lomlin
    Lomlin Member Posts: 134
    edited October 2018

    How do you know you have the lymphedema symptoms? I read that it is not necessarily in the arm. I get tingling in my arm, where the nodes were removed. Towards the end of the day the area where my surgery was is slightly swelled up. I massage it from time to time and almost seems to get sorer. Did you have PT? If so was is to prevent lymphedema or just improve range of motion?

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories