Exercising with Lymhedema

How many lymph nodes did you have removed?  (This can be a determining factor in treatment of LE) Did the LE therapist give you a compression sleeve and glove?  I too had LE difficuties in the beginning and went for treatment at the cancer hospital I went to.  What they did was wrap my arm up in lots of bandages to compress my arm and remove the fluid (I just tied a plastic bag around it to take a shower).  This was one weeks treatment to remove the fluid.  Also I was taught how to train your other healthy lymph nodes to work harder at draining fluid, by moving the fluid from your arm to other parts of your body (and your really dont have to apply a lot of pressure to do this).  I have LE under control and I never let it get out of control.  Not often do I have to wear my compression sleeve and glove, and if I do, it is only at night...the arm is drained by the morning.  I had 8 lymph nodes removed. 

Hi, LuckyLady,

Not sure where you heard that you shouldn't get sun on your LE arm. I believe our radiated skin will always be sun-sensitive and we need to protect it, but your LE arm is fine in the sun, as long as you avoid a burn, which would not only aggravate the swelling but pose a real infection danger. So, just don't burn! (Did you know that your compression sleeve and glove are not sun protection, and that your skin can burn even with them on? How crazy is that!)

If you can't tolerate the bandages at night, have you checked out the Solaris-Tribute (www.solaris-tribute.com) or JoviPak (www.jovipak.com) night sleeves? They're double layered soft, stretch material, stuffed with foam chips and quilted in a pattern that encourages lymph to flow in the right direction. They're considerably more comfortable than wrapping, but they're almost as effective as wrapping for reducing stubborn swelling. With a prescription they should be covered at the same rate as your day sleeves. Unlike day sleeves, they last around two years or so, and they're machine washable and dryable. They come with an oversleeve for added compression for those times when the swelling may be acting up. At any rate, day garments are definitely not designed for night wear, because they act to contain swelling by stimulating lymph flow when you're active. If you sleep in them they may have a tourniquet effect, cutting off lymph flow instead of encouraging it.

As far as exercise, all the latest research is very encouraging about its positive effect on LE, but progressing slowly and backing off briefly at any sign of achiness, tiredness, or heaviness is important as you work up to higher weights and more reps. Have you seen the National Lymphedema Network Position Paper on Exercise? It's here: www.lymphnet.org

Enjoy!

Binney 

How about wrapping when you exercise, plus an hour or so after? And taking it a bit slower as you build back up. Cut back on the strider, say, to 10 minutes. If you exercise while wrapped you have a better chance of helping your lymph system move the fluid out. If you slow down the stretches (not less stretching, just slower) it might match the rhythm of your lymph system better.

Whoa! That sounded like a bunch of hocus pocus! What I mean it, stretching your skin is one way that lymph is pumped through your body, because the lymph vessels are close to the surface (and it's movement that pumps the lymph, not the heart like blood vessels). But the lymph system's "pump" rate is quite leisurely. So if you slow down the stretches you can more closely match the slow rhythm of the lymph flow, rather than working against it.

And to think, this all used to work like a dream without our ever having to think about it. Those were the good ol' days!

Binney