Understanding Lymphedema Treatment
Julia Osborne: Yes, housework is a big thing because the one thing that an arm doesn’t like if it doesn’t have lymphedema or if it does, it does not like small scrubbing movements. It just does not, so housework’s always a little iffy. The other thing is painting rooms or redoing parts of the house, that can be something that you’d want to divide up into smaller timeframes or spread over a number of days rather than doing those types of things all at once. Another biggy is yard work, you know, six hours of yard work may overstress the arm, but three hours of yard work may be just fine. So the idea is: any activity where you’re using your arm somewhat repetitively to divide it up into small timeframes so a couple of hours and a break and a couple more hours and spread it out over a few more days. It’s very frustrating, but lymphedema itself is even more frustrating.
Karen: Right.
Julia Osborne: So those are the most typical ones and then hobbies – tennis, golf – I basically allow all my patients to do anything that they want in their lives, but breaking it into small timeframes.
Karen: One thing she mentioned as well was walking, which is one thing that I do for exercise and enjoy. She recommended or in fact encouraged me not to walk with my arm down at my side, but to hold the arm up at, at least heart level, not to walk with it hanging down and swinging.
Julia Osborne: Well, if you walk for a long time, sometimes, I don’t know about you, but my fingers swell if I walk for two or three hours. But just a walk that’s 20/30 minutes, I personally think it’s okay to just walk the normal, with the normal arm swing.
Karen: Well I walk for 45 minutes.
Julia Osborne: I think it’s okay, but the way you can test it is if your hand gets a little swollen after 45 minutes, you’ll know she’s right and I’m not so…
Karen: Well that’s… I do twice your time too so. Thank you very much.
Julia Osborne: Yeah, use your hand as a little monitor for yourself and you’ll be able to figure it out. You’re welcome.
Arline Kallick: We’re going to go to our last question now please.
Operator: Our last question comes from Ethel; please go ahead.
Ethel: I developed lymphedema after 20 years and I think it came from doing too much housework and then I think I aggravated it by buying one of those HoMedic massagers from Walgreens and when I used it I noticed that even in the underarm area I’m having some problems. Now I did go to a compression specialist and I have the sleeve and the glove, but it’s not going down as fast as I would want it to and whenever I don’t wear the glove, I noticed it just, it swells up again. Is there any hope for me getting it back under control?
Julia Osborne: Yes, you need to find yourself a good certified lymphedema therapist. Look it up on The Lymphedema Network and find one in your area and let him or her treat you, but that’s what you need, is you need to be treated. You won’t be able to do it by yourself. But with treatment, you have a lot of hope to get it under control.
Arline Kallick: Before we break into small groups, I would like to thank Julia for her very insightful and excellent presentation on lymphedema treatment. It’s because of professionals like you, Julia, that we can continue to educate, inform, and support anyone that’s concerned with breast cancer. You presented the material clearly and we really appreciate your involvement with the Y-ME ShareRing Network.
Julia Osborne: Well thank you so much Arline and I really appreciate you inviting me to be part of it.
Arline Kallick: It was a pleasure and thank you.
Julia Osborne: Good night.
All participants, please continue to standby. You will be placed on a music hold until your breakout sessions begin. Please do not disconnect. Once again, you will hear music until your breakout sessions begin. Thank you for your patience.
Additional Questions and Answers provided by Julia Osborne
Is there some way to make a compression sleeve more comfortable in summer when it gets very hot?
Answer: Unfortunately there is no way to adjust the sleeve to make it comfortable in the summer. Sleeves are made very specifically with a pressure gradient sewn into the fabric. Altering the sleeve would alter the function of the sleeve. I recommend contacting your local certified fitter and seeing if you can go into a lighter/thinner fabric of sleeve. This may, or may not be possible, but it is worth a try.
If someone has had lymphedema for over 10 years, is it too late for improvement?
Answer: No, it is NOT too late for improvement! You should seek out a certified lymphedema therapist and give it a go!
Are there any natural supplements that you would recommend to help lymphedema? Ex. Pineapple, selenium, bromilane?
Answer: This is a very "grey" area information wise. Unfortunately there are no specific nutritional supplements or dietary suggestions that will help reduce lymphedema. However, supporting the health of your lymph system is always a good idea. If you have done any of your own reading and have found that what you have listed in your examples in your question have helped you, then I feel you should continue with them. I have read that ginger is supposed to be good. There is a good nutritional section in www.LymphNotes.com - go to "Nutrition and Lymphedema"
Will breast radiation upset an existing lymphedema more? Can you get massages while you are receiving breast radiation treatments?
Answer: In some cases radiation can make existing lymphedema worse. Radiation effects nodes in the radiation field, thus further causing stress to the lymphatic system. Yes, you can get massages while receiving breast radiation treatments. Treatment should be gentle so as not to further irritate your skin.
