Home
Articles

Awaiting Surgery
Chat
Crafts
Current Events
Fashion
Friends and Family
Fun Stuff
Mailing List
Polls
Profiles
Prostheses
Search

I am writing this in the hope that reading what helped me might in turn aid others in developing their own plan to help themselves.

I am not a medical professional. I don't know if the things that help me will help you, but I encourage you to try to understand what aggravates or helps your lymphedema and set your own course of action.

Here is what helped me:

1) Daily Manual Lymph Drainage.

2) Daily arm lymphedema exercises.

3) Daily walk (not in the heat--if it is hot I walk in an air conditioned mall or large store, about 1 mile).

4) Lost weight--Even though I was not heavy (5 ft. 5 inches and weighed 125 pounds), I lost 13 pounds. Bringing my weight to 112 pounds helped my lymphedema.

5) Diet--no salt, low sodium, high fiber, low fat, low calorie, no alcohol, no caffeine (which means no coffee or chocolate--ugh!), limited meat. Foods that help my lymphedema include Brazil nuts (one per day for the selenium), pineapple, red grapefruit, egg whites.

My lymphedema therapist told me that, in addition to one's weight, what one eats (and doesn't eat) is quite important. I was told that one patient, who was not making progress in reducing her arm swelling despite treatment, was instructed to write down everything she eats each day. The list was then critiqued, using the guidelines I mentioned above (no salt, low fat, no alcohol, etc.). The patient changed her diet, and with no change in treatment, her arm swelling reduced.

LE seems to be different for different people, but my swelling (and the discomfort LE can cause) is highly influenced by what and how much I eat. I seem to do better eating more frequent, smaller meals instead of large meals. I feel best mostly eating vegetables, fruits, low and non-fat dairy, and some whole grains, with a very limited amount of (relatively lean) meat.

6) 8 glasses of water each day.

7) Bellisse compression vest daily until my truncal swelling diminished. Now I rarely use the Bellisse (only when I notice the beginnings of truncal swelling again).

8) Avoid or limit anything that is bad for my lymphedema. For example, repetitive arm movements, lifting heavy things.

9) Avoid heat and hot things. No hot showers, just lukewarm or cool. Let my food cool a bit before I eat it. Wear layered cotton clothing, so as not to overheat. Eat frozen fruit to cool off in the summer (frozen grapes and pineapple are delicious).

10) Due to the lymphedema, I was repeatedly getting infections on my fingertips, so I am very careful what I touch and try not to touch dirty things. For example, I buy already cleaned vegetables and fruit. I use disposable gloves more.

11) I use Eucerin Daily Replenishing Lotion on my skin when it is dry, especially my fingertips.

12) Rebounding was a huge help and particularly was great in stopping the pain. I had read that it is important to use a quality rebounder, so I did some research on the Internet and (after obtaining my doctor's approval) bought a half fold Cellerciser rebounder with balance bar. I was told to start off slowly --one minute a day doing the "health bounce" (feet don't leave the mat)--then slowly work up to more time. After about a month of rebounding, I went to about three minutes, five times per day.

13) Dry myself with towels in the direction I want the lymph to flow.

14) Pay attention to what helps or hurts my lymphedema and adapt my actions accordingly.

15) Wore compression sleeves and gloves. Now I usually only need my right sleeve and glove when doing my arm exercises. My left sleeve and glove I need to wear a bit more than that, but am now free of compression garments most of the day.

16) Five to ten deep "belly" breaths, several times throughout the day--taught to me by my lymphedema therapist.

17) Low level laser treatments (LTU-904 cold therapeutic laser). Since beginning the laser treatments, I have significantly less discomfort from the lymphedema, and I virtually stopped getting infections in my finger tips (which had been a repeated problem), and a relatively hard part in my forearm is getting softer. The low level laser has definitely improved my quality of life.

18) Tried to maintain an upbeat, positive attitude. My husband told me every day that I would get better, and that was quite encouraging. lymphedema After 10 months of fighting LE, almost all of my swelling is gone. The pain is gone, but I still have some discomfort. I want to fully recover and will keep up my efforts.

I hope that you overcome your lymphedema, and wish you the best of luck!