Can anyone tell me if they have tried massage Leggings for Lymphedema and if it has helped. I have been recommended them but there are a few different makes. Any advice would be appreciated xx
My lymphoedema nurse did say about bandaging last time my leg got bad and massage but luckily it got better again,so as I have not been shown how to do this then obviously I cant. My problem this time is because a tumour in my groin is growing it is causing a blockage therefore the lymph fluid has nowhere to go, hence my leg getting bigger, so any massage or bandaging wont help anyway, I am due to start chemo on Monday which my nurse a nd Oncologist say will hopefully reduce the tumour and my leg should get back to normal or as near normal again. I do walk my dog every day, work 1 day as a volunteer in charity shop and do up to 15 mins exercise on treadmill every day as I know its important to exercise leg, but at the moment nothing is working. I cant believe you have suffered 5 bouts of cellulitis in such a short space. I had 3 bouts last year in the space of a year and my nurse said if patients get more than 2 bouts in a year than it is not good for the leg so she put me on 2 years course of antibiotics which so far have kept the cellulitis at bay. On one episode I ended up in hospital for 17 days, so I would ask your nurse if antibiotics is plausible for you. Not just bad for the leg but for the soul if you keep ending up in hospital.
I found your post quite interesting, something for some of us to think about. With regards our compression tights I am told to only wear them during the day anyway, have to take them off at night to give skin a chance to breathe, and would be uncomfortable to wear at night as well. Instructions on booklet that comes with tights says not to put anything on your legs ie creams etc as this ruins the performance of tights, so am not sure about putting talc on legs.
Advice I have been given is when sitting down to always have legs raised, never sit for too long and regular exercise all help to keep swelling under control. Unfortunately for me lying flat on my back is not possible as swelling in groin can be painful if leg is straight so use pillows under leg and laying on stomach also hurts groin area.
The reason my leg is swelling at moment is because of tumour in groin area is growing again and blocking flow of lymph fluid so no amount of massage or exercise is going to help until I start chemo to shrink tumour, but I will keep in mind for future reference the 'what have I done today scenario' to help.
Just a quick one, I don't know about the other ladies on here but I have to wear my compression tights every day for the rest of my life, so buying good quality thick tights from any shop will not do the work of proper compression tights as much as I would like to wear a normal pair and a nice knee length skirt to show them off, its not worth the hassle of legs flairing up again.
The compression tights can be so hard to put on so using talc makes them so much easier to put on. They also dry the skin when on even if you do not use the talc. I was told to put a good cream like e45 and gently massage the leg. I was told it's important that you keep the skin on my legs supple. At first I did wear them daily but then as they got better not so often. I looked in the mirror one day and noticed that my posture especially when walking I was sort of leaning forward. That's when I started to use the stick to get me walking correctly that is straight back and straight legs. I used a stick at the beginning because my legs felt very heavy then as the lymph started to drain I then used it later to correct my posture. Keep thinking positive I did but I understand we are all different and so many different cancers to contend with.
Hi there. First sorry to hear about what you are going through and your treatment but positive thoughts will see you through. I had quite a lot of lymph nodes removed but over the years like I said it's very rare that I use my stockings. I went on a six week course that McMillan were running in our local health center. It was a great place for us all to share our treatments those before,ongoing and after. To ask questions. Each week it was something different that was talked about. Found it very helpful. Check to see if they do this in your area. I have nothing but praise for MacMillan. I too have a little dog and she has been a very important part of my life as I live alone. Because of here I get out and about. There for me is nothing nicer than taking her out,slow walk and taking notice of my surroundings like the birds singing, the smell of wood burning and the smell of the sea. Never really noticed these things before. I drove ever where but not able to drive anymore because of lymph. Not safe as a cramp like sentation in my legs can suddenly effect me. By the way do you have the MacMillan booklet called understanding lymphoedema? Highly recommend it. I got mine from the hospital. It's a very good read and it gave me a better understanding.
Thank you, am trying to stay positive, but sometimes it gets a little difficult.
They don't do an awful lot in my area to be honest, there is a HOPE course but your treatment has to be finished to be able to attend and they do a singing group, anyone with cancer can join, but afraid I'm likely to scare people off with my not so delicate pitch.
Agree with you about walking the dog, taking notice of everything around you, also just meeting other people on the way, can get quite lonely stuck indoors some days. Sorry to hear you cant drive anymore, must make a big difference.
To be quite honest I don't miss the car. Using the bus or waiting at the bus stop always someone to talk and all those other dog lovers you meet. Don't do that when going by car.. does your local hospital or health care center have a day when the MacMillan set up a table and you can pick up booklets and tell you if anything is going on in your area? Do you know there is a section on this web page where you put in your post code and it will give you information. It can be so hard to talk to friends about cancer I found comfort being on here. Do they have a forum for the type of cancer you have? I must admit no one had the operation for my cancer except a lady who lived in Australia a bit to far to go for tea and cake! You sound to be a busy lady and I admire you. Wish I could help more all I can say is I am here for you.
That's so true about the bus, I have never driven anyway, but do meet a mixture of people on buses. That's why I volunteer at charity shop as well because you get to meet so many different people, would volunteer more if I could but now starting chemo will have to put that on hold.
Our local mac unit has a table full of leaflets always on display and have looked at web page and only groups are one for breast cancer and one for prostrate, and others too far away to go to as I don't drive. I do also belong to 3 other cancer groups on here, so am on here quite often and like you find it easier talking to people here rather than family or friends. Yes definitely too far to go for a cuppa :-))) but how nice would that be. Thank you for replying to my posts.
Yeah, such discount offers are just darling because I love saving money and still getting top notch quality products. On the beyond yoga leggings and t-shirts I recently saved 60%. Now I need shoes for summer workouts so just having a look at the online deals.
I like to buy Dream Pairs brand walking and sports shoes, in part because they often give huge discount and kinds of giveaway on FB.I usually buy those either from Amazon U.S. (save pairs I like to a wish list where I can keep track of their pricing changes) or from a dream pairs official store,Amazon has pretty regular sales on their shoes, including women,men and kids. So I just wait until I see a good price/discount offered on a pair of shoes I want, and then buy the shoes then.By the way ,the low wedge sandals at their site is pretty good
