The Importance of Drinking Plenty of Water
I drink like a fish. No, sadly the drink is not of the alcoholic variety. Aside from the very occasional appletini (yeah right), I try to drink as much water as I can. I purchased a few Big Gulps from 7-11, and I use the cups over and over for my ice water. I tend to drink about two of these a day at least, which is 88 ounces or so. People are so busy these days that most people tend to forget to drink fluids. Ever since I’ve started to focus more closely on drinking plenty of water, I feel that my lymphedema has improved somewhat.
While it’s true that more fluids in my body definitely can contribute to swelling by giving the body more fluid to get trapped in the interstitials, I think that having the extra water and lymphatic fluids is a much bigger benefit. I tend to get extremely frequent infections and the extra fluids bathing my cells helps to wash away all the gunk that I have in my body. In fact, preventing an infection is a better way for me to prevent swelling because infections are a great way to increase fluid volume. Infected cells tell the body to send over all the lymphatic and immune fluids to the site of the infection. This is why infected wounds swell and get red and hot. The immune system can kill off the infection in this way, but this leaves a large amount of fluid in the area, which can become trapped if your lymphatic vessels in the area are poor. This lymphatic fluid is particularly bad because it is full of the debris from the recent infection.
Avoid Sitting for Long Periods
I take the train to work. In fact, I’m writing this right now from the train. It’s nice in that I can do whatever I want while I commute and I don’t have to watch the road. Not that many people with their cell phones actually bother to watch the road anymore. But that’s a topic for another time. There are a few very serious drawbacks to taking the train. First of all, it takes me to work. That, in itself, is a reason to consider the train the Devil’s Carriage. The Steel Doombringer. Whatever you want to call it. Another drawback is that anyone can sit next to you on any given day. ANYONE. But again, another time. More importantly, the train, while it is a relaxing way to get to work and back, it is a passive form of transportation. I sit on my lazy butt for two hours each day staring at all the free people outside of the Doombringer. This is not particularly a good thing for lymphedema.
Using Diuretics to Treat Lymphedema
Diuretics is often considered a treatment option for lymphedema. While it remains a fairly controversial method of treatment with little consensus among therapists, it is slowly beginning to fade out. Diuretics in general are not a particularly good treatment for your body, whether it be for dieting, cleansing, or lymphedema therapy. The way that diuretics work is that it draws water out of your body, which can cause dehydration. A dehydrated body can cause all sorts of problems, including a poor immune system, low energy, and fatigue. In addition to a lowered immune response, the lack of water in the interstitial tissues can also worsen infections associated with lymphedema.
If you think about your body having a balanced amount of lymphatic fluid bathing the body’s cells washing away bacteria, toxins, and debris, dehydrating your body should only lead to a more concentrated amount of the muck remaining in your body. Combined with the lowered immune system that results from being constantly dehydrated, this can lead to terrible cellulitis infections.
While it’s undoubtedly true that diuretics can result in decreased limb volume, which is the one of the biggest aesthetic complications of lymphedema, the side-effects of being constantly dehydrated are simply not worth it. Not to mention you have to pee all the time.
The Importance of Proper Skin Care
At the urging of my lymphedema therapist, I’ve started to lather myself in big gooey globs of cream after my showers. I tend to resemble an old alligator skin purse a few hours after a shower due to the hard city water. However, my lymphedema is another factor that strongly contributes to my hard, lizard-like exterior.
First of all, the amount of lymphatic fluid that is trapped in affected limb varies throughout the day, depending on how active you are and if you are standing or sitting or elevating the limb. This causes the skin to stretch and relax more than that of the average person. You’ll often notice after a session with a directional flow garment or a compression pump that the skin on the treated arm or leg looks dry and flaky. In addition, the skin that is affected by lymphedema tends to be less healthy. The skin is, after all, dealing with all kinds of filth that has been caught in the lymphatic fluid. Remember, the lymphatic fluid functions as part of the immune system, bathing cells and removing bacteria, toxins and other malicious particles. This can cause the surrounding skin to appear bumpy, discolored, or otherwise unhealthy, which can contribute to dry skin.
To counteract the tendency of lymphedema to create dry skin, it’s important to use a mild cream on your skin at least once a day, as well as after showers and whenever you happen to see that your skin is drying out. By keeping the skin in the lymphedema affected limb, you keep the skin clean and moist, and most importantly, you improve its elasticity. This will help to contain the lymphedema and prevent the limb from swelling. The one that I most commonly use is Eucerin Original Moisturizing Creme. Since I’ve started using cream as a lymphedema therapy, I’ve definitely noticed that my infections are not as frequent and that I’m not having quite as hard of a time with pain and other lymphedema side effects. It won’t cure lymphedema, but it will make it easier to manage. Baby steps, I say, baby steps.
Using a Wedge in Lymphedema Skin Folds
In addition to getting a custom compression garment and using manual lymph drainage, one of the biggest things one can do for lymphedema treatment is using a wedge under a Jobst garment. It’s amazing that such a little thing can make such a huge difference. What is a wedge, you ask? Basically, a wedge is simply something for helping lymphedema patients who suffer from lymphedema that has progressed enough to form a skin fold on the affected limb. Lymph can be caught on one side of the skin fold and become trapped there by gravity pulling on the top half of the fold. Custom compression garments have a hard time applying pressure to the area surrounding a skin fold and can sometimes worsen the condition by further pushing the top half of the skin fold down. By inserting a wedge into the fold, you can encourage a more streamlined contour to your affected limb and allow the compression garment to effectively apply compression.
A wedge is made of some quilting batting stuffed into a stockinette. Another way that you can make a wedge is to simply use a new sock filled with cotton, or any other kind of soft cloth. It’s important that the cloth that you use is soft and hypo-allergenic to prevent irritating the skin. Also, you need to make several of these wedges so that you can always keep them clean. Also, you need to be sure that you place them under your compression garment in such a way that they lie as comfortably as possible in the skin fold, especially if you suffer from pitting. Lastly, do NOT tie your wedge around your limb to keep it in place. The compression garment should be worn over the wedge to keep it in place. Tying anything around your limb is possibly the worst thing that you can do when you’re suffering from lymphedema as it will prevent up to 40% of the lymphatic vessels to be constricted and will undoubtedly cause swelling.
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