ALL THINGS Gloves and sleeves
Comments
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dassi
I can relate !
My dominant side is the right, and I wear NO rings at all now - either hand.I have not had LE long enough (IMO) to have an INCR in the right side as far as the ' good hand' taking over, and I dont do many difficult, heavy / challenging activities ( desk job) that I believe would cause that so go figure ...but I hear you .
My LEist did say to try to be as ambidextrous as possible , and I do. If I carry a grocery bag, I don't make the 'good' hand take the whole load for example. I'll use 2 hands.
I duno'.0 -
Purple, I wear elvarex, which is a heavy knit fabric. I don't do anything special at the top to hold the nylons up, but so far I've only worn them in the fall/ winter when I have sleeves. They've never really fallen down and because they're cheap, I throw them away when they run. Otherwise I wash them in a net bag and hang them to dry. I ordered the "hospital" bright yellow sleeve and gauntlet from lymphedivas to support the company for listening to actual patients in real time and designing according to their needs ( Yeah, Josh!!). I've worn it a couple of times, but my issues are in the back of the hand, wrist, and lower forearm, and the sleeve and my current glove didn't work well together. I just had to reorder a new sleeve & glove, so I'm anxious to try the newly sized glove with the lymphedivas sleeve.
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my issues are in the back of the hand, wrist, and lower forearm,
Boy, starting to sound familiar- I can relate!
The hand stuff is challenging. Just reminds me of (regular) edema that pools in the legs to the extremities/lowest part.
I have had a small cut and 2 good bangs on the hand in the last few days. Sure seems as though the arm doesnt get so much ' trauma'. What a klutz I am ! I suppose it happens now and then , but when your hand doesnt have LE you just keep on truckin'; and think nothing of it.
I also feel like the MLD is very difficult due to the anatomy of the hand. If anyone learns of any ' special tricks' for that area well, I'm sure we'd share!
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Purple, a big part of my hand issue is how I position my hand/wrist. If I don't keep it in a neutral position, I cut the lymph flow and will swell immediately, even with compression. So actions like putting my hands in my pockets or holding and reading a book will cause fluid to pool at the wrist and back of hand. A lot of people have difficulty with compression over the wrist area. Through 3 different sets of garments, I finally tried an extra long glove over top of the sleeve that ends at the wrist. My glove actually goes an extra 15 cm. up my forearm, about half way up. I needed the overlapping compression there to keep my glove and sleeve from separating and fluid pooling there. If it's really acting up or if I am doing certain activities, I will wrap lightly over the hand and up the wrist while wearing garments, basically "casting" it to maintain flow. It just goes to show, no one solution works for all of us. That's why I'm glad I can hear what works for others on this site. I am the only moderate hand LE person my therapist has worked with in my small town and my insurance won't even let me see her unless I am in active treatment (meaning not able to control it through self-care).
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GottaLoveNED - sounds a lot like what I've got going on, I have a one piece - sleeve/glove, and it's helped a lot to go to the one piece, though it does have it's draw backs. My LE-T has suggested wrapping over my sleeve, but haven't tried it yet, your message is a good reminder - thanks!
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So actions like putting my hands in my pockets or holding and reading a book will cause fluid to pool at the wrist and back of hand...
GOTTALOVENED
This is very very interesting! Make me wonder, with all of the ' hand' activities we do in our normal ADLs if in fact, I dont unintentionally exacerbate mine. I know I could spend less time on the keyboard .
I often think that my mild LE is 'fine' / very manageable right now and then I will exercise , for example, and I will see a very subtle puffiness in between 2 fingers on the hand. DONT LIKE THAT! Is the answer perhaps to STOP exercising ? I am beginning to wonder! Perhaps If I never exercised at all it would not ' flare'. I know mine is minimal, but I am sure many ppl began with minimal. We all have ONE thing in common-- we don't want this to get any worse/ no matter what stage you are at.
PLS tell me where you get the extra long gloves from.0 -
All those things make mine worse, but it's really hard to make sure that you don't ever bend your wrist backwards, like right now when Im typing - I can type with my wrist level, but... do I? Not so much. And Gottalove makes a great point too, it even happens with compression, it's quite a bit better with the one piece, but it definitely doesn't eliminate the swelling.
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Purple.. I have to wear custom because of my long, chubby arms. So I just order my gloves extra long. I started by adding 6 cm. then another 4 and finally ended up about 15 cm past my wrist. Elvarex stretches quickly, and no matter how careful I was, I would end up stretching the wrist area as I put on my glove. With the long one, I grab it up near the palm and then roll it up my arm. The extra pressure higher up seems to help and not hurt ( I was worried about that). I also have a dorsum pocket and as the garment gets older and stretches, I can get a little longer life out it by adding foam in there.
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just order my gloves extra long. I started by adding 6 cm. then another 4 and finally ended up about 15 cm past my wrist.
Thanks for the info.
I think I might be afraid of ' double compression ' with my sleeve though.
My problem with LE is that I am afarid of almost anything connected to it !
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My 4th and 5th finger tingle Dassi but this is due to a c7 neck disc. Also I get numbness in my whole hand and abit tingly in my fingers. For me this is my hand desensitizing due to wearing a glove daily. I am not sure what you have because you even tingle not wearing gloves. humm...................
For sweaty gloves, I do the trick of the cotton glove over my compression glove then a rubber glove. I haven't found anything better yet.(very thick feeling) I may try the sealskinz gloves when they come into season at REI sports store. I think Carol wears a glove like this over her compression wear to elimnate sweat.
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Purple.. I'm with you. This stuff is SO expensive... custom cannot be returned, you have to fight to get it re-made to fit... That's why I stick with the elvarex right now. I would love to try out something different, but I have limited garment allowance with my insurance (which by the way, I am grateful my insurance covers what it does) I don't want to get something I can't wear. I've been burned before. I'm waiting to see what Solaris does with day garments, and then I may try that. What really works best for me is michilin man foam and bandage wrapping, but I just don't have the stamina ( mental or physical) to do that every day.
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Ok peeps, I am going to a women's conference where there will be smimming. I have not been swimming with LE. So do you just wear your sleeve/glove with your bathing suit and take them off at the last moment before getting in? Then what after? Go to your room and put it back on? What if you are in and out of the water? Ugh! I hate all this. Maybe I will just leave it off and try to sneek in a MLD after.
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My LET recommends using an old sleeve and gauntlet...
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Ohhh keeping them on?
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Victoria, I don't think there's a uniform practice for this. I've read of some, like Cindy, who are advised to wear old garments in the water. Others remove their compression gear while in the pool, then shower and re-don. I think I would find the compression wear to be heavy while wet, and the water, if you stay submerged so shoulders and arms are below the surface, provides its own compression. For that reason, breast stroke is more effective than crawl, and like any exercise, don't overdo. I hope others will chime in here and share their swimming experiences. In any case, what fun--a women's conference! And being able to swim is such a bonus.
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My LE-T thinks that swimming is the best exercise for LE as long as you don't overdo! The water works like compression, she also suggests using an old glove/sleeve that's stretched out if you want a little extra compression! I have not worn one while swimming but I do shower and re-don after when I do go swimming. You can leave it in the room, you don't have to wear it to the pool. Have funA
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VIC
I recently went for a swim for app 1 hr. The jury is out on the sleeve.I wore no sleeve at all - . It felt heavenly. Afterwards, I took a quick rinse in the shower ( chlorine) , and dried really well. I think you should sleeve and glove soon after that . Avoiding the ' in and out' might make it less of a hassle.
Enjoy!
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I should also say that my let knows of my love for the hot tub and she knows that's the one place that I'm non-compliant. If there's a Jacuzzi calling my name I simply can't just walk on by.
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Hugz, thanks for your response. I don't remember my fingers ever tingling before LE. Now they do, especially the tips and yes, not necessarily with the glove on. I often take the glove off and leave it off for some time. I hate working in the kitchen with one, so sometimes it's off for quite a while. I doubt the tingling is connected to chemo, because I had chemo back in 2007. Why would I get SEs NOW? LE is such a tricky disease. It comes in so many disguises and affects us in so many ways, even those who have a mild form. I will ask my LPT if she knows anything about it or how to prevent it. It's not that it is so painful. It is just annoying. It feels like my fingers went to sleep and just woke up.
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Thanks all for your replies. I think I'll play it by ear as how to do it, now that I have some options. I guess it will depend on whether or not I am up or down that day swelling-wise. They also have hot springs there, I might have to have a non-compliance day.
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Victoria, be sure to lotion after you dry off. Pool water can really dry our skin out.
There are (at least) two theories on why swimming is helpful to LE. One is the water-adds-compression argument, and the other is that the water flowing over the skin is actually a good MLD stroke. I favor the second view, because I've found that if I hang out near the pool's water inlet and let the water flow massage in the proper direction and order it has a tremendous effect on my sluggish lymph system. I always wonder what kind of results we'd get if our therapists did MLD with our bodies submerged, using a gentle hose instead of their hands. Can't get anybody interested in trying it though!
Enjoy!
Binney0 -
Hi Everyone, I am new to this thread. I finished my cancer treatment in July only to have a massive infection in my arm-up and across my chest. This has been a major set back for me. For some reason in December I had a 102+ fever and spent 5 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics and just 8 weeks later (two weeks ago) I had it hit me hard again.I spent another 5 days in the hospital. No one can figure out where this came from. I am so very careful, electric razor, hand sanitizer......I have 5 amazing doctors very perplexed. This last infection has left my arm still red (after 2 weeks on oral meds) and they have me on oral antibiotics for a full month since this happened so fast again.
Today I picked up my sleeve that was ordered for me. I got a Juzo sleeve and am waiting for my guantlet to come in. I put it on in the store and the women who runs the medical supply part was so helpful. When we got it on properly my arm almost felt "cold". I wore it for 5 hours. I couldn't take it any more so I removed it and my arm is killing me. I had a Lymphedema PT specialist that measured me. I know that she said it would be really tight but once the fluid goes down it will be a bit more comfortable. I am guessing this is "normal" but I did feel my arm also was a bit more red after removing the sleeve. Just another torture to endure. I am so trying to deal but after 17 long months, this is so painful. Any advice to survive the "break in" period?
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Bonseye - I'd check with me LE-T about the sleeve fit, it shouldn't make your arm worse. It's tight, especially when new, but shouldn't be hurt you tight. I don't know the rules about sleeves while infected, but you might want to be wrapped instead for a while until you're stable. Were the measurements taken before the infection? If so, they may be the wrong size for right now. That seems really worrisome to me.
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Welcome Bonseye! I'm so sorry to hear of your ordeal. That's just awful. I had no pain with my sleeve. I think it's related to whatever may still be going on with your arm. Linda is right, you should check with your LE-T. Wrapping till stable is the norm. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable, think control top pantyhose, you just want them off! But it shouldn't hurt.
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I am guessing this is "normal"
In a word....Nope.I'm not an expert here, but this does not sound normal at all. I refused two ' custom fit' gloves that made my hand cold. Common sense ( not the fitter) told me they were cutting off my circulation. Also, pls do not wear a sleeve without hand protection. You will risk LE in your hand. You need a gauntlet ( or glove IF it is in the hand )
IMHO, that sleeve needs to be returned. There is no ' breaking in' period.ALSO= " she said it would be really tight but once the fluid goes down it will be a bit more comfortable." This sounds odd to me. I wonder if wrapping might be more appropriate at this juncture so I am calling out to the ' resident experts' here who I believe willl answer. I am very sorry for your ordeal - this is not easy.
Pls hang in there and in the meantime, I would NOT wear that sleeve.
(((hugs)))
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Bonseye, welcome (love the screen name
)!
For goodness sake don't put it on again until you've checked in with your lymphedema therapist. And even then, if you wear it again do so only with hand protection, and only for an hour the first time, working up slowly. Certainly wrapping your arm with short-stretch bandages (lightly at first) would be a much gentler way of approaching this, and would protect your hand as well. Do ask your therapist to help you with that.
Do you have, among your team of doctors, an infectious disease specialist familiar with lymphedema? The considerations for those of us who have had repeat infections and have (or are at risk for) lymphedema are quite different than they might be for others. You may need low-dose antibiotics for longer than currently proposed, and other strategies may be considered as well to keep you out of this miserable cycle.
Meanwhile, rest and PLENTY OF FLUIDS are still important so your body can fully recover. Gentle stretching exercises (as long as nothing hurts) could be helpful as well. The online Lebed videos might be a good place to start. Just start slowly.
Do keep us posted, and tell us how we can help!
Very gentle hugs,
Binney0 -
Hello ladies. I just received a lymphedema sleeve Friday. Both the woman at the medical supply place and my LE-PT said the sleeve might make my hand swell and in that case, I'd need a glove as well. My hand is swelling considerably. I see him tomorrow, but I'm thinking I should not wear this thing anymore until then? Thanks for your help!
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Dizzymom, you got that right--don't put it on again. Meanwhile, stay really well hydrated (it helps to dilute the lymph fluid and keep it flowing), and elevate your arm-- on the back of the couch while you watch TV, on pillows tonight in bed. If you already know how to wrap your hand and arm, you can do that until tomorrow. If not, just go easy with it and keep it elevated as much as possible.
Keep us posted on how you're doing!
Gentle hugs,
Binney0 -
Thanks so much, Binney. So frustrating. I just started working with the therapist last week and my arm went down 3 cm over three days with just massage and exercises. Now my hand looks like a balloon! Guess I'll be sporting the Michael Jackson look from now on
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Guess I'll be sporting the Michael Jackson look from now on
DizzyBinney is our resident expert here so be sure to listen (and take) her advice !
I am sporting the MJ look, but listen, IF the swelling came ONLY because of wearing the sleeve and was sudden, there is a chance that working on that area with your LPT and doing MLD at home, and all the things Binney advised could result in you getting into a gauntlet rather than a glove IF the swelling subsides and is stable for some time- you'll have to ask your LPT at some point.
All I'm saying is- dont give up. The glove may not end up being a ' forever thing' in your case. A gauntlet could be a possibility.
No matter what though, you MUST wear some sort of hand protection with a sleeve.
Best wishes!
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