Prophylactic (preventative) Measures

• Lymphoedema or venous oedema will worsen over time, so even if we can stop or slow down the progression of the problem then that is a good thing.

Treatment available for Lymphoedema patients

• Regular appointments with your lymphoedema experts are important following your surgery and/or radiotherapy or any other situation. The main reason for this is that before the swelling becomes obvious to you either by changes in size or subjective feelings, our assessments may tell you about some of these sub clinical changes.
  
• This is done by non invasive techniques and measurements.
  
• If lymphoedema is detected if you appear to be at high risk of developing it, a treatment and management plan will be initiated.

What treatment and management can do to help your lymphatic system

• The treatment can either make the lymphatic system work better and pump more lymph from the limb (lymphostimulatory) or it can help encourage new lymph vessels to grow or new pathways to form (lymphogenic).
  
• The type of therapy will depend on the extent and duration and rate of deterioration of your limb.
  
• The main objective of the therapy is to normalise the swollen limb as rapidly and as appropriately as possible.

Treatments

• The type of therapy will depend on the extend and duration and rate of deterioration of your limb. The main objective of the therapy is to normalise the swollen limb as rapidly and as appropriately as possible.
  
• We do this after facilitating the development of new lymphatic pathways or the reopening of old ones, or by stimulating the flow of lymph from the affected leg through any existing lymph vessels. This means we can increase the lymphatic transport capacity.

Aromatherapy treatment

• Aromatherapy: oil blends specially formulated by our Medical Aromatherapist have antibacterial and scar healing effects have great skin care regeneration abilities and have been used over the year on patients who has experienced cellulitis infections and painful surgery healing have proven to be most gentle and yet effective.
  
• Aromatherapy also serves as a special tool to help with stress and emotional issues including insomnia and pain management, since it is a subcutaneous absorption it does not interfere with oral medications nor does it depend on digestive capability.
  
• Aromatherapy is also our home follow up tool to use as a stand by antiseptic aid to any scratches, cuts or bruises that still happens no matter how careful you have been. It is fast in healing and provides effective local pain relief, thus cutting down reliance on antibiotics and allowing more effective action of the drug when you really need it’s defence.
  

2 Phase Treatment Program

• Phase 1 (Treatment Phase)
  
  
  • Includes 4 components: Manual Lymph Drainage, Skin and nail care (though aromatherapy prescriptions), Compression Bandaging, and therapeutic exercise.
  
  
• Phase 2 (Maintenance Phase)
  
  
  • Includes all the above 4 components plus the use of compression garment.
  
  
• Patient education
  
  
  • Understanding your condition is the key to have yourself be vigilant over the changes and take charge of your own health so that you can determine the best care for yourself. We offer free Lymphoedema patient seminars every quarter. We will also teach your family members how to do simple follow up with you at home. The patient knows best how he/she is feeling, trust in your instincts they are usually right.
    

About Manual Lymph Drainage

• Vodder School system of Manual Lymph Drainage is a technique used to increase the lymph vessel pumping rate to move stagnating fluid from an oedematous area to other regions of the body that can accept and continue with the normal processing and elimination of the lymph fluid. This procedure requires a very light application of pressure secondary to the location of the superficial lymphatic vessels just below the skin.
  
• The direction of movement with this technique is always distal to proximal, forcing the evacuation of excess lymphatic fluid from the oedematous limb.
  
• The sequence and type of manual techniques are determined for each patient on an individual basis depending on the specific area of increased oedema as well as the stage of lymphoedema present.
  
• After the manual work is done, we normally proceed to use compression bandaging on the patient to “contain” the reduction achieved and enforce further reduction while also stopping more fluids from entering the tissue. The type of bandaging and padding used are determined according to the needs of the patients.
  

Signs that the treatment is working

• Reversing a long-standing lymphoedema can be difficult (and often slow). The reason for this is that many of the changes that have occurred in the leg tissues are to do with changes in the cells, their numbers and in the materials they products in the numbers of blood vessles and other structures in the tissues.
  
• First thing you might notice is that the limb feels better, less heavy, less tense or fewer pins and needles. Due to the reduction in the amount of free extracellular fluid.
  
• You might be able to detect that the tissues feel softer, find your clothes or shoes fits more easily or that your tissues dent or pit a little less.
  
• It is good results even if you can halt the progression of the lymphoedema since we know that generally it will progress and worsen unless there is some form of intervention.