Does anyone know of any suppliers where I might buy sleeves that are slightly more attractive than the NHS ones?
Hi there - I wear Haddenham’s ‘Venex’ sleeves most of the time.
Their sleeves are smooth, a rather more attractive ‘skin-tone’ (ha-ha) than most other manufacturers’ and they are also available in black, white, cholocate brown, navy and a bluey/grey. I have found they give a much smoother line under clothes, are very comfortable, don’t slip down and are generally much less noticeable.
In the past, I have been able to get their beige and white ones through my NHS Lymphoedema nurse, but I understand that there is now a bit of a hiatus with Haddenham’s sleeves at the moment and they are not yet on the drug tariff.
You cannot order from them directly yourself, exactly - this has to be initiated either by a Lymphoedema Nurse or a trained private MLD therapist to ensure you get the right size and compression. If you have a good nurse/therapist, they might ring Haddenham’s for you and confirm the sizing to them. You can then order by telephone with them and pay by credit card, debit card, etc. The off-the-shelf ones are not ridiculously expensive. On the other hand, an MLD therapist may well do all the ordering for you as well.
I believe there are some American sites where you can order, directly, a variety of coloured sleeves and even glitzy ones for evening wear! If you’re interested, I will try to find out some of the web addresses for you and post them here (if that’s OK with the moderator?)
Hi, thanks for your reply, I had found the American sites but thought there must be somewhere in UK. I will ask my nurse about Haddenhams.
Thanks again