Hi ladies
I haven’t been on here for a while but I would appreciate your advice. I have mild lymphoedema on my left arm and was given a sleeve by BCN to see how I got on with it.
Apart from the fact that the sleeve is too long for my arm, I found that even wearing the sleeve for an hour made my arm very sore right in the crease of the elbow and my arm ached even more than usual. I was very careful to no have any wrinkles in the sleeve but everytime I bent my arm, it ‘cut’ into my elbow.
Would putting a pad inside be of any use or not the right thing to do?
Hope you are all ok and thank you.
best wishes
Dawnflower
Hi,
Is it possible the sleeve is the wrong size - sounds like it may be as you say it’s a bit long ??? There are different shapes and sizes of sleeves depending on the shape of your arm and how it is affected. Can you get re-measured/refitted ? I have it mildly in my left arm too and my lymph nurse made sure the shape etc was right (sausage shaped arm!!!). If I wear my sleeve all day, it can get sore in the elbow but that’s only the heat so I take it off. I don’t wear it as much as I should either - whoops - especially in this warmer weather.
Liz
Hi Dawnflower
I agree with Liz, it maybe the wrong size, the sleeve shouldn’t cut into you. I have a made to measure sleeve as had similar problems. I do still have abit redness inside elbow, the heat doesn’t help, but it doesn’t cut into my arm. I would ask for your arm to be re-measured, it won’t help the swelling if your sleeve doesn’t fit. Sorry if that sounds abit blunt.
Hi Liz - tried to email you couple weeks ago, have you changed your email address. Hope you keeping ok
Take care
Lynne x
Hi Dawnflower,to get the correct compression you should have a properly fitted sleeve of the correct size and grade and this is achieved by measurements taken by a lymphoedema nurse. Did you just get handed one by a bcn? It certainly shoudn’t be too long and shouldn’t cut into you, though I must admit they do give a fair bit of a squeeze. I would def go back and speak to your bcn or better still get a referal to a lymphoedema specialist and do not get put off with “but it’s only mild …”
Good luck.
Sandra x
Hi Dawnflower,
I had a similar problem and had to get a properly fitted made to measure sleeve. None of the standard sleeves the BCN gave me fitted properly and I was lucky to get referred to a proper lymphoedema clinic. Even the made to measure sleeve caused me the inner elbow soreness problem so I have a silk pocket included in the sleeve measurement instructions (jobst are the providers).
See if you can get a proper fitting and this elbow bit included.
Good luck
Roberta
xx
Hi there,
I have had problems with redness and soreness in the crease of the elbow - even with made to measure sleeves. The only way to avoid it was to keep my arm straight which isn’t exactly compatible with normal life!
But - now I have a Jobst sleeve with a silk pocket which lines the sleeve in the crease of the elbow. it is a made to measure sleeve and the silk pocket works really well.
I would definitely not advise that you try and line it yourself. I agree with everyone else, you should ask to be referred to a lymphoedema clinic and they should fit you with a better sleeve.
Good luck.
Rowena