Support Sleeve
Support Sleeve Hi all, I’ve recently finished all my treatment for BC and as I like to do gardening and decorating and was told these were high risk activities the breast care nurses have advised me to buy a support sleeve to protect my arm from lymphoedema. Can any one tell me are they worth having and do they work ?
Hugs jillT
Dangerous work! I don’t know about preventative sleeves, but I do suspect that gardening started off the very mild lymphodoema I have in my hand, so do take sensible precautions. I was trying to dig something up and made the mistake of thinking that it would be fine because I was leaning my weight on the fork handle rather than using muscular brute force (muscles??what are those?!). I think the pressure was too much for my hand though cos it went puffy very soon afterwards.
It’s been helpful Hi Jill
I bought a compression sleeve to wear as a preventative measure when I went on a long-haul flight last November after finishing treatment. Since then I have worn the sleeve while gardening and have found it really supportive. I’m still careful not to overdo things especially using my ‘bad’ arm, but so far I have had no problems and at least I feel that I am doing all I can to take care of myself, yet at the same time carry on with the activities I enjoyed before BC.
My BCN gave me the name of 3 companies I could contact and the one that I did was really helpful with prompt delivery. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to give their name on this site, but I’m sure your BCN will be able to give you some names and addresses.
Good luck and happy gardening!
Love, Ann X
Hi Jill I developed mild lymphoedema after rads. I attend for occasional manual lymphatic drainage treatment and was advised to wear a compression sleeve whenever doing something physical (apart from the nice physical!!) I got my GP to prescribe for me, so you shouldn’t have to pay - they can be expensive if you buy privately - the make is Activa and you have to measure your arm in several places to get the correct size. There is a website where you can get info online. Definitely worth wearing - if I forget sometimes, my arm can ache and swell quite badly. Hope this helps.
xx