Hello Ladies
I’ve had mild lymphodema for about five years and I can control it reasonably well. However the past couple of days it seems to be a bit different. My knuckles disappear normally but this seems to be accompanied with bruising or blue colour to the skin across the back of my hand. Anybody got any idea or any additional stuff I could do besides the usual sleeve, massage and rest. I’ve only just got back to work after having treatment for kidney stones.
Thanks for the help
Chinook
A blue colour to your hand sounds like a circulation issue. I think you should go and see your GP and see what they suggest.
i agree - best to get the gp to peer at it, & maybe book in to see the lymphoedema service as well
meanwhile, try not to fret & do let us know how you get on - & glad the kidney stones are sorted, they’re proper OUCH aren’t they?
Just a thought but clearing those kidney stones (YAY) will change how your body handles getting rid of excess fluid, so it could shift the balance of your lymphoedema. I’m afraid at this time of night i can’t quite figure out which way it should go, i’m sure it should improve things… so maybe there was latent bruising that the lymph pressure would have previously kept in check? or that the tissue is in fact less oedematous now and therefore shows up the normal veins better? I’m sure I remember “not seeing blue veins in your wrist/elbow” as one of the signs of lymphoedema. Hope someone with a brain can clarify this in the morning… Norberte??
But yeah i would be concerned about circulation and get it checked out, especially if it starts to go tingly or numb at all.
hymil, i ain’t got no brain!
all that sounds plausible to me - the point is to get it checked by gp / ld nurse (ideally) or both, to put your mind at rest & to hopefully get an explanation
if they do tell you what made it happen, make sure you write it down so you can tell the rest of us
also, dunno if i’m being over-cautious as just coming out of a horrible bout of cellulitis, but if it feels at all hot (get someone else to feel it & compare to your other hand) or you feel a bit flu’ey / have a temperature, take all the compression gear off & stop doing your sld, & start on the stand-by antibi’s if you’ve got some (& get to gp asap)
hope it turns out to be something interesting but safe!
Hi All
Feeling a bit of a numpty!!! Why do things normally go blue? When you have a bruise. I know it’s a bruise because the edges are green and yellow. I never thought of the obvious as there wasn’t any pain and I didn’t recall banging it. But as OH pointed out during general anasthetic you don’t know what your doing.
So panic over. Isn’t it rediculous that we worry over such little things.
Thanks for the back up.
Chinook.
good news, chinook, although it sounds like a nasty bruise (apart from all the grief it gave you before it came out & identified itself)
no numpty about it, though - consequences of lymphoedema-areas misbehaving can be so serious it’s easy to get in a panic & sensible to prioritise working out what’s going on
now, have you got any arnica? take / rub in loads & it’ll come out & go quicker
Thanks Norberte
No don’t have arnica at the moment. I’ll get some tomorrow. The thought of what could happen to my arm is more terrifying than the BC sometimes.
Regards
Chinook