Coping with lymphedema can be achieved by appropriate care for a sick hand and following simple guidelines. Unfortunately, the professionals involved in only a problem of lymphedema, no. Treatment of this disease may engage surgeons, oncologists, and physical therapists.
Keep your arm in an elevated position. If you have marked swelling of the hands or an infection in her area, the habit of borrowing from time to time to rest the limb elevated position, no matter where you are. Need to lift the arm so that the elbow and wrist were higher than shoulder level. This situation facilitates the flow of lymph from the arm to the side of the heart. If you sit in a chair, leaning back, try not to squeeze with the soft tissue in the armpit area. And also try not to hold the arm in the raised position without support for a long time - it leads to muscle fatigue and a sense of "flowing" hands.
Do light exercise. Exercise for Lymphedema help improve lymph flow, and thus reduce the manifestations of soft tissue swelling. In the beginning we said that the movement of lymph through the lymph vessels and abbreviations provided by the muscles. They seem to squeeze out the accumulated lymph from the tissue into the circulation, where it then goes through the vessels.
However, exercise not only lead to an outflow of lymph, but also to the blood flow to the soft tissues of the hand. This leads again to the accumulation of fluid. Therefore, the most effective in this case - a combination of light exercise with appropriate bandaging the hands of special dressings.
Recommended exercises for lymphedema
Since the movement of the finger joints and wrist are of great importance in the mechanism of muscle pump lymphatic drainage system of the hand, "the main exercise" is as follows:
Clenching a fist, bend wrist joint and bring a fist to the shoulder, and then open palm, straighten it out and relax in the reverse order. This "core exercise" should always be included in the overall set of exercises and therefore subject to change (for example, after the disclosure of the palms to raise your hands up or hands after opening stretch your arms forward, etc.).
Other exercises are performed in both supine and sitting position (in this case - watching the retention of the vertical position of the body), 10-15 times, each with an increase in the rate of exercise.
The simultaneous rotation of the shoulders forward and back, and then alternately.
At the same time inhaling raise both arms up for a short time delay, and as you exhale slowly lower.
Both shoulders simultaneously bend back, turn your hands outward (shoulder blades together), hold for a short time and with an exhalation, relax the hands, newly turned inwards and lower sides.
Put your hand on the opposite shoulder and take her back to the starting position. Performed alternately with both hands.
Slowly, one by one arm raised up and returned to its original position.
If the hand is too heavy for it, join hands and raise both hands up, and then return them to their original position.
In addition, it is very useful for the prevention and treatment of lymphedema swimming. Pay attention to the fact that almost all the exercises needed to maintain the so-called breathing exercises (deep breaths), as this increases the suction effect of the chest, improving the flow of lymph through the lymph vessels.
It is important to remember that these exercises should not bother you and do not lead to excessive blood supply. Although if you have lymphedema or not, it is necessary to monitor the effects of the ratio arms.
Weight correction
Typically, the treatment of breast cancer patient is gaining weight (even despite the lack of appetite!). This is due to different factors, but mainly with low physical activity. Obesity is accompanied by a deterioration of the microcirculation in the tissues, namely the violation of the outflow of lymph. Therefore, the correction weight is also important in the prevention and treatment of lymphedema.
Breathing exercises
During inhalation, the pressure rises in the abdomen and the chest is reduced. In this vein are expanding and are absorbed (the so-called effect of the pump). These changes ensure the return of the pressure of blood and lymph vessels in the direction from the periphery to the center. In this case, lymph flows at the same time in the lymphatics: the right and the chest.
To this effect, and even joins the effect of "water-jet pump." It is manifested in the improvement of the venous outflow of blood during inhalation, which favorably affects the lymph stream.
Breathing exercises lies in a deep breath. To do this, the patient should be seated to take a deep breath chest, shoulders, and there should be freely omitted, and the hands lie on his stomach or knees. This is followed by a small breath for 3 - 5 seconds and then slowly exhale. This exercise should be repeated 7 - 8 times. The complex of breathing exercises combined with exercises for the legs and, moreover, can be used alone 3 - 4 times during the day.
