Cording Treatment - Report back
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I had my first laser and physio treatment for cording issues yesterday and I thought I'd report back in case anyone else is interested. While my surgery healed really well, I have developed cording (some sort of axillary web syndrome) under the arm, tightness across the scar site and a constant feeling of bruising down my side. Good news is that I'm a good candidate for fixing it with laser , exercise and massage and it will hopefully only take 2 treatments to get on track. Also, that a fancy little electrode test measured that the fluid in my lymph system is normal.
The actual laser part was fairly short and painless. I was a bit disappointed that, due to my type of cording, nothing went POP! The massage, on the other hand, was wondefullwo excruciating - you know, when the area desperately needs to be worked on and it hurts so much that there's almost immediate relief along with the pain.
The upshot is, that while I'm feeling a bit tender, I've also got an amazing amount of free movement back in that arm and the bruised feeling is almost gone.
I had some interesting discussions about lymphoedema with the physio - she would like to have it practice that they see patients at the beginning of treatment to get baselines, and then help them work things out as soon after treatment as possible to prevent problems. She reckons that they're down the list and by the time they see BC women, those women are already often overwhelmed and anxious and more scared about lymphoedema than treatments. She also put me straight on a few things that I've read such as not being able to carry heavy bags on that side, anymore. It's all about building up the muscles to cope properly with a new reality and not overdoing it.
Apparently, there's also studies elsewhere ( and a couple of her patients have asked her to try with good results) of using the laser therapy during radiation to promote skin growth.
The actual laser part was fairly short and painless. I was a bit disappointed that, due to my type of cording, nothing went POP! The massage, on the other hand, was wondefullwo excruciating - you know, when the area desperately needs to be worked on and it hurts so much that there's almost immediate relief along with the pain.
The upshot is, that while I'm feeling a bit tender, I've also got an amazing amount of free movement back in that arm and the bruised feeling is almost gone.
I had some interesting discussions about lymphoedema with the physio - she would like to have it practice that they see patients at the beginning of treatment to get baselines, and then help them work things out as soon after treatment as possible to prevent problems. She reckons that they're down the list and by the time they see BC women, those women are already often overwhelmed and anxious and more scared about lymphoedema than treatments. She also put me straight on a few things that I've read such as not being able to carry heavy bags on that side, anymore. It's all about building up the muscles to cope properly with a new reality and not overdoing it.
Apparently, there's also studies elsewhere ( and a couple of her patients have asked her to try with good results) of using the laser therapy during radiation to promote skin growth.
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Comments
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Interesting!0
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Which is why I do a bit of weight lifting! Nothing dramatic and emphasis on not overdoing it but apart from helping my femara challenged bones (I hope!) it certainly does my arm no harm at all. I still wear a compression sleeve but my new one is noticeably smaller which means it's doing something!
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That's great that it's working. I've got to get my muscles back up to lifting heavy loads of books before I can go back to work.0
