Forum Discussion
Lymphedema in breast ???
Does anyone have any suggestions for relief ?
I don’t know if I’m just grabbing at straws before the ct in November my breast and armpit swells and becomes hot and painful its not all the time though. I can start the day with my 1 breast smaller then the other thanks to breast conserving surgery but by the end of the day its bigger than my the other one and the hole/ dent is deeper.
Sometimes the swelling settles overnight sometimes a couple of days
i can go a day or so and there’s no swelling
i can go a day or so and there’s no swelling
My arm and hand doesn’t seem to be swelling like it did in the beginning
Looking forward to any ideas
or do i just wait till the scan
Looking forward to any ideas
or do i just wait till the scan
38 Replies
- @aroie. I did have one after the surgery for about 6 months. For the arm hand and armpit he got it all as good as he could get it. Which was heaps better at the time saved me from the sleeve. That was back in 2017/2018
never expected it to return the arm and hand aren’t too bad. Rings on and off. And i never wear sleeves with tight cuffs. Its a bugger undoing them i kept up the arm and hand elevation mostly in summer or if i did too much yard work.No man in the house. Or if there is its allergic to physical labour. (A nephew that lives at my house. Strange man/boy.).Was told he would be a great help. Laughable that one
anyway I’m going to keep soldiering on. And keep learning about this shite show of bc. Give most things a go if i can - Great info, @Kristen
@cranky_granny - your medical team should be able to put you onto a lymphedema specialist too, who would physically take you thru (and give you) the massage technique .... maybe ask for a referral?
I had a session with one about a month after my surgery & was quite surprised how 'firm' the massage was ..... I was very lucky tho, as I didn't have any ongoing issues
take care xx - Thankyou @Kristen i have now looked a those breast cancer physio ones. It was great to se a visual of how to do the massages. I was being too gentle and going the wrong direction for the breast the armpit one i had basically right
With the help of watching a couple of times it definitely makes a difference great improvement in shifting the fluid. - yep massage is boring. But the more you learn about it/lymphatics etc , the more you can refine your process/method and improve your technique which may enable you to reduce the time it takes and improve the effectiveness of it.Location, pressure, frequency of movemnt, speed- slowness can all have huge effect. I am still learning and i been doing it for 12 years.eg no point 'pumping' pushing up and down fast, as our lymph system can not move fast, only pump once every 6 seconds , but several times. This can speed up lymphatics for a few hours. So doing it every few hours in your armpit, as it is where the fluid driains into blood system (even if lymph nodes have been removed) , will then make space for fluid to move out of breast and towards the 'plug hole' and keep things moving.Incase anyone comes across this topic and is looking for info re self care of lymphoedema in breast.Some great resources, and videos are on these two You Tube channels, both of these physios have informative videos specifically in relation to breast swelling as well and lots of other stuff re scaring and much more . Well worth subscribing and watching and learning - early interevention is good to say and adverti,se but requires learning stuff before we need it.Trying to spread the word in any little way i can. I know personally especially with cancer and lymphoedmea, that early intervention and education make a huge difference.Pump it ladies.Pump it up.Happy New year.#lymphoedema
- My self Massaging is still working. But oh so boring haha 😛.Still waiting for phone call (in January). Re the MRI results
- @arpie & @Locksley.This whole month has been one scan to the
next. Each one says needs further examination
next one the MRI. Im costing medicare a fortune at the moment. Let alone lost hours at work for me.Maybe by the new year it will all settle down
to some sort of pattern.Take my pills. Do my blood test then repeat repeat repeat every month
I’ve had no offers re my nightly massage 🥴 as yet. I can dream - @arpie me too if we had full body scan each year it may save us unnecessary grief down the track.
- I'm sure we could find someone for you @cranky_granny xx. Oh well, at least with the MRI you'll have a pretty good 'baseline' for future changes in the area too .... I just wish we were all given one yearly (full body) to have as a base line ....
- UP DATE of sorts
breat surgeon is fairly certain the swelling is lymphedema but is sending me now for a MRI. To see whats going on with the muscle ??? Etc. because all the other scans don't show muscle
i have to massage the breast to try move the fluid.Pity i don’t have hubby to do it for me it would be more fun 🤩 - @arpie I’m desperately trying to sort a trip
but bloody appointments get in the way
and work. My holidays are from 7th dec to New year. So hopefully somewhere in there
