Skin Caring – Protection against damages and wounds due to infection risk
- Keep your skin clean and dry – cleanse daily using a soap substitute, such as aqueous cream, Oilatum or Neutrogena soap bars or an E45 wash.
- Moisturise your skin at least once a day.
- Clean cuts or grazes straight away with clean water, then put an antiseptic cream on and cover the area.
- Protect your skin from the sun by wearing a high factor sun cream or cover up with clothes.
- Use an insect repellent containing at least 50% DEET– if you’re bitten or stung, try not to scratch and use antihistamine cream.
- Avoid hot baths, saunas and steam rooms because this can increase swelling.
- Avoid extremes of temperature that can dry your skin – including hot, cold or windy weather.
- Don’t wear tight clothing or jewellery.
- Avoid sitting or standing for long periods of time if you have leg swelling.
- Don’t have injections, blood taken, or your blood pressure checked on the affected arm.
Physical Activities / Lifestyle
- Do trainings including power, flexibility and resistance combined and increase the difficulty and duration of your training step by step.
- Give break frequently during training.
- Analyse your organs after physical activity and check if there is any abnormal change in them.
- Maintain your healthy weight.
Be careful about your arms to be free.
- Do not measure your blood pressure on your risky arm.
- Do not wear tight clothes and jelewery on your risky arm.
Compression Oversleeves
- It should be placed well. Oversleeve can be used together with a protector glove.
- It can be used only in tiring activities.
- The correct size of it should be chosen in order not to block the air flow.
High and Low Temperatures
- Protect your skin in cold weathers to protect it from swelling and cracking.
- Do not stay in high-temperature places such as sauna and bathtub for more than 15 minutes. Use a spray bottle and drink lots of water to freshen in veyr hot climates.
- Do not let your organs in water hotter than 38.9°C.
Lymphedema Precausions for Legs
- Do not seat down, stay afoot and cross your legs for a long time. Change your position oftenly. If you are obligued to seat down for a long time, rub and massage your wrist.
- Use appropriate shoes and socks. Take care of your socks and slippers to be clean.
NOTE: There are very few references for the practical precausions mentioned above and most of the mentioned reccomendations are based on experiments done by professional specialists in their fields for decades and pathophysiology knowledges.
Reference: Saskia R.J. Thiadens, RN
© 2011 National Lymphedema Network (NLN).