Improves blood and lymphatic circulation, has analgesic effects.
stimulates lymphatic circulation and healing. Contraindications – Do not apply in freshly irradiated areas, or intercepted, or fresh wounds. – It is contraindicated when there is thrombosis, the increased free circulation reaches a thrombus. – The person must guard against dermatitis, allergies or eczema on the skin. Diets are a supplement to prevent overweight, fat and excess protein. Care Keep the arm or leg raised above heart level whenever possible. Do not exert rapid circular movements of arms and legs to keep blood from collecting on the outside of the limbs. Clean daily and apply moisturizers to the skin of the affected sector. It is essential to avoid injury or infection. In arm, using razors electrical or laser work gloves in the garden or kitchen and sewing thimbles, nail care. Cover the feet to go outdoors, keep them dry and clean and wear cotton socks, cut the nails straight and prevent nails embodied and infections. Apply sunscreen for the sun, clean wounds with water, soap and antibacterial ointment, gauze bandages prefer not to interfere in the circulation, consult your physician to rashes and skin irritation, avoid punctures, not exposed to extreme cold or heat. not exert much pressure on the arm or leg. not cross your legs when sitting. not wear jewelry or tight clothing. not take blood pressure in the affected arm. not sit in the same position more than 30 minutes. Watch for signs of infection: redness, pain, burning, swelling or fever. Comply with exercise and regular medical visits. Review legs and arms daily Inform the doctor if the member suddenly increases in diameter. Check overweight bypass fat and meat. not take diuretics without medical supervision.

Wrapping Your Leg
1. Arrange all of your necessary supplies nearby. Pre-cut the tape strips to keep one layer of wrapping in place while you are applying the next. Preparation, patience and allowing yourself ample time to perform the wrap are crucial to successfully finishing the procedure.

2. Apply moisturizing body lotion to the skin of your affected leg. This will maintain good skin condition by hydrating the skin and preventing cracking which would enable bacteria to invade your leg, causing infection. It will also help to alleviate potential skin irritation from using the layers of bandages.

3.Apply a tubular stockinette to protect your skin. Depending on your individual condition, you may (or may not) also use flexible gauze over the stockinette.

4. Use the thin foam-like fabric that your therapist gave you. Wrap a layer of padding around your leg. This will help to distribute the compression evenly.

5. Apply the lymphedema bandages, which are also known as short-stretch bandages. Apply more pressure at your foot, gradually decreasing the pressure as you move upward. The narrower bandages can go around your foot with the wider bandages spiraling up your leg. The exact number of bandages necessary will largely depend on the length and size of your leg as well as the amount of compression that you need.

Often during a lumpectomy or mastectomy, some lymph nodes under the arm may be removed. The lymph nodes under the arm (also called the axillary lymph glands) drain the lymphatic vessels of the upper arms, most of the breast, the neck and armpit. The lymph nodes help to filter excess fluid, bacteria and infections derivatives.

What is lymphedema?
When the normal drainage pattern of the lymph nodes is disturbed or damaged (often during surgery to remove lymph nodes), swelling of the arm may occur. Radiation can also cause swelling of the arm. This swelling of the arm caused by an abnormal collection of too much fluid, is called lymphedema.

When lymph nodes under the arm have been removed, a woman has a greater risk of developing lymphedema. Lymphedema can occur immediately after surgery or months or years later. Not all women who have a mastectomy will experience lymphedema.

There are several types of lymphedema. The acute, temporary and mild lymphedema occurs within a few days after surgery and usually lasts a short period of time. The acute and more painful type of lymphedema can occur about 4 to 6 weeks after surgery. However, the most common type of lymphedema is slow and painless, and can occur 18 to 24 months after surgery.

How is lymphedema diagnosed?
There is no specific diagnostic tests for lymphedema. The doctor complete a medical history and physical examination. The medical history may include questions about the following:

Past surgeries.
Problems after surgery.
The onset of symptoms (When did the swelling in the affected arm?).
History of edema (severe swelling).
Current medications.
Other medical conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes.

Treatment for lymphedema:
lymphedema treatment for depends on the severity and extent of the condition. Preventing and controlling lymphedema play an important role in this condition since there is no cure.

Treatment may include the following:

Exercise
Exercise helps to restore flexibility and strength, and improves drainage. The type of exercises will be recommended by your doctor, or therapist.
Bands
Using a compression sleeve made ??especially for you, or elastic bandage may help prevent accumulation of fluids.
Arm pump
Applying a pump (some call it thermal bag) on the arm often help increase the flow of fluids in the lymphatic vessels, and prevents fluid from collecting in the arm.
Diet
Having a balanced diet and controlling body weight is an important part of treatment.
Keep the arm raised
By keeping the arm elevated above heart level, when possible, allows gravity to help drain the accumulated fluid.
Preventing infection
is important to take preventive measures such as good skin care to protect the affected arm from infection and skin breakdown.
Patients suffering from breast cancer who have a good skin care and exercise properly after mastectomy are less likely to develop lymphedema.

The lymphatic system, whose primary function is the collection of proteins, as these macromolecules can only be reabsorbed by the system, given its size.

This function is vital, as the lymphatic system collects 50% of the proteins needed for daily life, so that their collapse or malfunction occurs significantly. Unable to collected proteins, alters the balance of fluids in the interstitial space, since the proteins attract liquid. This causes edema, when exceeding 10% of the size of the affected limb is called lymphedema.

Urgent attention, except in a race on the island of Guam and some countries in Africa and the South Pacific, where people are born with a filariasis that throughout her life events occur that quickly bipodlicos elephantiasis without further reduce complications. It is not the case of edema claudication of the lymphatic system, as no other means of collecting recognizes these proteins and in many cases is incompatible with life.

Edema is spontaneous, progressive and rapid evolution towards a chronic and irreversible if not treated.

At first improvement decubitus position and presents soft and resilient to the touch. If not treated transformations start and with them the complications. Changes occur in the epithelial tissue and the formation of warts and condylomata, creating an enabling environment for bacterial and fungal infections. The edema becomes hard and fibrous to palpation.

We recognize two types of edema, the primary, which is presented by a failure of the lymphatic channels, poor training or lack of development of some of the components. The primary type of edema can be divided by age of onset in congenital (Mirroy agenesis, autosomal hereditary factor) in early or early late adolescence and into adulthood.

The secondary lymphedema are obtained, usually as a result of the lymphatic structures have been destroyed or altered by surgery, radiation, metastasis, infection or an inflammatory event.

In these cases the changes may be early in the first weeks after the cause of production and is transient or delayed and occurs after six months of the root cause.

In all cases, the disruptions are marked by the functional and psychosocial disorders of clinical manifestation. The injured tissue tropism and has a low tendency to necrosis in the periods of stasis.

The most common complications are the skin surface, which manifest as discoloration and itching, particularly affecting wetlands teeming fungi and deep because of the type A streptococcal infection and staphylococci, which have as a gateway The excoriation from scratching to relieve itching.

Treatment of lymphedema involves a complex therapy, where patient cooperation is essential both to attend treatment sessions, and for doing the exercises, the use of containment dressing and to take into account the hygienic measures prevent infections and complications.

Dedicated frequency therapy, is daily and the patient should do at home activities identified by the therapist, how to maximize hygienic care.

One of the most common complication is the stiffness that would be more associated with the surgical technique.

But before you jump right to therapy should take into account certain aspects of decongestive physical therapy. This is a set of techniques and therapies which are lymphatic drainage, skin care, compression garments and bandages, and special exercises. The combination of these elements has been shown to give the best result.

It’s called complex decongestive physiotherapy, because they combine several physical therapeutic approaches to produce the best results and achieve faster reduction of lymphedema; getting even better results. This treatment usually lasts from 2 to 6 weeks depending on the severity of the condition and the number of affected members. This therapy consists of four main parts: skin care to prevent any infection adds another burden to the lymphatic system and improve skin condition, action physiotherapist, which focuses on this point, the use or application of means to prevent or counteract infection, such as the application of UV lasers and magnetic fields of ultra low frequency, they also have an antiphlogistic action.

Manual lymphatic drainage, which is a technique kinesics, but that does not belong to mesotherapy, can help activate the lymphatic pathways intact as well as the activation of alternate routes or collateral that can drain the affected parties and result in pseudo neo genesis of the lymphatic pathway.

Currently, there is another therapeutic possibility is the bioelectrical drain, taking advantage that the proteins are clearly polar (positive or negative) are simultaneously applied a galvanic current and alternating medium frequency modulated so that by the attraction or repulsion of a charge is sense of history to proteins that are outside of the collectors, and by the feeling of pumping, lymphatic activity increases (law of the capillaries) The advantage of this technique is that it does not require that the therapist is trained in lymphatic drainage and never risk making a bad technique.

Another possibility is the mechanical drainage through therapy boot prisoner, being the best result of the sequential multiparameter since they respect the stature of the person and work of isolated chambers.

Bandages and compression garments are needed during and after treatment, to maintain the reduced member, and not to quickly regain its previous size. Exercises are also essential to be well tolerated and should not fatigue, nor are against gravity.

Keep these reductions will always depend on if the patient is willing to cooperate at all times using compression garments, to watch over and protect the affected limb of any infection, and to continue with their exercises. (These exercises specially designed, made a big difference during and after therapy.).

After a year, a member can still follow the same size with these precautions, or even better, being softer and in better condition. Therapy may be repeated after six months to a year, depending on each patient. Following these instructions, there is always a reduction, without having to go through the pain or expense superior to surgery, and which often gives much poorer results, or even worsen your condition.

Therapeutic intervention must be early, daily and in most cases permanently, at least as far as personal care and household refers exercises.

Treatment also reduces chronic venous insufficiency (which is a component of lymphedema), including rebels ulcers caused by this disease. As the volume decreases in cases of ulcers or ulcers threats, you begin to work with deep heat therapy (short wave).

At baseline, when looking down the volume of edema, it is advisable that the patient is hospitalized or resting at home, provided you have the assistance of the bands night setback, otherwise the journey to the home violates the results.

In the best therapeutic results, which have for years, always present although minimal residual edema permanently or isolated, so the patient must have lifelong therapy.

Exercises. Light exercises that require you to move your affected arm or leg may encourage movement of the lymph fluid out of your limb. These exercises shouldn’t be strenuous or make you tired. Instead, they should focus on gentle contraction of the muscles in your arm or leg. Your doctor or a physical therapist can teach you exercises that may help.
Wrapping your arm or leg. Bandages wrapped around your entire limb encourage lymph fluid to flow back out of your affected limb and toward the trunk of your body. When bandaging your arm or leg, start by making the bandage tightest around your fingers and toes. Wrap the bandage more loosely as you move up your arm or leg. A lymphedema therapist can show you how to wrap your limb.

Massage. A special massage technique called manual lymph drainage may encourage the flow of lymph fluid out of your arm or leg. Manual lymph drainage involves special hand strokes on your affected limb to gently move lymph fluid to healthy lymph nodes, where it can drain. Massage isn’t for everyone. Avoid massage if you have a skin infection, active cancer, blood clots or congestive heart failure. Also avoid massage on areas of your body that have received radiation therapy.

Pneumatic compression. If you receive pneumatic compression, you’ll wear a sleeve over your affected arm or leg. The sleeve is connected to a pump that intermittently inflates the sleeve, putting pressure on your limb. The inflated sleeve gently moves lymph fluid away from your fingers or toes, reducing the swelling in your arm or leg.

Compression garments. Compression garments include long sleeves or stockings made to compress your arm or leg to encourage the flow of the lymph fluid out of your affected limb. Once you’ve reduced swelling in your arm or leg through other measures, your doctor may suggest you wear compression garments to prevent your limb from swelling in the future. Obtain a correct fit for your compression garment by getting professional help ask your doctor where you can buy compression garments in your community. Some people will require custom-made compression garments.

When several of these treatments are combined, this therapy may be referred to as complete decongestive therapy (CDT). Generally, CDT isn’t recommended for people who have high blood pressure, diabetes, paralysis, heart failure, blood clots or acute infections.

In cases of severe lymphedema, your doctor may consider surgery to remove excess tissue in your arm or leg. While this reduces severe swelling, surgery can’t cure lymphedema.