Lymphedema Resources from Dr. Liat Goldman, MD
Dr. Liat Goldman, MD, is a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician with a special interest in cancer rehabilitation survivorship in the Twin Cities. Dr. Goldman is Medical Advisor to the Dragon Divas and shares insights and resources below regarding lymphedema.
Hello Dragon Divas!
I was asked to send you all some thoughts on exercise and lymphedema.
There’s a lot of information out there, not all of which is accurate.
10-15 years ago, women were regularly told to limit activity in the arm where lymph nodes were previously removed.
The underlying thought process was: don’t cause swelling in a limb that may have compromised ability to get rid of extra fluid.
Scientific literature does not support this viewpoint.
In fact, if you have lymphedema in one (or both) of your arms, and you build muscle mass, you will likely have LESS overall fluid volume on that side.
If you’re doing repetitive activity and start to notice more swelling on the side that lymph nodes have been removed on, you should have this assessed.
Goals of treatment would be to minimize fluid volume in the affected limb and to get you back to exercising. If you have lymphedema, you will most likely need to wear compression when paddling.
Exercise also decreases risk of recurrence and overall, is good for your mind, body and soul, as is paddling on the water.
I hope this is helpful.
Enclosed are some links to articles on lymphedema and exercise for you.