Complaints & connections · borters.ch
Lymph backs up because its drainage is disturbed — compression and movement are the basis here.
Also known as: lymphedema · primary/secondary · lymphatic congestion
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Swelling from impaired lymph drainage. The lymphatic system clears tissue fluid; if it is weak from birth (primary) or damaged (secondary — e.g. after surgery with lymph-node removal, radiotherapy or infection), fluid backs up. Unlike lipedema the feet and toes are typically involved (positive “Stemmer sign”: the skin fold over the toe can’t be lifted), often one-sided, first pitting then hardening. Early compression and manual lymphatic drainage are central.
Put it on in the morning before the swelling grows, take it off in the evening. A stocking in the cupboard does nothing — and neither does an old, stretched-out one; after about half a year it is tired.
Cream daily, cut nails carefully, gloves in the garden, no bare feet outdoors. Every small entry point can set off erysipelas, and every bout of erysipelas damages the lymph channels further.
Erysipelas spreads fast and needs antibiotics. Anyone who has had one can agree a standby prescription with the doctor for home and for travel.
Blood taking, infusion, vaccination and blood pressure measurement on the other side where possible. It is a simple request, and one has to voice it oneself at the appointment.
The muscle pump moves the lymph on, and the stocking gives it something to press against. Walking, cycling, swimming, and strength training with sensible progression.
First a decongestion phase with bandages and frequent drainage, then maintenance with the made-to-measure stocking. Anyone who does only the second phase wonders why the stocking no longer fits.
Repeated bouts of fever with an inflamed lymph cord and lasting swelling afterwards speak for scarred lymph vessels. Recognised early, the course can be slowed.
Water tablets do not help in lymphoedema and can do harm — they pull water out of the blood while the proteins stay in the tissue and go on holding water. What works is pressure from outside: bandaging in the decongestion phase over two to four weeks, then the stocking, every day. Drainage prepares the way, compression holds the result; without it the tissue fills again within hours.
After breast cancer treatment with removal of the armpit nodes, about two in ten develop lymphoedema, usually within the first two years. In stage one the swelling recedes overnight, in stage two it no longer does — that difference decides the outlook. Decongestion takes two to four weeks with daily bandaging, then the stocking follows, permanently. A difference in circumference of two centimetres counts as measurably abnormal.
Treat early: untreated it progresses and the tissue hardens. Redness/fever (erysipelas): seek care promptly.
The most important value over time: a sudden redness with warmth, pain and fever is erysipelas — it belongs treated at once, because every episode damages the lymph system further.
Separates a lymph blockage from swelling caused by a lack of protein. At the leg both look the same at first.
Belongs to the same distinction. A reduced kidney function explains swelling on both sides better than the lymph system does.
A normal value speaks against the heart as the cause and directs the search back to the lymph system.
Skin and lining renew themselves quickly and need zinc for it. With places that heal badly, cracked corners of the mouth and frequent skin infections a lack is a serious possibility.
Fever, sweating and faster breathing clearly raise the need. Drinking enough keeps the mucus thin and the circulation steady — in children and older people it is the most important point of all.
Without vitamin C no stable collagen forms — the wound closes but holds less well. With a very one-sided diet, smoking and alcohol the intake is often tighter than assumed.
With low levels airway infections occur somewhat more often; correcting a deficiency makes sense, a high single dose during the infection does not act on it.
Steers the horn-forming of the skin. Too little makes it rough and dry, too much over longer periods harms liver and bone — and in pregnancy a strict upper limit applies.
Studied as benzopyrones in lymphoedema; the largest trial found no benefit and reported liver injuries. The treatment that works is manual lymph drainage with compression — daily, not weekly.
With too little protein in the blood, fluid sinks into the tissue. That is a different oedema from lymphoedema, but the two are often confused — 1.0–1.2 g per kilogram a day is the frame when intake is the reason.
Clearly worthwhile and well studied when deficient; fewer data for the wider uses. Fat-soluble — check blood levels at high doses.
Swelling that comes and goes with the cycle is not lymphoedema. A true lymphoedema stays and grows firmer over months — that is the difference the treatment turns on.
With a pronounced underactive thyroid sugar-protein deposits in the tissue and binds water. The swelling looks like lymphoedema but also affects the face — and it goes with treating the thyroid.
A lot of salt holds water in the tissue, and every extra kilo burdens lymph drainage. In studies weight loss measurably improved arm lymphoedema after breast cancer treatment.
The old advice to eat less protein because lymph fluid is protein-rich was not confirmed — too little protein makes the picture worse.
The old warning against strength training on the affected arm has been disproved. Controlled trials showed that gradually increased training does not worsen lymphoedema but improves it.
Manual lymph drainage is part of the recognised treatment but works mainly combined with compression. Without the bandage the effect lasts only hours.
The most named oil in traditional lymph care; the direction of the massage matters more than the oil.