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COMPRESSION GARMENTS: Garments are considered a necessary complement to effective lymphedema management for various reasons. First, the compression garment will liberate you from continual wearing of bandages which, due to the multi-layering and integrated padding components, becomes quite bulky and cumbersome. The single layer support of compression garments is a welcome addition to daily homecare. Typically you will remove bandages upon awakening in the morning and apply either a compression sleeve (arm patients) or stocking (leg patients). The compression garment allows for a non-bulky and natural limb contour while maintaining limb size in a nearly edema free state. The second important benefit to compression garments is the compression gradient. This implies that the support is graduated from distal to proximal along the limb allowing for an overall decrease in compression at the trunk and more compression at the ends of the extremity. A gradient is of paramount importance for effective lymphedema management because lymph fluid must be allowed to flow towards the trunk efficiently, thus allowing for drainage and limb reduction to occur. Whereas bandages generate high working pressures, compression garments generate low working pressures due to the elastic materials utilized in their construction. In similar contrast, garments generate very high resting pressures whereas bandages have low resting pressure. For these reasons the comfort of a garment is not as high in night time use and is therefore discouraged. Also, due to their low working pressures, garments will permit some fluid to return to the limb. It is for these reasons that a well- rounded approach to compression therapy is advised, which involves a daily rotation between both forms. TIP: When traveling by air use a compression garment or low stretch bandaging. |
 
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