John Mulligan Lymphedema Cases

John Mulligan, RMT/CLT-LANA

Lymphedema Therapy, Education & Consulting

Lymphedema Treatment – Before & After

Before

Eight weeks post-surgery, arm is

shiny, tight, swollen and hardening.

After

After 5 treatments, edema is

successfully managed.

After any trauma, temporary (transient) swelling is normal. If this swelling persists longer than six weeks, it may be considered problematic. If the swelling responds to finger-pressure by maintaining a "dent" for more than 30 seconds, you should have the swelling assessed by a manual lymph drainage therapist.

After most surgeries, regaining range of motion as soon as possible is important. For example, after knee replacement surgery range of motion exercises commence shortly after surgery. Quick resolution of swelling is desirable even before the swelling becomes problematic. After breast cancer surgery, range of motion exercises should also commence as soon as possible.

Following liposuction or cosmetic surgery, a course of manual lymph drainage will reduce post-surgical swelling, decrease healing time and prevent swelling from becoming problematic.

In the case at left, the gentleman pictured suffered a shattered elbow, which was surgically repaired. Eight weeks after surgery the arm was swollen, and the skin was tight and shiny - two of the hallmarks of problem swelling. On palpation it was discovered that the tissues in the arm were hardening. Scar tissue, which is normal after any surgery, had in this case proliferated abnormally. The texture of the tissue was similar to the texture of bone.

After five treatments, consisting of manual lymph drainage and deep tissue massage which took place over a period of about ten days, the second picture was taken. As you can see, the skin tissue appears normal. The tight and shiny appearance of the skin has been resolved and the proliferated scar tissue has been softened to a near-normal texture.

Click to see next example of before & after treatment