Lymphoedema Outpatient Clinic
What is Lymphoedema?
Lymphoedema is a long term condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissues, due to lymphatic fluid accumulating. This can happen in any part of the body, but it is more common in arms and legs. It is important that lymphoedema is treated as early as possible, as it can get worse and become extremely uncomfortable.
Lymphoedema develops when the lymphatic system does not work properly. The lymphatic system is a network of channels and glands throughout the body that helps fight infection and remove excess fluid.
There are 2 main types of lymphoedema:
- primary lymphoedema – caused by faulty genes that affect the development of the lymphatic system; it can develop at any age, but usually starts during infancy, adolescence, or early adulthood.
- secondary lymphoedema – caused by damage to the lymphatic system or problems with the movement and drainage of fluid in the lymphatic system; it can be the result of a cancer treatment, an infection, injury, inflammation of the limb, or a lack of limb movement.
Lymphoedema Symptoms
The main symptom of lymphoedema is the swelling of a part of the body, usually a limb but it can affect anywhere. This can make it difficult to fit into clothes and things like jewellery and watches become tight to wear.
At first, the swelling may come and go. It may get worse during the day and go down overnight. Without treatment, it will usually become more severe and persistent.
There are however other symptoms and these can include:
- an aching, heavy feeling
- difficulty with movement
- repeated skin infections
- hard, tight skin
- folds developing in the skin
- wart-like growths developing on the skin
- fluid leaking through the skin
Lymphoedema Treatment
Unfortunately there is no cure for lymphoedema, but patients at Saint Catherine’s are offered treatments to ease swelling and improve quality of life.
Our lymphoedema nurses will assess patients to confirm a diagnosis of the condition. Patients will then be provided with the information they need to understand and manage their symptoms effectively through a range of tailored treatment plans.
How we can help
Properly diagnosing lymphoedema requires detailed assessment, involving two sessions, a 60-minute
telephone consultation as well as a 60-minute face-to-face assessment. Once a diagnosis is confirmed,
a treatment plan can be created for you to follow.
The treatment plan will include advice on skin care, movement, compression, and massage. You’ll
be invited to attend the clinic for a review six weeks after assessment, to monitor your progress.
Subsequent reviews usually take place at three months, six months and twelve months; these appointments also take an hour.
Should you require additional treatments these may include compression bandaging and Manual
Lymphatic Drainage massage, which may take 45 – 75 minutes.
Once your lymphoedema is deemed stable and your GP can provide you with compression garments on
prescription, you may be ready for discharge from the lymphoedema service. If this isn’t possible because you require made-to-measure compression garments, you may need to attend a six-monthly
review and re-measuring for new compression garments.
Patients will be required to pay for garments of a special nature that cannot be arranged by the GP.
Session fees and where sessions are offered
Lymphoedema treatment at Saint Catherine’s is available free of charge to those who have cancer-related lymphoedema and as a fee-for-service to those with non-cancer related lymphoedema.
For session fees, to book your initial assessment or for more information, please call 01723 351421 or call into the Wellbeing Centre and speak to one of our staff.
We can only accept referrals made by your GP, Consultant or Specialist Clinician.
Sessions are offered at our comfortable and welcoming Saint Catherine’s Wellbeing Centre, Throxenby Lane, Scarborough YO12 5RE.
Onsite parking is available free of charge.
Contact Us
Whether you’d like to ask us a question, need to raise a point or would like to leave us feedback, we’d love to hear from you! You can find our details at the top of every page or by visiting our contact page.
