This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in May of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/3laxeJvBo78
Brad: All right, so I am truly excited today to share this story of ankle lymphedema. It's about someone who had ankle swelling for over five years. It was treated, working with it, struggled with it, and finally, we found a product that, within two weeks, brought those ankles down from being all swollen and blown up, to actually back to normal. They looked skinny.
Mike: This was all done without medications, just the proper type of compressing garments, which are covered by Medicare, or if you don't have Medicare, they're relatively inexpensive.
Brad: That's right, we're going to go through it step by step. You're going to get a lot of education, and I'm really hoping it'll help you or your loved one out. All right, now this patient was very close to me, it's actually my mother, and her ankles were swollen. This is a few years back, and all we did to manage it was use this Tubigrip material. It comes in rolls, and you can see Mike has it on his foot right here. It's easy to put on. Go ahead and slip that on, and it was very manageable.
Brad: All you have to do is wash them and clean them up. However, the lymphedema actually started to get worse and the Tubigrip was not doing its job anymore. Actually, her skin was so full of fluid, that it started to weep through the pores of her skin, which is not uncommon with people who have severe lymphedema. At that point, it's very critical that you get after it much more aggressively than using this product. What can happen is the pores open up, and actually create a pathway for bacteria and other problems to get into the skin and cause a systemic infection, which actually did happen to my mother once. So we got after it and we'll show you how it worked and what really worked well. All right, now, if you happen to be at the point where your lymphedema is so bad that you have weeping going on, or that moisture that actually can saturate into your clothing or whatever, it's really important that you see a doctor, and get things addressed professionally. At that point, the doctor should refer you to a specialist in lymphedema control. They'll be certified, they're experts, they know what they're doing. Now, that's what we did. The first thing that we tried was a manual wrapping of the legs for compression that helped push that fluid out, and get it up to this, up into the core where it needs to go. You're just helping it and not allowing that fluid to puddle up, or pool in the legs. Now what we use looks like ACE wrap that you can buy at any pharmaceutical store online, but it is not. They will use something called Comprilan. It is different, the compression is different. That is what is used. Now, I have it on Mike's leg right now, but you just don't wrap this on in any old fashion. You have to be trained.
Brad: A therapist may teach you how to do it so you can do it to your loved one at home, or possibly to yourself, but it needs to be tighter toward the foot. It has to be known when there's a half lap, and it's kind of hard to go around the ankle properly. It is a skill. We did this with my mother. The therapist put it on. After about two hours, she did not tolerate it. It was too tight, she felt. It was painful. She took it off, threw it on the floor, and was done with it. We tried that two or three attempts, she continued, she's very persistent. Took it off, and threw it on the floor. She said, "It hurts, I'm not gonna wear it." So we went to Plan C, which actually was a good thing because Plan C worked very well. All right, so what the therapist came up with, and she was already aware of this product. This is made by Juzo. It's a compression wrap. They worked very well. I think there may be other brands, I don't know. I don't have any affiliation with this group with the exception we used them and they worked very well. It's a two-part system. The first thing you do is put on a sock that is a special liner. Now the liner actually has compression from the ankle to the toes. Mike, can you feel that?
Mike: Yeah.
Brad: Yep. So there, and then the rest of it up into the calf is a thinner material, very loose, literally having no compression. The job for this is just a liner not to compress the leg, but to keep the fluid from going down and pooling. Now, there are a couple of big benefits to this product. Number one is if you're in the United States and you have Medicare, Medicare started to cover these products, and they cover the whole cost, but you do need to have a doctor's order and all that. Your provider should be aware of it as long as they have it in their system. Now actually, the hospital we were at did not have it in their system. It was not a problem. We went to a different provider in the community. They were happy to help us out. We've got them through Medicare at no charge very easily. They do have to be fitted so in other words, the person's diameter or girth of the leg has to fit the sock, as well as the major compression component. All right, so we got the fitting done and we got the proper size socks. This is a large along with this. We'll get into this primary component in just a second. So the sock Mike said was very easy to put on, relatively speaking, compared to compression socks that are really tight and hard to get on. You can see how easy you put them on.
Brad: There you go, it's very nice so the person can be independent with this. Now, typically you get the wrap or the compression from the ankle to the calf perhaps like we already did using the Comprilan. Now we're going to use this, which is Velcro. Much easier to put on, and it actually is a little thick, which actually increases the heat around the leg, which is beneficial to help move the fluid proximal or up towards the trunk. Now the compression wraps that I have here, this is what's really doing the work, and you can put it on, it goes quite easily once you get the trick. So just pay attention, and be patient. I know some people need that 30-second video. This is not one of them, but you're going to need to be patient. Now they have two sides. We've got the light side that's going in towards the skin, the dark side going out. Now, they're Velcro and they have these Velcro tabs, and they bite in really good. Now you can change the location depending on the location you need them. Sometimes if you have a thinner leg, you're going to move it in this way. In this situation, we went right out to the end, and they're on each side.
Brad: Now when you're handling them, they start sticking and they're a little frustrating. So the first thing you're going to do is, turn them over like this and go like that so you got a little loop that keeps them in order so that you can put them on. There we go, so I've got all my loops in place so they're not getting weird. Now there's a green tab right here. That tab's position should be behind the calf.
Brad: Okay, now Mike, do you want to put this one on? Now, we have the liner pulled down on this one only so that you can see the position better. Otherwise, it's black on black and very challenging to see. But Mike, show how easy it is to put this one on over on that foot.
Mike: So just slide it in the sheath-like there, and then get it roughly around your calf region like that. To put it on, you start from distally, and you overlap, switch hands, and then you pull. So pull, and make it tight. You said you want it tighter down at your ankle.
Brad: Right, so the bottom of this should be right about at your ankle. The ankle bones are here, you're just above that. Go ahead.
Mike: Then you're going to do the other tabs. Switch hands, and make sure it's taut. Don't give an overlapping too much, and you don't have to have this one as tight. Whatever is comfortable for you, and there we go.
Brad: Yeah, it fits very nicely, it does its job wonderfully. Again, it'll take a couple of times to get used to it, but this part I do want to emphasize that down by the ankle when you work this, this is a little confusing, but once you get that cross in here, I know the therapist pulled here and get it tight. Not where you're really yanking on it, but maybe tighter than you think, she said. Get it on now.
Brad: If the person doesn't tolerate it, initially loosen it up. Let the person get used to that. The idea is to wear these all day long and then in the evening for sleeping, you take them off, and you will have great success, and she said it's going to work well. And I'm thinking, "eh, we'll see if she tolerates it." It ended up she tolerated it very well. Within three days after we took these off, much better. There was no more weeping and you could see the size or the girth of the legs starting to shrink, and after two weeks, it was amazing. I had not seen her legs look that good in years. It was like, wow, I couldn't believe it. And the price is right, the quality is there. It's a good system, and I want people to be able to be aware of this so you're not struggling like my mother did for years when it wasn't necessary. Voila. Mike, anything else?
Mike: So if you'd like to check out more videos on edema and swelling, check out "Top 7 Exercises for Leg Edema or Swelling (Program or Protocol for Edema)," this one has exercises in it.
Brad: Oh yeah, I did forget that. You still need to, if you want to really maximize it, exercise with these. They're simple exercises. My mother didn't like to exercise and she didn't like to walk too much. You know, when you're 88 years old, you're not going to argue with your mother, but it still worked, but if you want to make it work better, the exercises are definitely encouraged.
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