Any suggestions to help w/ swelling aftre brachio?????

Is swelling common after an arm lift??

it is very common especially if they remove a lot -- remember your body has to find collateral circulation now that so much of the excess skin is gone.

You are so early out so the swelling you are experiencing is to be expected. You should notice a big difference after your first or second week. My swelling was worst the first week. Just be sure you keep your arms as elevated as possible. Hang in there it will get better!

Thanks!  I know swelling is expected, but I think I just get paranoid...I did the same thing when I had my c-section. I knew then swelling was common, but I still called my doctor to "make sure" my feet weren't going to explode!!!

I called my surgeon this moring and he said it was common and advised that I wrap my arms a little differently than I had been. He actually then wrote me out an prescription for some compression sleeves and gloves. When I went in to get the RX I had him look at my arms just to make sure. He said I #1 was wrapping them too tight and #2 needed to wrap them differently.

I went and got the compression sleeves and I like them much better. Much more comfortable and easier to move around in. It is kind of funny because they are actually very similar to my skin color so you honestly, don't really notice them at first glance. I feel much more comfortable going back to wrong with these on rather than the ace wraps.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words. It is good know that it gets better!!!!

 

My left arm swelled after bracchio to the point my hand and wrist looked like a balloon. It did not immediately but 2 days post-op when the dr. put me into a sleeve compression garment instead of the ace type of bandages. At 4:00 in the morning I knew that was not good and removed the garment. My husband and wrapped my arms with bandages again and it took 23 hours for the swelling to leave my hands and wrists. I don't think you were paranoid by calling your dr. My dr. agreed that the compression garment caused the problem. It was just too tight. I never replaced it and my arms healed way faster using the ace bandages than my TT is taking to lose the swelling.

I asked my PS about the compression sleeves - he said he stopped using them 2 years ago - and know only uses the ace wraps.  Can someone post a picture of how your are suppose to wrap them? What I am envisioning does not seem like they will stay on.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Isn't funny how different things work for people! My doctor doesn't normally use the compression garments either, but the swelling was so bad that he thought they would help and for me they did...the swelling went down 24 hours after wearing the sleeves. I still use the ace wraps at night though, they are a little less tight so I can sleep a little more comfortable.

With the ace wraps, I basically look like a mummy! Originally I was wrapping from my forearm up to the top of my arm. My problem was that my hubby was wrapping them too tight so starting at the forearm was kind of cutting off circulation! So my surgeon has me start wrapping from my palm up so there was compression all the way down.

I actually like the compression sleeves for when I go back to work, they look less scary! I feel like I look scary with the ace wraps on and the sleeves are close to my skin color so you honestly don't even notice them at first.

You need it tight to prevent the swelling.  The first wee****pt ace bandages wrapped tight up to my fingertips.

Laura