Mission Statement |
It is our mission to provide the highest quality of care to our patients by highly trained and qualified staff through evidence-based practice, promoting health and wellness; timely recovery following injury, debilitation, or surgical intervention; return to prior level of function and independence in daily activities, work, and recreation, to service the people of our community and industry. |
| Lymphedema | |
Lymphedema is an accumulation of lymphatic fluid in the interstitial tissue that causes swelling, most often in the arm(s) and/or leg(s), and occasionally in other parts of the body. Lymphedema can develop when lymphatic vessels are missing or impaired (primary), or when lymph vessels are damaged or lymph nodes removed (secondary). |
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When the impairment becomes so great that the lymphatic fluid exceeds the lymphatic transport capacity, an abnormal amount of protein-rich fluid collects in the tissues of the affected area. Left untreated, this stagnant, protein-rich fluid not only causes tissue channels to increase in size and number, but also reduces oxygen availability in the transport system, interferes with wound healing, and provides a culture medium for bacteria that can result in lymphangitis (infection). |
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| Lymphedema should not be confused with edema resulting from venous insufficiency, which is not Lymphedema. However, untreated venous insufficiency can progress into a combined venous/lymphatic disorder which is treated in the same way as Lymphedema. | |
| Lymph flows from the extremities of the body (e.g. the fingers) towards the trunk. It is filtered through the lymph nodes (glands - which give by far the greatest resistance to the flow) and have to be cleared (emptied) often. First the nodes in the unaffected (distal) areas are cleared; then those areas of the trunk which drain into these nodes are cleared towards them. Next the area of the affected trunk is cleared across the watershed to the previously cleared normal areas. Then the parts of the limb draining into these adjacent parts are cleared, and so on, and so on. It is necessary to go back and re-empty the original areas all over again as they are refilled from the peripheral parts. | |
| This is why areas which are quite distant from the lymphedematous limb are cleared first (i.e. the nodes of the armpits and above the collar bone) to give the overloaded areas an empty "reservoir" into which they can flow easily. | |
| Because some parts of the lymphatic system are overloaded, or blocked or removed, we usually have to get the lymph to flow in other ways than it usually does. This is through the collateral channels (i.e. those leading from one drainage area to another) into areas which are draining quite normally. | |
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