Lymphedema Alliance of New York, Prevention

Compression Therapy Garments

Compression Therapy Garments are an extremely important component of successful Lymphedema management. They are the means by which results from intensive lymphedema treatment will be maintained. With this in mind, it is imperative that the right choice of garments be made for each patient as an individual.

There are a variety of compression therapy garments available for both the prevention and management of Lymphedema, ranging from ready-made to custom-fit styles.

While ready-made compression garments generally work well for patients with vascular disease, this is not always the case for patients with established Lymphedema, because of limb contour abnormalities. Therefore, we always recommend custom-fit compression garments for our patients, when possible.

All garment fittings are done in our facility by Certified Lymphedema Specialists who understand the challenging nature of this condition, as well as the need for individual considerations. Our fitters are experienced and certified to fit for all Lymphedema garments on the market.

A patient being measure for custom-fit stockings:

The following images show the results of a patient who wore both ready-made (off-the-shelf) and custom-fit compression garments.

This improperly fit, Ready-made compression arm sleeve, was worn by the patient for approximately one year before being evaluated in our facility . .

We are specialty fitters for compression therapy garments manufactured by the following companies:

. . . which resulted in the following compromising outcome.

We measured the patient for a custom-fit compression garment, which resulted in the following corrective outcome:

Here are some examples of our patients in properly measured, custom-fit, day-time compression garments:

Lymphedema custom-fit compression garment

In addition to wearing compression garments during the day, patients also need to compress their affected extremity at night. Traditionally, according to European treatment methods, patients would be taught to self-bandage at night. We generally do not advocate for this self-care maintenance measure, as it is often difficult for patients to execute properly and could lead to non-compliance. Instead, we prefer to create special night time garments for our patients, which are easier to use and in some cases, more effective than bandaging. These garments, shown below, are called “non-pneumatic” compression garments because they offer sustained compression without an intermittent compression variable factor.

Lymphedema non-pneumatic compression garments

Having constant compression on an arm or leg may seem stringent. However, we strive to modify this protocol when possible. Many of our patients find that over time they can reduce the use of either daytime or night time garments. When this happens, we work closely with patients to assure that considerations to improve quality-of-life do not outweigh potential challenges in the management of their conditions.

In some cases, we will suggest that patients use an intermittent pneumatic compression pump at home to supplement their Self-Care Maintenance regimen.