Advanced Clinical Skills for the Management of Lymphedema

Course Outline

This two-day course is designed to expand a clinician’s management skills for lymphedema in the head, neck, and groin and to achieve greater outcomes when dealing with patients with complex diagnoses. Therapists with prior lymphedema experience will benefit from the application of advanced clinical assessment and treatment techniques. Extensive time will be spent on discussing difficult case presentations to enable the therapist to problem solve and develop appropriate treatment programs. The information presented enhances the therapist’s ability to develop evidence-based practice in the management of lymphedema.
This interactive presentation includes extensive laboratory time to assist the clinician with their manual therapy lymphatic drainage techniques, bandaging skills, foam usage, and problem solving skills. In-depth bandaging laboratory sessions enable the therapist to utilize a systematic treatment approach to minimizing fibrosis and maximizing bandaging benefits in difficult anatomical regions. This seminar provides the information and techniques needed to problem solve through a complex variety of diagnoses. The information obtained in this course can be immediately applied in the clinic to achieve faster functional outcomes.


Course Objectives


• Identify the steps to take when preparing to evaluate and treat a patient with a diagnosis of lymphedema and multiple systemic disorders.

• Determine when to utilize certain manual and orthopedic techniques for facial and genital lymphedema and fibrotic tissue.

• Identify the differences between systemic and peripheral edema and develop a comprehensive treatment program to optimize rehab benefits.

• Perform sequential manual techniques to enhance lymphatic drainage in the head, neck, and groin.

• Develop a bandaging/foam system to minimize fibrotic tissue and to facilitate lymphatic flow in the upper and lower extremities.

• Develop a comprehensive exercise program for the treatment of facial, head, and neck lymphedema.

 

Schedule of instruction

  Day One   Day Two
7:30 8:00 Registration 8:00 8:30 Review and Questions
8:00 8:30 Overview of Course 8:30 10:30 Review and Problem Solving: Case Presentation of Status Post
Total Knee Replacement
8:30 10:30 Review and Problem Solving: Case presentation of Head and Neck
Lymphedema Secondary to Cancer Treatment (Lecture/ lab) 		  with Post Operative Edema Unable to Gain ROM and Reduce Pain (Lecture/lab)
• Consider underlying edema pathologies the patient had prior to TKR
  • Review contraindications to Lymphatic mobilization techniques   - Possible CVI and secondary lymphedema
  • Manual lymphatic mobilization techniques specific to case
presentation		   - Possible underlying lipedema with secondary CVI and lymphedema
  • Review stationary circles to head, neck, face   • Review of mechanical versus dynamic insufficiency
10:30 10:45 Break   • Review of bandaging the lower extremity
10:45 11:30 Review and Problem Solving   • Foam products to areas of fibrosis
  • Fibrosis   • Areas of large overhanging tissue- complex
  -what is it?   bandaging patients
  -how is it treated?   • Strategies to keep bandages up on large legs
  • Chip bags 10:30 10:45 Break
  • Foam products 10:45 12:30 Review and Problem Solving: Case Presentation
Stage IV Prostate or GYN Cancer with Secondary Lymphedema
  • Compression for head and neck   • Discussion on current treatment options for genital lymphedema
11:30 12:30 Review and Problem Solving:   • Discussion on the use of pumps
  Case Presentation of New   • Review of treatment for bilateral lower extremity/genital/abdominal lymphedema using lymphatic mobilization techniques
  Primary Cancer with Past 12:30 1:00 Lunch (On your own)
  Medical History of Breast 1:00 2:00 Differential Diagnosis of Edema
  Cancer and Secondary Upper   • Systemic versus peripheral edema
  Quadrant Lymphedema (Lecture/lab)   • Clinical presentations, rationale, treatment
  • Etiology of edema 2:00 2:45 Research, Current and Future
  • Stages of lymphedema   • Discussion on best practice protocols and how to advance
  • Diagnostic indicators of lymphedema and oncological processes 2:45 3:30 Billing Considerations,
Documentation
  • Appropriate therapy interventions   • Billing pitfalls and Medicare
reimbursements
  • Upper extremity self-bandaging   • Discussion on documentation
12:30 1:30 Lunch (On your own) 3:30 4:00 Questions/Review
1:30 3:30 Upper Quadrant Lymphedema Review Continued (Lecture/lab)    
  • Chest wall compression options    
  • Review of lymphatic mobilization strokes: scoop, pump    
  • Review bandaging principles, use of foam    
  • Review bandaging    
3:30 4:30 Upper Quadrant Lymphedema Review Continued (Lecture/lab)    
  • Review watersheds    
  • Review strokes for upper quadrant: rotary and stationary circles, lateral trunk pathways, one and two handed axillae    
4:30 5:15 Trunk Treatments    
  • Using lymphatic mobilization for treatment, abdominal techniques    
  • Compression options for
abdominal lymphedema		    
5:15 5:30 Review and Follow Up    

Downloads

Course Brochures are in Adobe PDF format. Right click and choose "Save Target As" to download brochure. If you would like to open the brochure in your browser windows, select the link.

Course Brochure for Advanced Clinical Skills for the Management of Lymphedema

Scheduled Dates and Locations

 

North American Seminars Courses for physical therapy and occupational therapy

 

Course Instructor
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Ms. Lovejoy-Evans, MPT, DPT has a Doctorate and Masters in Physical Therapy from the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA. She works at the state and national levels of the APTA to help promote best practices for swelling pathologies and reimbursement for lymphedema treatments. After moving to Port Angeles, WA, she established the Swelling Disorders Clinic at the local hospital. She earned her certification in the treatment of lymphedema and other swelling disorders at the Földi Clinic in Hinterzarten, Germany. She now teaches lymphatic system treatments across the country to other therapists striving to learn new tools to help manage edema.

In 2002 she opened a private practice in Sequim, WA. Loraine specializes in hard-to-treat orthopedic cases as a manual therapist, swelling pathologies, wound care, and behavior management helping patients to learn to treat themselves.

She and her husband Eric enjoy kayaking and hiking with their dog, Kenai. Loraine earned her undergraduate degree in Music Therapy from Willamette University in Salem, OR. She enjoys teaching and works to find different techniques to meet all learning styles and tries to make the weekend fun.

 
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