DCH Corner – All About Lymphedema Therapy

Each week, we at Decatur County Hospital will be writing an article to give you more information about our services. We want to help educate you on specialty services you may not know are provided close to home.

This week’s DCH corner is about one of our specialty therapy services. In addition to physical and occupational therapy services, Decatur County Hospital offers lymphedema therapy to patients who need it. This condition can severely affect those that live with it, so it is important for our community to know that you can take advantage of this service close to home.

Lymphedema is general swelling of the legs or arms due to a protein rich fluid accumulating in an extremity or body part. This condition is often associated with removal of or dysfunction of the lymph nodes. It is most commonly seen following surgery, cancer, radiation, infection, chronic venous insufficiency, and trauma. However, some individuals can be born with it.

With physician guidance, lymphedema can be managed with early diagnosis and diligent care of the affected limb. Decatur County Hospital provides lymphedema services by employing a highly-trained staff who aim to improve the quality of life for many people living with this disease. Our Rehabilitation Director, Melissa Smith P.T.A, CLT, performs all our lymphedema care.

Lymphedema therapy consists of manual lymph drainage through targeted massage, compression bandaging of the affect area, exercise, and fitting the patient with appropriate compression garments for long term management.

For more information about our therapy services, call 641-446-2219. To learn more about Decatur County Hospital and our available services, please visit www.www.decaturcountyhospital.org, or follow us on Facebook @DecaturCountyHospitalIowa. And don’t forget that we want to hear from you! Email us at serb@d-c-h.org if you have a topic or question you would like us to cover in one of our DCH Corner articles.