Patients that take active steps can make an important contribution to improving their quality of life and ensuring the long-term success of their treatment.
Complex decongestive therapy (CDT) is the standard of care for lymphoedema. All CDT measures – manual lymphatic drainage, compression therapy, decongesting movement and breath therapy, skincare and skin rehabilitation – should be coordinated and used in combination with each other. The education and training of patients in self-management was included as a further component in the 2017 medical guidelines “Diagnosis and treatment of lymphoedema.”
The aim of self-management is to alleviate patients’ symptoms, improve their quality of life, take an active part in society and prevent complications. The combination of CDT and self-management training aims to ensure the long-term success of the treatment.
Practical training
The effective collaboration between physician, lymphatic therapist, specialist retailer and patient is key to the success of any measures. Patients can contribute most when they are well informed about their illness. This enables them to actively participate in improving their condition and alleviate their symptoms. While the helpful Juzo brochures and online information provide important support, individual patient education is also invaluable. Here you can learn practical skills, for example how to actively support your compression treatment by applying lymphological compression bandages yourself.
Innovative Juzo products
Juzo offers a variety of innovative products for self-bandaging that can be applied in a targeted and efficient manner depending on the diagnosis and physical situation. Their quick and easy application and efficacy help to noticeably increase quality of life. The Juzo ACS light products and Juzo SoftCompress bandaging aids are especially suitable for the decongestion phase or further use during the maintenance phase. Many products are also available tailor-made with a customised fit. Specially coordinated supplementary products such as various donning and doffing aids or the Juzo Lymph Lotion for daily skincare facilitate effective application. All product solutions from Juzo are characterised by their quick and uncomplicated application – a major benefit for a continuous and successful oedema therapy.
Complex decongestive therapy (CDT)
Complex decongestive therapy is a 2-phase treatment:
Phase I consists of the decongestion phase. Its aim is the reduction of the oedema. In this phase, all components of CDT are performed 1–2 times per day. The education, training and engagement of the patient in his/her treatment is of particular importance here as the measures are time-consuming and require active patient participation.
Phase II, the maintenance phase, preserves and optimises the treatment outcome. The components of CDT are used according to the diagnosis and individual symptoms. The patient should also be actively involved in the second phase of the therapy.
