University of Missouri
School of Health Professions

Lymphedema is a swelling of a body part, usually an arm or leg, often following surgery where lymph nodes are removed.

In the 1970s when physical therapist Karen Wingert saw a woman with lymphedema, the only treatment was to drain fluid out of the affected limb and send her back to whatever she was doing before she came in.

Reducing the fluid that causes painful and noticeable swelling is still a major part of treatment, but the method has changed and the goal now is long-term control of the condition that affects one out of every three breast cancer survivors.

Wingert, a clinical associate professor in the University of Missouri School of Health Professions, has had every level of training offered in treating the condition and has taught others all around the world. Right now she is on a mission to teach other health care providers and lay people in a 13-county mid-Missouri area how to spot lymphedema. Her grant funding gives her until June to do it. “Every three minutes another woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which is the number one cause of lymphedema,” Wingert says. “We must train them to recognize it and give them a list of certified lymphedema therapists, so women can get the treatment they need.” The treatment consists of manual lymphatic drainage massage; compression bandaging worn for 23 hours a day, seven days a week; special exercise while wearing the bandage followed by proper education of how to continue this activity to prevent reoccurrence.

“Early intervention is crucial,” Wingert says. “If we can get someone right away, we can control it.”

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