Low impact exercise – Aqua Lymphatic Therapy & Rebounding

By Tatjana van der Krabben

Recently an invitation landed in my inbox for a meeting called ‘Lipedema on the move’, specifically going into suitable exercise options with the opportunity to try these under supervision. The timing was impeccable. I had just cancelled my gym membership, because both going there and the training itself had become a bit of a burden. Draining, really, when I have zero energy to spare. Well, at least not to toss it out the window. But what then? I do want to exercise. What is safe? Where to begin? This clinic was an excellent starting point. Plus, many of my lipedema friends would be there. What more reasons do you need to go?!

Divided into small groups we tried Aqua Lymphatic Therapy (ALT) and rebounding on a mini trampoline. We had a lot of fun, which meant trouble for our instructors, but I think I managed to take in most for my and your benefit.

Aqua Lymphatic Therapy

ALT is very gentle. It doesn’t even come close to regular aquatic exercise. Like manual lymphatic drainage is a very gentle massage to get the lymph moving, so are these exercises very easy and slow-paced. Benefitting from the additional pressure of the water, we did exercises in comfortably warm water in which – most of us – could properly stand.

We started out with self-lymphatic drainage (SLD) and deep breathing to specifically aid lymphatic flow. After that we did very easy exercises to very relaxed music to enforce that easy pace. We walked in water, added alternately extending our arms and gently turned up the pace. The walking was paired with making a swimming motion one arm at the time, first palm down, then palm up. Little by little the pace went up. We strutted in the water, hands in our sides and circled the pool with small jumps.

The more energetic part we did with pool noodles. We used the noodles for stability and support while turning sideways, for instance. We also placed it between our legs to push ourselves higher in the water and make cycling motions (this is Holland people, we Dutch cycle everywhere) and after that horse-like jumps. Giggles all around!

Then the pace went down again. We made the water whirl around us with our hands, adding to the massaging effect of water and did more elaborate SLD. It’s quite impossible to explain this properly without showing it. A very sketchy impression: we massaged ourselves by stroking the skin from just beneath the buttock, up your side right to your armpit where we finished by making a scoop-like motion to pump the lymph. We repeated this twice and then started a little lower, mid upper leg, still from the back and then repeated the same procedure from the knee up, doing each stretch three times. We then massaged the back of our knees. We finished with a type of jumping jacks while pressing down on the groin area where the lymph nodes are. Then massaging the little dimple at the clavicles and deep breathing. That little dimple matters: it’s where all lymphatic massage begins and ends.

I must say, the total package got the lymph moving all right. For lack of time one side got more attention than the other. We all expressed our right side was feeling significantly lighter than our untreated left side. I was surprised the effect was this strong!

Rebounding

The little trampolines we used for rebounding are smooth in use because they use elastic bands for the bounce, not so much a metal coiled spring. The idea behind it is that it’s the easiest on the knees. Also important: these can support quite some weight and the elastic bands come in different strengths. The deeper the bounce (no jumping!) the bigger the effect on the lymph. This effect has recently been tested with a lymphoscintigraphy. The dye, injected between the toes, was administered twice: once prior to similar floor exercises and once more, after clearing all the residual dye from the first test by MLD, to measure again with rebounding. Judging by the path of the dye, the lymph was moving twice as fast when doing the same exercise/motions on the mini trampoline. Only one test subject, yes, but it gives you an idea.

I feared a little for my poor sense of balance, but I didn’t even need a support, just a little hand getting on and off the mini trampoline. We received instruction on the value of a nice, deep bounce, like described above, the proper posture and some basic moves. Best part: it’s not only good for you, it’s fun! I’m a sucker for exercise that is also fun. We all know that sticking with something is the hard part. The element of fun is a huge help in this.

Got a trampoline that matched my dress, uhuh!

A sturdy, quality trampoline like this is costly. I’m sold and getting one, but I’m well aware it’s not for everyone. So I was super pleased to hear NLNet, the Dutch lymphedema and lipedema foundation and the driving force behind this afternoon of exercise, will also be making YouTube clips with simple exercises you can do around the house. Accessible and safe, because the clips will be made by people with knowledge of lipedema. I will keep you posted on that development.

All in all it was a great afternoon. I met old friends and made a few new ones. For some it was the first time in years they got into a pool. It was a great idea to have this privacy and strictly be among ourselves with knowledgeable therapists. Not only that, the lymph actually started moving and I could tell the difference until well into the following day, despite driving back for over an hour after the training. I would say that this type of exercise is really worth looking into.

Do note that the primary focus of these exercises is to keep the lymph flowing and maintain body strength. This offers no promise of weight-loss. As discussed that afternoon healthy fat cells may be present in your legs, which could shrink, but there's no telling in advance whether a reduced circumference of your legs is feasible through exercise and/or a change of diet in your particular case.

Be healthy & be safe. Consult your doctor and/or therapist first if you want to make changes in your exercise regime and/or diet.

The Summer My Elm Trees Died

by Maggie McCarey

    In a few days, our summer’s end party will fill our garden and the street beyond with live music, dancing, and firelight. The friends of individual family members, forever friends and new friends, from every generation, will come together to celebrate this less than stellar season of fertility and abundance. This will  be the last year that my two elm trees will be with us for this celebration. They are dying. They have stretched over our garden, intertwined and misshapen, since we moved here 15 tears ago. They have protected four generations of my kin living below them. Known as Isis and Osiris in our neighborhood, they cleave, the branch of one supporting the other faithfully until  they have created a celtic love knot so intricate that no human could trace where one begins and the other ends. Their roots are visible 2 or 3 feet above ground, and twisted together like weaver’s filament, knotted and secure, stronger united against city life.

    Their roots bear the stripes and scars of living in a finite world. This is life. But, the horror of their passing needlessly now is the horror of my life, too. Watching them drop pale yellow leaves to the ground at the slightest touch of wind or breath is so reminiscent of lipedema pain at the slightest touch or bend of the leg. They are dying of Dutch Elm Disease (DED). DED was first named in 1910 when it ravaged the forests of Holland. It is estimated that a million elms have died in Britain alone, and there are only 8,000 left in the USA. “No cure.” My elms are dying this summer because there is no cure for DED. Drones have been invented, as have sophisticated weapons systems that can hit a village from a target on a screen, and a spaceship is being readied to explore the heavens for a new planet capable of sustaining human life.  But no aggressive plan is in place to save my elms from being toppled by a beetle in one season. 

     Lack of interest. That’s what the elm trees are dying of. Even the cause is known. When their immune system recognizes that their outer layer is breached, elms send out too much protective sap to protect their inner core. Beetles don’t actually do them in. Fungus rides in through the sap and gains entrance to the inner chambers: the root system.  Spaceships, manned by fungus, looking for a hospitable environment to ravage as long as it can survive before finding another host is what they are dying of.  And I am sick caused by lack of interest as well. That’s what my daughter, who drags her leg the way I did before I could no longer walk, is dying of. That’s what my granddaughter who has been on strenuous diets since third grade to save her from lipedema is dying of. And, that’s what my two great grandchildren, who are already allergic to the food that will be foisted upon them against our will, are also already dying of….and, of course, that’s what many generations of women have already died from. Lack of interest.

     There is good news. Some trees survive. Those who are invaded in late summer when dormancy protects them from starving to death can live. Not all of you will lose your mobility. Some of you will lumber and some of you will dance to the finish line.  Better news would be a systemic approach to curing DED (and lipedema). No finish line.  Best news would be  the appearance of a metaphor so illuminating that trees and women would have their rightful place in the world’s esteem.

        Yesterday was my birthday.  Instead of a new outfit on my special day, I bought a “festive”  transport mobility chair so that my family would be less encumbered by my illness at the Saratoga races among thousands of people on foot.  Ah, the fallen matriarch.  How I fight the demons to create lasting memories with my tribe. I walked so tall and covered my insecurities with a head held high, big legs and all, as long as I could walk.  Now, I face them without the comfort of illusion, others or mine.  

     My daughter, Stefanie’s legacy to the world is sheltering lost and unwanted children beneath her wing. She brought Estelle into our family last year. Estelle and I have the same  birthday so I shared mine with her.  Her first horse race was at the fence, and she won big every race! She stopped in to see me today. At one point, Estelle said, “This was the best birthday of my life.”

    I said, “It was one of my worst. It is difficult to be the one in the wheel chair. ” (Ignore my leaves falling pale and yellow around my body.)

     “Are you kidding, Grams? You just pulled yourself right up from the fence and stood for every race with the rest of us.  That’s what I will always remember about you yesterday. That’s what I am going to do, too, when I am old.”  Ha, there it was, that wonderful inevitable ray of light.  I still have value as do my elms who might be giving us clues to how we need to slow down lipedema. The circle of life trumped lipedema. I and my trees still have value and purpose regardless of our circumstances.  Next Saturday, when people celebrate summer, the elms and I will be among them, blessed in this season to have one last summer together.

     A footnote: I read this blog to my husband last night and it gave him the freedom to talk about how bothered he was by the chair at Saratoga, a conversation he would never have initiated. He said: I am so used to you being by my side, I missed you. “But,“I have figured out a solution.  The next time we go to Saratoga, I am going to ride in a wheel chair next to you.”

     I snickered. “Who is going to push you?”

     He waved my comment away. “I don’t care how it happens. We will hire someone. But that’s how it's going down.”
 

                   Isis and Osiris