2023, What did it bring?

By Jane Wigg RGN, MSc, Lymphoedema Clinical Expert

When I look back at the fastest year of life…, yes it really feels like that,  I look forward to the future and how what we have learned, what we are changing, where we have been, and what we have taught will change not only 2024, but in the years to come.

21 years as a training academy and have seen thousands of students through our doors, which means we have so much more work to do for the next 21 years. Hopefully I’ll still be pottering around, giving my ‘pennies worth!’ in 2044!

Our highlights have to be that we have now run six lipoedema training-specific courses now, all supported by Lipoedema UK and Lipoedema Simplified and Fat Disorders, with training taking place in South Africa too, where our team has set up LipSA (Lipoedema South Africa). Sometimes being at the beginning of something new (which LTA generally are) is rewarding and will be life-changing for many women when it’s more established. For South Africa, this is the first of any type of support group for Lipoedema patients and therapists. The feedback from the Lipoedema training has been phenomenal. Everyone saying that ‘they didn’t know what they didn’t know’ and that the training has changed everything about their approach to lipoedema management. Even today, before writing this, we had a lipoedema session with Prof. Vaughan Keeley, discussing new thoughts, research, and ‘What we don’t know about lipoedema’. Sometimes we are left with more questions than answers, but we are in a great place, even if sometimes it feels a little like we were with lymphoedema 20 years ago. The training brings leading experts from around the world, and we are grateful and privileged for their support and contribution. Please feel free to join us on our training next year; you don’t need to be LTA-trained to attend.

In July, we were honoured to hold our ‘New insights to lymphatic conditions and management’ and the next level training from Prof. Belgrado. This has changed everything, and we are proud to be running this annual training to help other therapists advance their treatment and management of lymphoedema and lipoedema. My common phrase, ‘nothing changes if nothing changes’, holds true, and we need to change our practice. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to discuss this at conferences in the UK and other international conferences. We are focusing on the changes to treatment protocols and practice, with an increased understanding of compression and what we have been ‘preaching’ about for a decade, hoping eventually that the NHS and private practice will change and understand the improvements to care and cost savings.

We know that MLD is getting a bashing and that research is changing where it fits into treatment protocols. It’s placement in treatment is important; we therefore need to understand its position in treatment plans and how to enhance those to improve the outcomes of treatment using MLD. For example, working at the tops of bandages and then problem areas of feet and hands, allowing the work of the bandages to do the heavy work. Selecting the right group of patients is important as we move forward and expand our skills to other groups of patients who benefit from MLD, not just lymphoedema.

Comprising of eight journal articles

Some of our treatment protocols are outlined in our ‘Compendium of Best Practice’, comprising of eight journal articles providing assistance and instructions on many things lymph. This journal was supported by several organisations, including Haddenham Healthcare (www.hadhealth.com), Koya Medical koyamedical.com  and Sandbourne Medical, for whom we are grateful for their support. You can download your free copy here: https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/pb-assets/JOWC/LTA-Supplement-1688640908007.pdf

For 2024, we have a course redesign, allowing for separate training of upper and lower limbs for healthcare professionals and for MLD and advanced management for manual therapists. Both groups exiting training with very similar courses, as we need to build the availability of expert therapists able to offer treatment for people living with lymphoedema due to the depletion of NHS services.

Dates should be on the website and can be found here: https://www.lymph.org.uk/training-courses, but contact us for further details or a chat.

One last thing: I’m not sure if it’s for you but LTA has 2 free training places available: one on our 2-day ‘Laughter Yoga Leader’ training (teaching you how to carry out group sessions of laughter yoga) and our 1-day Mindset ‘Turnabout’ training (helping you personally but also explaining why clients and patients may be finding internal resistance to change or coping).

Laughter Yoga is all about laughing and releasing those good chemicals without the need for humour; who wouldn’t benefit from that? It’s evidence-based, and ‘laughter (really) is the best medicine’

To apply for your free place, just drop an email to training@lymph.org.uk stating

1. “I think Laughter Yoga will help my patients because..."

And / or

2. “I want to attend ‘Turnabout’ training because..."

We will reveal who has won as planned on 1st December, but there will be two additional places revealed on 1st March, especially for @physiopod readers.

And... remember that LymphVison our sister company, where complex (and non-complex) lymphoedema and lipoedema people can attend clinics. Either for mapping, accurate diagnosis, or daily/ongoing management. For many people, they live with 'lymphoedema', not really understanding its real cause or if treatment could be improved, and accepting their level of ‘maintenance’ as their long-term future. For them, touching base with clinic@lymphvision.com may be a breath of fresh air. Our treatment is not just MLD; it’s a whole lifestyle and wellbeing package, with treatment protocols individualised to bring better outcomes.

We look forward to seeing you in 2024.

Jane xx