Do You Need to Wear a Sleeve When You Fly?
Breast cancer survivors, if you've had lymph nodes removed from your underarm, do you need to wear a sleeve when you fly to prevent lymphedema?
This is The Recovery Room, coming to you from 35,000 ft to answer the question… “If you have lymph nodes removed from your underarm and/or are at risk for lymphedema, do you have to wear a sleeve when you fly?”
The answer is unequivocal, NO. I am a cancer physical therapy expert, Dr. Leslie Waltke. Though the myth of wearing a sleeve when you fly has been around for decades, it’s never been backed up by any research or data. There is no evidence that suggests flying will cause lymphedema or that wearing a sleeve will prevent lymphedema. More importantly, some of the people in the study actually got hand swelling from wearing the sleeve.
So to be clear, if you are at risk for lymphedema, you do not need to wear a sleeve when you fly.
I’m Dr. Leslie Waltke, from The Recovery Room. Where ever your journeys take you…. SAFE TRAVELS!