Volume 17 – October 2025

Welcome to our seventeenth LymphUnited Newsletter, including:

• SPECIAL FEATURE – SPOTLIGHT ON…FOOTWEAR!

• CHARITY GOLF DAY 2026

• HEAD & NECK LYMPHOEDEMA SURVEY?

• £££ RAISED FOR LYMPHOEDEMA CHARITIES

Ultimately, this newsletter is for your benefit. Therefore, I welcome your feedback or any requests you have for future content.

Contact Matt at Hello@lymphunited.com.

Spotlight on… FOOTWEAR!

By Matt Hazledine

If you live with lymphoedema, it won’t be a surprise to you that finding clothes and shoes that fit was in the top three challenges faced by all people joining my virtual and face-to-face Meet-ups.

I experienced this problem after getting lower limb lymphoedema in June 2011. My collection of trousers, jeans, suits, shoes and trainers no longer fitted me and ended up at the local charity shop. Buying new replacements off the shelf or online was impossible which significantly affected my self-confidence, in addition to the inconvenience and wasted money. There is a selection of clothing companies on my website, all of which I have purchased from and as they have worked for me, I hope they are of help to you. lymphoedemaunited.com/meet-the-suppliers/

COSYFEET SHOES – Members Discount

Founded in 1983, Cosyfeet supplies premium-quality extra roomy footwear, socks, and hosiery, as well as foot care and mobility products. They also offer VAT exemption, free returns, and a no quibble guarantee on most of their products.

Members receive a 10% discount on all products at any time, using the code LYMPHUTD at checkout. lymphoedemaunited.com/meet-the-suppliers/cosyfeet/

Getting active around your home, doing housework, gardening or odd jobs can help your lymphatic system. You can even exercise without leaving your lounge – for example, by standing up and moving around the room during every ad break.

If you are able to, walking is one of the best exercises for people living with lymphoedema. It helps your body to burn off excess calories, building stamina and improving your heart health. It can help to ease stress and anxiety, and it’s nice and easy on your joints too.

Best of all, walking is something that nearly everyone can do, any time or place, so it’s easy to fit into your routine. For example, you can walk to work, to school or to the shops. If your journey is too far to walk, you could park your car or get off the bus or train early and walk the rest of the way.

Or if you prefer, you can walk for pleasure – start from home and see where your feet take you or explore green spaces nearby. And if you want to take it up a notch, you can start taking longer hikes, get into hill-walking or join a walking group for motivation. You could even build a whole holiday around walking a long-distance trail.

If you have lymphoedema, especially in your legs and/or feet, there are a few things to keep in mind when you’re out and about on foot.

Make sure you look after your feet. People with lymphoedema are prone to getting cellulitis, a painful and sometimes severe infection. Therefore, it is best to avoid foot complications such as cuts, sores, athlete’s foot and blisters. Problems like these can easily worsen over time and lead to infection, so it’s best to stop them happening in the first place – and your choice of footwear can be crucial.

To protect your feet, choose strong, sturdy shoes or boots that support without pinching or rubbing. Never walk outside in bare feet. And don’t neglect your socks! If they pinch your ankles or rub the skin of your feet, they can cause cuts, sores or blisters, particularly on longer walks. That’s why it’s always worth checking your feet when you get home.

Mary Fickling – PhysioPod

PhysioPod® UK Survey – UK Treatments and Experiences with Head and Neck Lymphoedema (HNL)

Our survey is an independent, company-led evaluation of treatments and experiences with Head and Neck Lymphoedema (HNL) in the United Kingdom, regardless of whether DEEP OSCILLATION® is incorporated into current treatment protocols or not. For now, we are collecting responses for the UK only, but we may repeat the survey internationally in the future.

If you live with Head and Neck Lymphoedema and live in the UK, then Julie and I would be very grateful if you could share your invaluable insights with us in this survey.  This will help us gather foundational evidence in this area and lay the groundwork for future research projects. On September 1st, we published our PhysioPod® UK Special Edition News Magazine on Head and Neck Lymphoedema, which you can view here as a precursor to this survey.
Please click the link below to complete our Mailchimp survey:

Mailchimp Survey
us10.list-manage.com

In the research article, “Using the Glasgow Benefit Inventory questionnaire to quantify the health benefits of lymphoedema treatment in patients with head and neck cancer” (Halliday et al, 2020), DEEP OSCILLATION® therapy is highlighted as a particularly useful therapeutic approach in managing lymphoedema, especially because it is beneficial in areas harder to treat, such as the head and neck.. ‘the mechanism of deep oscillation involves the use of low-frequency, electrostatic impulses. These impulses work to produce both a tissue-relaxing effect and a moderate vasoconstriction effect. This combined physiological action favoured the reabsorption of localised oedema and contributed to reduced fibrosis.’

PhysioPod® UK is working on:
⦁ Highlighting the urgent unmet needs in HNL care and the challenges faced by both patients and practitioners.
⦁ Demonstrating how DEEP OSCILLATION® can improve HNL care both in clinics and at home to enhance patients’ quality of life, and potentially provide a more cost-effective option for the NHS compared to current practices.
⦁ Collecting information that can shine a light on current treatments and self-care strategies, guide future research, and ultimately support patients navigating this complex condition.

Participating in the survey

Please note that participation in this survey is entirely voluntary. We will treat all responses anonymously with the utmost confidentiality, analysing the data only in summary form. By filling out the survey, you permit us to use your responses in this manner. The welcome section of the survey provides additional information on how the summary data will be used.

We are genuinely committed to making progress in improving head and neck lymphoedema treatment for all patients, and your contribution is essential for achieving this goal.

Thank you once again for your support.

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