White blisters

[katrivera]

I have bi lateral leg lymphedema and I noticed several white blisters on both legs. They are very red, warm and hurt to touch.
Can anyone please tell me what this might mean?

[cpthomas]

Hi There,

I just read your question and wanted to post a quick reply. While it is of course impossible to say what exactly the blisters/irritations on your legs are without having seen you, it has been my experience that people with lymphedema are subject to all kinds of skin problems, some more serious than others.

Anything that is red and feels warm and painful to the touch has a good chance of being an infection and warrants immediate medical attention. This may just be a simple topical infection (just on the skin) or you could actually have an infection in the deeper tissues of the legs that is causing the blisters/irritations to form. In either a simple antibiotic should remove the infection and after 24 hours on the antibiotic you can resume your normal compression use and/or MLD.

If you have a doctor who is currently monitoring your lymphedema and understands the condition, I would make an appointment with him/her to see if an oral antibiotic is warranted in your case. If you do not have a doctor who is familiar with your condition, you may want to see a dermatologist who could diagnose the skin condition and you could educate them as to the high risk of infection for lymphedema patients and ask if an antibiotic is necessary. You can also ask your lymphedema therapist what you should do in terms of wearing compression until the skin condition is addressed...you may need to revert to bandaging for a few days until the skin irritation has calmed down.

If you have more specific questions please do not hesitate to post them here.

Thanks,
Christine