lymphedema - pain and swelling
Skin has to kept soft?
Skin has to be kept dry?
Elevate legs while lying down or sleeping? Any success with that?
Tried green tea?
Is the pain a dull ache as if your oxygen to legs has been cut off?
Pool therapy not possible because of your situation?
Pain all the time or worse when lying down?
What are they giving you for pain medication?

Which of these have you tried (or not)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphedema
Treatment

The most common and accepted treatments of choice for lymphedema are
Sequential Gradient Pump Therapy and Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT).

[edit] Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT)

CDT consists of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD),[1] short stretch
compression bandaging, therapeutic exercise, and skin care. MLD was
pioneered by Dr. Emil Vodder in the 1930s for the treatment of chronic
sinusitis and other immune disorders, and is now recognized along with
pneumatic pumps, and compression sleeves, as a primary tool in lymphedema
management. Therapists can today receive certification through special
classes conducted by various organizations specializing in MLD.

Initially, CDT involves frequent visits to a certified therapist with a
doctor's prescription. Once the lymphedema is reduced, increased patient
participation is required for ongoing care, along with the use of
compression garments to further reduce the swelling.

[edit] Sequential Gradient Pump Therapy

Sequential Gradient Pump Therapy has been utilized for over 30 years
throughout the world. Lympha-Press helped pioneer and perfect this
technology with by utilizing a 12 chambered pneumatic sleeve with
overlapping cells, to gently move the lymph fluid. There are several other
manufacturers of these devices such as Bio Compression Systems, and Wright
Linear. All of these devices are recognized treatments and approved by
Medicare and most insurance plans in the USA. Patients may often receive
treatment on a pump for 10-15 minutes before an MLD session to help break
up fibrotic (hard) tissue. By softening or breaking up the fibrosis, the
MLD Therapist can be even more effective with the given treatment. After
completion of the appropriate number of MLD sessions, some patients will
benefit from a home use of a sequential pump. A recent Stanford University
medical studyshowed that patients receiving the combined modalities of
MLD/CDT and pneumatic pumping had a greater overall reduction in limb
volume than patients receiving only MLD/CDT.[2]

The MLD component of treatment consists of gentle, rhythmic massaging of
the skin to stimulate the flow of lymph and its return to the blood
circulation system. In the blood’s passage through the kidneys, the excess
fluid is filtered out and eliminated from the body through urination. The
treatment is very comfortable and nonaggressive. A typical session will
involve drainage of the neck, trunk, and involved extremity (in that
order), and lasts approximately 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the
severity and extent of the lymphedema.

[edit] Compression bandaging

Compression bandaging, also called wrapping, is the application of several
layers of padding and short-stretch bandages to the involved areas.
Short-stretch bandages are preferred over long-stretch bandages (such as
those normally used to treat sprains), as the long-stretch bandages cannot
produce the higher tension necessary to safely reduce Lymphedema and may
in fact end up producing a tourniquet effect. During activity, whether
exercise or daily activities, the short-stretch bandages enhance the
pumping action of the lymph vessels by providing increased resistance for
them to push against. This encourages lymphatic flow and helps to soften
fluid-swollen areas.

[edit] Therapeutic exercise

In addition, specific therapeutic exercise while compression bandaging is
worn is a valuable part of therapy, not only because it aids in the
elimination of excess fluid, but also because some patients with chronic
lymphedema or large, swollen areas will have poor strength or range of
movement. Pool therapy using manual lymp drainage techniques will help to
keep the tissue soft and assist in moving the lymphedema fluid. These
patients benefit from exercise prescribed specifically for them by their
physician to help improve their function and comfort.

[edit] Skin care

Skin care is an important component of CDT. People with lymphedema or who
have had lymph nodes removed are at a higher risk for infections of the
affected areas, and so need to be taught a specific regimen of thorough
but gentle cleansing followed by moisturizing in order to keep the skin in
the best health possible. Teaching higher risk sufferers about the signs
and symptoms of infections is also important, since awareness is the key
to early identification and treatment. Untreated infections can further
damage an already impaired lymphatic system and lead to more severe
lymphedema and skin ulcers.

[edit] Skin care

Compression pumps are often used in the treatment of lymphedema, but
special care needs to be taken to ensure that the involved trunk quadrant
is properly treated with manual lymphatic drainage before the application
of a compression pump. If adequate treatment of the trunk is not carried
out beforehand, the edema may be pushed into the upper portion of the arm
or leg, or into the genitals. If a patient's lymphedema worsens during a
course of compression pump therapy, reassessment for adequate trunk MLD is
necessary. However, newer compression pump garments provide compression
well into the trunk and/or abdomen and groin areas. Although very
beneficial, many patients find it inconvenient or expensive to attend
regular MLD treatment sessions. A 2002 Stanford University article
suggests that for patients with upper-limb lymphedema, those who received
both MLD and compression pump therapy experienced greater overall limb
reduction.

Even after MLD, the patient may only be bandaging or receiving compression
up to the axilla (arm pit area) or groin. Unless the patient is monitored
during post MLD self bandaging, there is a possibility of the lymph fluid
pooling in the truncal regions. For this reason, reassessment for adequate
trunk MLD may need to be re-evaluated as necessary.

Surgical techniques [not included here]

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Kinesio Taping
A new adjunct treatment is being taught to therapists utilizing a special
type of tape called Kinesio Taping.[citation needed] It is used to help
soften edemas.
me says - www.kinesiotaping.com/ low confidence; but might be worth a try?