Mon General Wound Center receives national Lymphedema designation

            The Wound Healing Center of Mon General Hospital was recently designated as a National Lymphedema Network (NLN) Affiliate Treatment Center.

            “This designation is an excellent example of the quality health care Mon General is able to offer to the community,” said Eric Eberhart, Director of the Wound Healing Center of Mon General. The Wound Healing Center is one of only two NLN affiliates in West Virginia, with the other located in Huntington.

            To be named an NLN affiliate treatment center, centers must provide service 52 weeks per year and offer manual lymphatic drainage, compression bandaging, garment fitting by a certified fitter, remedial exercises and instruction in self-care methods. In addition, centers must provide physician supervision, a support group, physical or occupational therapy services and podiatry services. “All of these requirements have been met by our program,” Eberhart said.

             Lymphedema is an abnormal accumulation of protein rich fluid in a body part. Most often it affects a person’s arms and legs. Lymphedema is a chronic condition; however, it can be managed with compression garments and a manual lymph drainage massage.

            Primary lymphedema may be present at birth or develop later in life without a known cause. Secondary lymphedema can be caused by cancer, surgery and/or radiation, trauma, injury or infection. The most common cause of lymphedema in the United States is breast cancer.

            “Mon General implemented an inpatient Occupational Therapy program in August 2011,” said Erin Double, Occupational Therapist and Certified Lymphedema Therapist in Mon General’s Physical Rehab Services Department. “The hospital has since expanded its Occupational Therapy services by offering a Lymphedema program which includes a Lymphedema Support Group.

            “All of these measures increase patients’ well-being and increase their health,” Double said. Inpatient Lymphedema treatment is offered through Occupational Therapy service at the hospital, while outpatient treatment is available at The Wound Healing Center.

            Mon General’s Lymphedema Support Group meets the fourth Tuesday in January, March, May, July, September and November from 5-6 p.m. in the hospital’s conference center. For more information about the support group or Lymphedema services available at Mon General and its Wound Healing Center, call (304) 285-1460. The Wound Healing Center of Mon General is located at 200 Wedgewood Drive in Morgantown.

            The National Lymphedema Network is an internationally recognized non-profit organization founded in 1988 to provide education and guidance to lymphedema patients, health care professionals and the general public by disseminating information on the risk reduction and management of primary and secondary lymphedema. The NLN is a driving force behind the movement in the U.S. to standardize quality treatment for lymphedema patients nationwide.