Support and useful links for lymphoedema, lipoedema and MLD

Support and information

Charities and the NHS, for understanding your condition and not feeling alone with it. Many resources are free, but membership, events, calls or clinical services may have eligibility rules or charges, so check each provider.

• Lymphoedema Support Network (LSN) - the UK's national patient charity for lymphoedema, offering trusted information, support and self-management guidance.
• Lipoedema UK - the UK charity for lipoedema: awareness, help towards a diagnosis, information and a community of people who understand it.
• NHS: Lymphoedema - the official NHS overview of what lymphoedema is, its causes, and how it is diagnosed and treated.
• Macmillan Cancer Support - information and practical, emotional and financial support for anyone affected by cancer, including swelling after treatment.
• Breast Cancer Now - support, information and services for people affected by breast cancer, relevant if you are managing swelling after breast cancer treatment.

Help with the cost of treatment

Funding and eligibility change, so never assume a grant or policy will pay specifically for MLD without checking. If the cost of treatment is hard to manage, a few routes are worth exploring before you rule it out, including the Turn2us benefits and grants search.

• Start with the NHS. Where you qualify, lymphoedema care on the NHS is free. Access varies by area and criteria are strict, so ask your GP or specialist nurse what is available locally. Our guide to what MLD costs explains how NHS routes and insurance work.
• Free money and benefits advice. If a health condition is straining your finances, Macmillan offers free money and benefits guidance to anyone affected by cancer, and in some areas one-off local Macmillan grants (these are no longer available everywhere, so check your area). Turn2us helps anyone on a low income check their benefits and search thousands of charitable grant-giving funds.
• Ask your therapist. Many offer discounted blocks of sessions, and some will space appointments or talk through what you can manage. A good therapist would rather keep you in appropriate care than lose you over price.

None of this turns a costly course into a free one, but people often assume there is no help at all when there is some. If money is the thing standing between you and care, it is worth an hour finding out.

Professional and training bodies

For therapists, and for patients who like to check the source. These are the bodies and the recognised schools that sit behind properly trained MLD in the UK.

• British Lymphology Society (BLS) - the UK professional body supporting clinicians who care for people with lymphoedema and related conditions.
• International Lymphoedema Framework (ILF) - a UK-based charity working internationally to improve lymphoedema management through research and education.

Training providers whose programmes are accepted under our published Verification Standard:

• Dr Vodder MLD UK - UK training in the Dr Vodder method of Manual Lymph Drainage.
• Casley-Smith Lymphoedema Education (CaSLE) - UK training in the Casley-Smith method.
• Lymphoedema Training Academy (LTA) - UK training academy, home of the "Fill and Flush" approach.
• Klose Training - training in the Földi tradition (an international provider). The Leduc method is also taught internationally.

What the methods actually mean for you is covered in our guide to MLD training methods, and exactly what we check before listing anyone is set out in our verification standard.

And on this register

The point of everything above is that you never have to take a therapist's word for their training. If you have a name already, our free Check a Therapist tool shows whether they are listed with us and what we have verified. If you are still looking, Find a Therapist lets you search by area and by condition, and every one of our plain-English guides is free to read.

Common questions