Sign up now to attend free educational webinars hosted by the British Lymphology Society

The British Lymphology Society (BLS) has invited physiotherapists to sign up for a series of free educational webinars to be held next week (6-10 March), during Lymphoedema Awareness Week.

The webinars are open to people who want to learn more about lymphoedema, especially healthcare professionals who see chronic swelling in their own practice. People living with lymphoedema are invited to attend a presentation and patient-focused Q&A hosted by Neil Piller, director of the Lymphoedema Clinical Research Unit at Flinders University, Adelaide.

The BLS points out that is vital to diagnose and manage lymphoedema at an early stage in order to improve patients’ quality of life. However, many healthcare practitioners are not aware of the condition and management options.

The webinars will cover topics such as

• causes and symptoms
• diagnosis and latest treatment options
• management strategies

Guest speakers

The BLS has lined up expert guest speakers who will share their knowledge and experience in treating lymphoedema. They will help viewers to advise their patients on self-care matters and the early signs of complications. There will also be opportunities to ask questions and participate in interactive discussions with the presenters.

Register now to secure your place.

This year’s BLS annual conference will be held at the Chester Racecourse from 2-3 October. One of the keynote speakers will be Stanley Rockson, the Allan and Tina Neill Professor of Lymphatic Research and Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. For details, visit: https://www.theblsconference.com

Physiotherapist Yolande Borthwick 

Physiotherapist Yolande Borthwick has been a BLS trustee since 1998, when she started working in the lymphoedema field, and has been a regional ambassador for Scotland since 2017. She is a lymphoedema specialist in an outpatient clinic based in a hospice in central Scotland. Yolande previously role a Macmillan physiotherapist at the Beatson Oncology Centre, Glasgow.

Yolande provides leadership for the lymphoedema service at health board level, which includes the support and management for people with lipoedema and lymphoedema of any cause as well as service development and education. She also lectures part-time at the University of Glasgow, where she is director of the graduate and postgraduate lymphoedema programmes. These offer accredited education from keyworker to specialist level along with an online introductory course. She has chaired both the Scottish Lymphoedema Practitioners Network and Casley Smith Lymphoedema Education UK.

In a feature on the BLS's website she says: 'My special interests lie in supporting a rehabilitative approach to these long-term conditions including promoting supported self-management and tailoring individual treatment through goal setting. We have developed a strong patient support group locally who are consulted in any service development or new project for their views.

'I am passionate about involving our patients in decisions and actively in our management plans as well as providing timely information and education to all health care professionals to enable a better understanding of lymphoedema and lipoedema. My Masters research established the figure of 8 hand measurement as a valid, reliable tool for measuring hand oedema in breast cancer related lymphoedema.'