Travel tip - elevated mattresses

This is for those who suffer from lymphoedema in their legs.  Years ago my dad was always trying to find out ways to improve my life and he had the idea of keeping my legs elevated so that the swelling (now lymph) will subside naturally while I sleep.  At the time, I had almost given up living with my condition, I didn't like the regular operations and hospital appointments - I never gave much heed to his advice and ideas.  Plus we didn't know at the time that I had lymphoedema.

He and his friend decided to make a bed out of steel beams with reinforcements in the right places to support my weight.  My dad thought of adding a wedge of some kind at the end of the bed for the mattress to rest on.  He'd hoped that a slight elevation will help my legs. The elevation was about 10 degrees - a slope ratio of about 1:6 - I have to say it worked wonders on my legs.  Now I insist on having a wedge under the mattress on any bed that I regularly sleep on.

Therapists would suggest putting your legs on top of pillows, invariably by the end of your sleep you'd see those pillows on the floor.  Heaven knows what use they were and you'd notice no discernible difference to your legs.  Putting something under the mattress to elevate it the mattress is a much better and stable solution.

Nearly everyone in the world sleep on flat beds - so going on holiday adds to my worries on how I'd cope with my legs.  My tip would be to get anything you can get your hands on and put them under the mattress.  During my last holiday, I had stuffed several pillows, bed throws and cushions under the mattress.  This alone made me worry less about my legs and my legs were stable during the entire holiday.  I suppose the same sort of technique can be applied to help with lymphoedema in the arms.

To summarise - when on holiday, stuff pillows and cushions under the mattress to provide elevation for your legs.

My bed with the wedge

The wedge itself