What is “How to Measure your Arm”?
The Cancer Exercise and Physiotherapy Lab (CEPL) has developed a short tutorial to assist people with breast cancer in measuring their arm. Measuring your arm after Breast Cancer treatment is important as it is an indication of whether an individual’s lymphedema self-management strategies are working effectively and helps track the onset of swelling.
“How to Measure your Arm” Materials
You can click on the link below to access the materials for “How to measure your arm”. Once it is open, you can print and save the file. The form includes a self-assessment quiz and a form to record your measurements
Instructional Video
Note: The original measuring tape used was the MyoTape Body Tape Measure made by AccuFitness (available on Amazon as of May 2020 at https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-MT05-MyoTape-Body-Measure/dp/B000G7YW7Y). We used another model that was less expensive in subsequent studies, but it is no longer available to order. You can find a similar tape using term “body measuring tape” or “body tape measure”.
If citing this methods, please attribute as: Rafn BS, McNeely ML, Camp PG, Midtgaard J, Campbell KL. Self-Measured Arm Circumference in Women With Breast Cancer Is Reliable and Valid. Phys Ther. 2019;99(2):240-253. doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzy117. PubMed PMID: 30289500 Credits:
Voice over: Elizabeth Milosevic; Story board: Bolette Rafn; Video production: UBC Studios