Breast cancer is a common malignancy, the incidence of which has been increasing year by year in recent years. High about 70% of patients develop postoperative upper limb swelling due to removal of axillary lymph nodes and or radiotherapy to the lymph node region. Due to the vicious cycle of self-exacerbation in its pathogenesis, patients often endure abnormal appearance, fatigue, infection and upper limb dysfunction brought about by the disease throughout their lives, and in severe cases, they become disabled. At present, there is no ideal method to treat this disease, but we have achieved satisfactory results in the treatment of postoperative upper limb swelling after breast cancer with the application of pricking and medicinal washing. All of them were female, aged 42-72 years old, with a mean age of 53.1 years; the duration of edema was from 2 months to 2 years, with a mean of 8.6 months. There were 3 cases of radical surgery alone and 17 cases of radical surgery plus radiotherapy. Those with postoperative combined pectoral interstitial fluid or axillary incision infection resulting in upper limb edema on the affected side, those with upper limb edema caused by other tumor compression and those with combined serious primary diseases such as cardiac and hematopoietic system or severe hypoproteinemia were excluded, and the Carlson score was above 80. Among the 20 patients, there were 1 case of mild swelling, 12 cases of moderate swelling and 7 cases of severe swelling. Treatment 1.Puncture: Blood cupping at the affected shoulder and subcutaneous nodes of the upper limb, followed by moxibustion at the puncture site for 30 minutes once a week; 2.Therbal external cleansing: Yang He Tang plus Yang Yang Hui Wu Tang with 10g of deer horn gum, 6g of ephedra, 10g of sapodilla, 30g of rehmannia, 10g of ginger, 10g of white mustard seed, 60g of raw astragalus, 20g of angelica, 10g of peach kernel, 10g of safflower The juice was decocted twice, and the affected limbs were soaked in the juice for 20 minutes each time. The blood stabbing day without external washing; 3, conditioning: avoid the affected limb force or weight, can use the scraping board from the bottom up scraping, once a day, each time 5 minutes; 4, times for a cycle. Efficacy criteria and observation indexes 1. Efficacy criteria: effective: swelling completely subsided or reduced by 1 degree; effective: swelling reduced but not reached 1 degree; ineffective: swelling not improved or aggravated; 2. Observation indexes: observation of total swelling subsidence and swelling subsidence in each group. V. Treatment results 1. The total swelling subsided: 11 cases were effective and 9 cases were effective among 20 cases. The fastest onset of effect was 1 day; 2. The swelling regression in each group: those with significant effect were mild to moderate patients, and all of them had a short history of swelling. Severe patients were effective. The mechanism of swelling in the upper extremity of breast cancer is believed to be that the lymphatic circulation of the upper extremity is cut off by the removal of axillary lymph, which leads to the increase of protein concentration in the interstitial fluid and the increase of filtration pressure; at the same time, the decrease of plasma protein reduces the colloid osmotic pressure difference and increases the tissue fluid, leading to edema. In addition, the scar formation caused by the trauma of the axilla further obstructs the venous and lymphatic return, and the postoperative radiotherapy damages the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, further aggravating the edema of the upper limbs. Lymphedema is a chronic process that can be divided into three stages: lymphatic fluid accumulation, adipose tissue hyperplasia and fibrosis. The effective treatment is to drain the lymph and effectively remove the protein-rich fluid before significant subcutaneous tissue fibrosis occurs. Chinese medicine believes that surgery causes deficiency of qi and blood and damage to the veins and ligaments, and qi deficiency cannot move blood, which aggravates stasis in the veins and ligaments. Therefore, this disease is the evidence of deficiency of Yang Qi and stagnation of blood and water. The treatment should be both symptomatic and primary, with the method of warming Yang, benefiting Qi, invigorating Blood and opening up the ligaments, using Yang He Tang to warm Yang and dissolve dampness, and Yang Hui Wu Tang to benefit Qi and open up the ligaments, adding Mulberry Branch to induce the upward movement of the medicine and dispel wind and open up the ligaments. Our treatment with Gua Sha can also promote blood circulation and increase the therapeutic effect. The most rapid means of treating lymphedema is to drain the lymph and effectively move out the protein-rich fluid. In some cases, the swelling was significantly reduced after 1 day, and in 2 cases, the swelling in the upper limbs disappeared completely and did not recur for 2 years afterwards.