A pensioner has been told specialist massage following cancer surgery cannot be offered because she needs it on the "wrong" part of her body.

Mary Comish, 70, needs a technique called manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) to relieve prominent swelling of her left leg which occured after her lymph nodes were removed to help battle skin cancer.

The swelling, called lymphodema, is common after lymph nodes are removed under the arms for breast cancer treatment.

But when Mrs Comish, who has had skin cancer for more than 12 years, approached the Nigel Porter Unit, the specialist breast care centre at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, she was told MLD was offered on people's arms, but not their legs.

When she asked further within the hospital about receiving MLD on her leg she was told the massage was not provided, and was referred to a private hospice in Crawley.

She tracked down a specialist at Worthing Hospital who offers MLD, but the department was swamped with cases and could not take on any more.

Mrs Comish, of Ovingdean, Brighton, who is being fitted with a special compression stocking to reduce the swelling, said:

"My leg was like a tree trunk from the knee up.

"It seems strange I could have had MLD on my arm but not my leg.

"It's as if the wrong part of my body had the problem.

"There seems to be a lack of this sort of service. Surely there must be a need for more of this care.

"The massage makes a big difference because it helps the lymphatic fluid flow around the limb."

Ian Keeber, a spokesman for Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, said there were differences in MLD therapies used on arms and legs.

He said the hospital was preparing a proposal to introduce a part-time MLD nurse who could work on people's legs which will be considered by East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Health Authority.

Mr Keeber said: "Although there is not a high demand we recognise there is a demand.

"Sadly, the health service can't do everything in every hospital, but where there is a demand we try to meet it."