Palpable differences in lymphoedema tissue compressibility are thought to relate to the underlying pathological tissue compositional changes that are present. Although research is yet to verify the relationship between tissue response to sustained compression and underlying tissue characteristics, lymphoedema staging relies on palpation assessment of pitting as a differentiating criterion. Moreover, the pitting test method is unstandardised. The principal purpose of this doctoral research was to understand how the subjective ‘feel’ of lymphoedema tissue relates to what underlies the skin surface. The pitting test was used as a conduit to translate the findings into clinically useful information by guiding the standardisation of the pitting test method. […]