Lymphedema
Lymphatic Drainage Massage Service
Lymphatic Drainage Massage is a gentle form of massage therapy that encourages the movement of lymph fluids around the body to remove toxins and improve immune system functionality. Lymphatic Drainage Massage Therapy can be particularly beneficial to patients with Lymphedema, post-surgery needs, and other conditions that may cause the build up of lymph fluids. Lymph fluid build up is caused by the lymphatic system not working properly in the removal of waste and other toxins from body tissue.
On this page, I explain how massage therapy helps with lymph drainage, who can benefit from a lymphatic massage, a popular massage myth, and the steps you can take in preparation for a massage if the treatment is fitting based on your needs.
What does a Lymphatic Drainage Massage do?
When the body is fighting for optimal heath, lymph nodes in our body’s cells and tissue build up lymphatic fluid in our circulatory system. This is known as a “lymph” or a colorless fluid that normally flows through lymph vessels, connecting to a number of lymph nodes in different areas of our body. This lymphatic system of ours removes bodily waste products and bacteria from our tissue for our immune health. In lymphatic drainage massage therapy the build up of fluid in tissue and cells are drained or redistributed and moved away from the damaged area with gentle massage techniques to improve your lymphatic system. At last, the lymphatic waste can leave our body with the help of muscle contractions, our liver, and kidney organs that assist the fluid in going to waste after drainage.
As mentioned above, the massage techniques used for manual lymph drainage are gentle and affecting only surface level tissue. For example, deep tissue techniques are concentrated with more pressure to improve muscles, while lymph drainage techniques are for the surface of your skin. For best results, light pushing, rhythmic pumping, and stationary circle techniques are used along the lymphatic map of your body. A typical session can last from 45 to 60 minutes and the frequency may depend on your condition or doctor recommendation.
You can thinking of this as draining lymph fluids in each motion starting with a central part of your body and moving towards your extremities. This may give you an image of lymphatic drainage in the legs, but this also applies to this technique in smaller regions of the body such as to lymphatic facial massage. See the lymphatic map below for a better picture of where the technique is used for best results.
Who can benefit from lymphatic drainage?
Patients with Lymphedema as a result of surgery or radiation might be recommended treatment by their doctor. Lymphatic Drainage Massage may help improve the body’s immune system function with the focus of the lymphatic system, as explained in the section above. This could be beneficial for people with less serious conditions than Lymphedema or those with no conditions at all. These massage techniques can also be beneficial to healthy individuals who would like to experience the relaxing benefits and tension release of massage. Lymphatic Drainage Massage can benefit people who are experiencing the following:
Can lymphatic drainage help with weight loss?
Despite the popularity of the concept that Lymphatic Drainage Massage helps people lose weight, there is no evidence to suggest any truth behind this and should be placed with other myths about lymphatic drainage. Lymphatic drainage may help with temporary water retention and bloating which could be enough to alter the appearance of someone temporarily. This, however, does not support the claims and before/after pictures in relation to the idea that lymph drainage techniques can help with the loss of body fat and these claims should only be taken as anecdotal. There are many benefits to massage therapy, which may contribute to posture improvements, skin tone and appearance, as well as overall wellness seen in pictures, but real weight loss during therapy has not been proven!
Reach out today for effective, results-driven therapy.