A Healthy Lymphatic System Keeps You From Getting Sick
By Shannon Nettles LMT, Certified Lymphatic Drainage Therapist
Manual Lymphatic Drainage Therapy also known as Lymphatic Massage is a light-touch therapy that feels more like a skin stretch with rhythmic pump-like motions and not like a traditional massage. Most of the lymph nodes are close to the surface of the skin, so heavy pressure isn’t necessary and can often contribute to more inflammation, resulting in more edema or swelling, which would be the opposite of what we are trying to do.
The Lymphatic system is vital to keeping us healthy. Sometimes it can become sluggish or impaired by diet, lifestyle factors, chronic stress, autoimmune disorders, injuries, or surgery.
Symptoms of a sluggish or impaired Lymphatic system could present as fatigue, headaches, generalized aches and pains, dry or itchy skin, rashes, acne, brain fog, frequent colds, or other sicknesses, swelling or edema, developing hard, tight, or thickened skin, bloating, digestive issues, weight gain, or autoimmune disease flaring up.
It’s important to report any concerns or changes in your health to your Physician so they can figure out the cause and suggest any treatment that may be needed. If your Dr can’t find a reason for your symptoms, ask if a Lymphatic Drainage session could help you. Your Dr. may or may not have an opinion on this therapy but when everything else is ruled out what is the harm in trying some holistic therapies? Before people relied so heavily on modern Western medicine, people used plants, herbs, cupping, massage, and even Lymphatic Drainage to help with sickness. Yes, Lymphatic drainage has been around for a long time!!! The techniques that Lymphatic therapists currently use, were developed in the 1930s by Dr. Emil and Estrid Vodder.
I recommend getting lymphatic drainage sessions once a week when we are trying to get the body back to a healthy state or working on improving symptoms from a sluggish Lymphatic system. Continue to get Lymphatic Drainage sessions once a month for maintenance.
