Your lymphatic system helps eliminate your body’s waste. A healthy, active lymphatic system uses the natural movements of smooth muscle tissue to do this.
However, surgery, medical conditions, or other damage can cause fluids to build up in your lymph system and your lymph nodes, a condition known as lymphedema.
How To Perform Lymphatic Drainage Massage On Yourself. There are different techniques that allow you to perform lymphatic drainage massage therapy on yourself. It’s a great way to help detox your body and a practice that you can easily fit into your daily schedule in just a few minutes. Steps For Lymphatic Drainage Self-Massage. Self Manual Lymph Drainage Simple and easy to perform manual techniques are an integral part of the self-management program. In this stage, the patients have completed the intensive phase with the lymphedema therapist, and are familiar with the pressures and techniques used in Manual Lymph Drainage. The self-manual lymph drainage techniques are relatively easy to perform and therapists generally teach one or two MLD strokes that can be learned and safely performed by the patient. It may help if the patient’s spouse, a relative or a friend is present during the therapist’s demonstration of these strokes to observe, take notes, or record. The primary purpose of self-massage, which is also known as lymphatic massage, is to improve the flow and drainage of lymph by stimulating the lymphatic vessels. Your lymphedema therapist will instruct you in a program of daily self-massage. This is an important part of managing your lymphedema and should be performed regularly as directed. How does self-massage help with lymphedema? Manual Lymph Drainage, or MLD, is a special type of gentle massage that helps move extra fluid from an area that is swollen (or is at risk of becoming swollen), into an area where the lymph nodes are working properly.
If you’ve ever had a surgery on or involving your lymph nodes, your doctor may have suggested lymphatic drainage massage performed by a certified massage or physical therapist. However,
lymphatic massage is not recommended for people with the following conditions:
Procedures that affect or remove your lymph nodes can cause lymphedema as a side effect.
Lymphedema will only occur in the area near a surgical site.
For example, if you have lymph nodes removed as a part of cancer surgery to your left breast, only your left arm, not your right, might be affected with lymphedema.
Lymphedema can also occur as a result of an injury or medical conditions such as congestive heart failure (CHF) or blood clots in the body.
To move waste fluids away from the damaged area, lymphatic massage, which uses a gentle pressure, can help. It’s one technique used to reduce lymphedema.
Raakhee Patel, PT, DPT, CLT, is a physical therapist and certified lymphedema specialist who trains people to perform their own lymphatic massage after surgery.
“We don’t talk enough about lymphedema,” says Patel. Wd external hard drive software. Fluid build-up is uncomfortable and causes pain and heaviness in the affected area. And, according to Patel, “Stage 3 lymphedema can be devastating,” causing significant depression and lack of mobility that could complicate healing.
When performing a lymphatic massage, it’s important that the massage include more than just the affected area. The entire lymphatic system of the body, except the head, right side of the chest, and right arm, drains near the left shoulder. So, a massage should include all areas to drain properly.
Patel teaches two stages of lymphatic massage: clearing and reabsorption. The purpose of clearing is to create a vacuum with gentle pressure so that the area is prepared to bring in more fluid, creating a flushing effect.
Self Lymph Drainage Massage Technique
Clearing involves:
Clearing motions can be repeated as many as 10 times a day. Patel advises, “Always massage both sides of your body, not just the side with the lymphedema.”
A guide to clearing
There are three stages to clearing. Be sure to clear the supraclavicular area, axillary area, and inner-elbow area, in that order.
To clear the supraclavicular area:
Next, clear the axillary area:
Finally, clear the area inside the elbows:
Only very gentle pressure is required. “In lymphatic massage, you’re only working the superficial skin structure,” says Patel. That’s where the fluid is trapped.
How to perform lymphatic massage on the legs
The goal of lymphatic massage on the legs is to open the lymphatic vessels to let excess fluid drain back up into the lymph nodes located in the groin.
There are different techniques used to perform lymphatic massage on the legs, but all have the same end goal: to release the fluid to go back up through the lymph nodes.
To perform a lymphatic massage on the legs, you can follow these steps:
You have now completed the clearing step of the lymphatic massage.
A guide to reabsorption
The second part of lymphatic massage is reabsorption. To perform this stage of massage:
“Patient compliance is the hardest part of self-care, especially for women, who are so used to taking care of others,” says Patel.
She advises people to set aside at least 20 minutes a day for lymphatic drainage massage. “If you only have a brief amount of time, perform the clearing stage of massage.”
To begin reabsorption on the legs, you will use a pumping motion behind the knee:
Manual Lymphatic Drainage Jobs
Your knee is now ready to take in fluid from the lower leg, so you can proceed to massaging the lower legs:
How do you know if lymphatic drainage massage is effective? “This is a maintenance technique,” says Patel. “Your lymphedema should not get worse if you regularly practice lymphatic massage.”
Also, drink water. Well-hydrated tissue helps moves out waste materials.
Managing your lymphedema can also include:
When choosing a therapist, learn as much about their education as possible. “Massage is very good for you, but deep tissue massage can be too heavy for someone with lymphedema, so don’t assume you can just go to a massage therapist.”
Self Manual Lymphatic Drainage Massage Therapy
Look for someone who is a certified lymphedema therapist (CLT) and preferably a physical or massage therapist with oncology and pathology training.
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