03/12/2025
“But where does it GO?!”
A potential client recently asked me this, and it dawned on me that many people likely have this same question! The term “Lymphatic Drainage” can be a confusing one, but not to be alarmed, there’s nothing messy or weird about it…don’t worry, we do NOT squeeze the lymph from your pores, nor any healing wounds. Let’s clear things up with a very simplified explanation.
Your lymphatic system is always working, and always “draining” your body. Think of it as a network of highways that travel to and from every single part of you. It acts as both a delivery route for essentials (such as immune cells), and a waste removal route (wastes include normal byproducts of bodily functions, as well as harmful things that may have entered your body). All along this highway (mainly in the folds of major joints) are waystations (lymph nodes) where loads are inspected, filtered and tagged to continue along their route. And all along this highway, the lymph vessels are picking up more fluid that needs to be filtered and processed.
A manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) massage helps to keep this highway clear, and to keep the waystations operating efficiently. There’s nothing worse than a backlog in a station, causing chaos all the way down the highway. It all has to keep flowing.
What’s the end point? Just where does it GO? Back to the bloodstream via the thoracic duct that leads into your heart. And so the cycle begins again. Blood flows out, delivers water and nutrients to cells, cells create waste, lymph picks it up…on and on.
There are an incredible number of variables that can impact how well your lymphatic system is functioning. How do we know it’s not functioning optimally? We are alive, largely sedentary, and spend far too little time “belly breathing”. Lymph gets pumped along by our muscles moving, our nervous system being in a low-stress state, and our diaphragm being engaged while breathing. It needs US to move it, and if we don’t, then backlogs can occur anywhere, causing symptoms ranging from swelling and bloating, to headaches and brain fog.
A MLD session will not cure you, but it can certainly help kickstart your body back to the path of healing and balance that it strives for. Your session will also give you tips to empower yourself to improve your lymph health, helping you to see better results between visits.
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