Waiora Collective

07/12/2025

🌿 When is Rerouting Lymph Necessary — and How Does It Work?
By Bianca Botha, CLT, RLD, MLDT, CDS

✨ Introduction
The lymphatic system is designed with extraordinary precision. Under normal circumstances, lymph fluid drains through established vessels and watersheds (natural dividing lines in the body). But sometimes, after surgery, trauma, or chronic inflammation, these normal routes become blocked or overloaded. That’s when therapists use a technique called lymph rerouting.
This article explains when rerouting lymph becomes necessary, how it works, and why it is such a vital tool for recovery and long-term health.

🔎 What Does Rerouting Mean?
Rerouting lymph means gently guiding lymph fluid away from blocked or damaged areas into healthy, functioning drainage pathways.
* Think of it like a road detour: if the main highway is closed, traffic must be redirected along side streets to reach its destination.
* In the body, this involves working across lymphatic watersheds to open alternative pathways, ensuring fluid can still return to the venous system.

🩺 When is Rerouting Necessary?
1. Post-Surgery
* Procedures like mastectomy, abdominoplasty, liposuction, or lymph node removal disrupt lymph vessels.
* Fluid builds up in the surgical area, causing swelling, tightness, and sometimes fibrosis.
* Rerouting ensures drainage continues even when original vessels are cut.
2. Lymphedema
* In primary or secondary lymphedema, lymph nodes or vessels are damaged.
* Fluid stagnates in the limb or trunk.
* Rerouting bypasses blocked regions, directing lymph into healthy areas.
3. Post-Trauma or Infection
* Injuries and infections create scar tissue that compresses lymphatic vessels.
* Chronic inflammation can also overload nodes.
* Rerouting allows detox and immune defense to continue.
4. Chronic Inflammation & Autoimmunity
* In conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, inflammation can cause regional lymphatic overload.
* Redirecting flow lightens the burden and reduces swelling, pain, and fatigue.

🌊 How Does Rerouting Work?
Step 1: Open Central Pathways
* Begin at the venous angles (where lymph enters circulation) and the thoracic duct, creating a “negative pressure” pull.
Step 2: Clear Healthy Basins
* Stimulate nearby healthy lymph nodes (axillary, inguinal, cervical) so they are ready to receive extra fluid.
Step 3: Cross the Watersheds
* Using specific techniques, therapists guide fluid across natural boundaries (e.g., axillo-inguinal anastomosis).
* Example: if axillary nodes are damaged, fluid can be rerouted toward inguinal nodes in the groin.
Step 4: Drain the Congested Region
* Finally, the affected area is drained gently into the newly prepared healthy pathways.

🌸 Why Rerouting is Effective
* Prevents swelling complications: reduces risk of fibrosis, seromas, or infections.
* Supports healing: better oxygenation and nutrient delivery to tissues.
* Improves comfort & mobility: decreases tightness, heaviness, and pain.
* Boosts detox: ensures waste and toxins continue to leave the body.

✅ Conclusion
Rerouting lymph is not needed for everyone — but in cases where normal drainage is blocked, cut, or overloaded, it becomes one of the most powerful tools for recovery and long-term health. By creating new pathways, lymphatic therapy ensures your body’s waste highway remains open, supporting healing from surgery, trauma, inflammation, or autoimmune conditions.
When guided by a skilled therapist, rerouting is gentle, safe, and deeply restorative.

📌 This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before beginning any therapy.

30/11/2025

14/11/2025

While they can be seen as a luxury, massages are often part of healthcare – here’s how they affect physical and mental health

11/11/2025

🌊 Swimming & The Lymphatic System

A Perfect Match for Gentle Detox, Circulation & Flow

Swimming isn’t just a form of exercise — it’s a lymphatic therapy in motion. Each stroke, breath, and movement creates a rhythmic pump that stimulates the body’s lymph vessels, clears out toxins, and restores balance to your fluid and immune systems.

The lymphatic system relies on movement, breath, and pressure changes to circulate lymph fluid — and swimming naturally provides all three.

💪 FULL-BODY MOVEMENT

Every stroke activates multiple muscle groups at once, encouraging a full-body contraction and relaxation rhythm. These muscle pumps act like natural lymph movers, gently squeezing lymph vessels and guiding fluid back toward the heart.

This rhythmic motion supports drainage from the legs, arms, and torso — especially beneficial for anyone experiencing lymphoedema, fluid retention, or post-inflammatory swelling.

🌬️ DEEP BREATHING

Swimming encourages deep diaphragmatic breathing. Each breath expands the thoracic cavity, lowering internal pressure and creating a natural suction effect that draws lymph upward through the main lymphatic ducts.

This connection between the lungs, diaphragm, and thoracic duct is one of the most powerful tools for natural lymph drainage.

💧 HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE

When your body is submerged in water, the surrounding water pressure provides gentle, even compression — similar to wearing a perfectly fitted compression garment.

This hydrostatic pressure helps:
• Reduce fluid pooling in the legs
• Encourage upward lymph flow
• Relieve tension from swollen or congested areas

It’s one of the reasons people feel lighter and refreshed after a swim — the lymph system is literally being “massaged” by the water itself.

❤️ ENHANCED CIRCULATION

Swimming boosts oxygen and nutrient delivery to tissues while simultaneously enhancing venous and lymphatic return. Better blood flow means better detox capacity — your cells receive nourishment while metabolic waste is carried away through the lymphatic network.

This makes swimming not just great for the lymphatics, but also for joint health, the cardiovascular system, and stress relief.

🚫 A NOTE ON POOLS AND CHEMICALS

While swimming is deeply therapeutic, it’s important to be mindful of where you swim.

Many pools contain chlorine, bromine, or other disinfectant chemicals that can irritate the skin and disrupt the microbiome — both of which are closely connected to lymphatic and immune health.

🔹 Chlorine exposure can:
• Dry and inflame the skin, affecting superficial lymph capillaries.
• Interfere with beneficial skin bacteria that assist in detox and immunity.
• Increase oxidative stress, especially in those with chemical sensitivities or autoimmune tendencies.

Whenever possible, choose saltwater pools, ozonated pools, or natural freshwater environments where chemical exposure is minimal. If you do use a chlorinated pool, rinse thoroughly afterward and moisturize with clean, natural oils (like jojoba or coconut) to support the skin barrier.

🌿 THE LYMPH-LOVING BENEFITS OF SWIMMING

✔️ Activates muscle contractions that move lymph fluid
✔️ Encourages deep breathing for thoracic drainage
✔️ Enhances blood and oxygen flow
✔️ Provides gentle compression through water pressure
✔️ Reduces joint strain and inflammation
✔️ Calms the nervous system and lowers stress hormones

🌸 FINAL THOUGHT

Swimming is one of the most holistic exercises for lymphatic and circulatory health — it unites movement, breath, and water’s natural healing power. When practiced in clean, low-chemical water and balanced with hydration, swimming becomes both therapy and meditation in motion.

Let the water hold you, move with you, and remind your lymphatic system how to flow freely again. 💙

✍️ Written by Bianca Botha CLT, RLD, MLDT & CDS
Lymphatica – Lymphatic Therapy & Body Detox Facility

Disclaimer:
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your exercise, detox, or wellness routine.

10/11/2025

Lymph & Your Ears 👂 🌿

What’s All the Buzz About?

Hey there, Lymphies!
Did you know your ears have their very own lymphatic traffic jam—or flow, rather? Yep, your ears aren’t just for hearing gossip and good music—they’re also hubs for immune defense, drainage, and detox!

Let’s take a journey around your ears and explore how the lymphatic system keeps them clear, balanced, and humming along smoothly.

Ears + Lymph = BFFs for Life

Around your ears lives a beautiful network of lymphatic vessels and nodes. These tiny guardians do some BIG things:
• Drain excess fluid from your scalp, face, and neck
• Filter out toxins, bacteria, and viruses
• Balance pressure and inflammation
• Support your immune system during colds, flus, and allergies

The Major Players Behind Your Ears

Let’s name-drop a few VIPs in your ear’s lymphatic crew:

1. Preauricular nodes – Found in front of your ear, they drain the face and outer eye area.
2. Postauricular nodes – Located just behind your ears, they drain your scalp and outer ear.
3. Cervical nodes – These are in your neck and help filter lymph from around the ears, jaw, and throat.

These nodes team up to clear toxins, fight off infections, and maintain healthy fluid flow—especially when you’re dealing with earaches, congestion, or that “popping” feeling.

Ever Had Swollen Ears or Tender Spots Behind Your Ears?

That’s your lymph system working overtime to fight something off!
Maybe you’ve had:
• An ear infection
• A tooth issue
• A sinus cold
• Or even just stress and poor sleep

These things can slow lymph flow and cause swelling or tenderness near those nodes.

Lymphatic Drainage for Ear Health

Let’s get those ears flowing! Here’s how to help:

1. Gentle massage
Use your fingers to do slow, circular movements around and behind the ears. Always massage towards your neck—that’s where the lymph drains!

2. Deep breathing
Helps pump lymph through the thoracic duct and drains the head & neck!

3. Stay hydrated
Lymph needs water to move. No water = sluggish ears!

4. Facial yoga or stretches
Relieves tension and improves lymphatic circulation around the ears and jaw.

Let’s Play! Fun Ear Check-In

Do this quick scan:
• Feel just in front of your ear. Is it tender or puffy?
• Now check behind your ear. Any tightness or swelling?
• Take 3 deep breaths and gently tap around the area. You’re waking up your lymph!

Ear Facts You Didn’t Know You Needed
• There’s lymph fluid inside your inner ear that helps balance your movement—so if you’re dizzy or wobbly, your lymph may need love!
• Tinnitus (ringing) is sometimes related to lymphatic congestion or pressure buildup!
• Your ear canals and sinuses connect, so sinus infections can cause ear pain—and vice versa.

Keep It Flowing, Keep It Glowing

Your ears aren’t just cute—they’re lymph superstars!
So next time you do your lymphatic routine, give your ears a little love. Because when your ears are clear and your nodes are happy, your whole head feels better!

Let’s flow, lymph fam!


This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your health routine.

©️

10/11/2025

l NEW RESEARCH PUBLISHED l

We are delighted to share groundbreaking new research led by Sarah Fogarty, Ronna Moore and Cal Cates — titled “A Qualitative Scoping Review of Massage and Massage Therapy on the Mental Health and Well-being of Individuals Living with a Serious and Potentially Life-limiting Physical Illness.”

This study found compelling evidence that massage therapy—delivered by trained professionals—can provide profound benefits beyond the body:

🟢It supports mental health and emotional well-being when facing serious illness.
🟢It helps preserve dignity, fosters inner strength, and offers spaces of respite in times of vulnerability.
🟢It is increasingly recognised as an essential component of integrated care for people living with life-limiting conditions.

At OMT Ltd, we’re honoured to be connected to this research through our team and to support training that meets the highest standards of safety, compassion and evidence-based practice. This work underlines why specialised oncology massage training matters — both for therapists and the clients they serve.

Read the full research here - https://bit.ly/ResearchQualitativeScopingReview

Want to learn more about how you can train? Visit our website or email us info@oncologymassagetraining.com.au

08/11/2025

07/11/2025

Thank you to one of our clients who allowed us to talk about her lipoedema progression over the last five years, and how stress and viruses can have such an impact.

But also how we utilised Flowpresso as part of our treatment plan, and ultimately progressing to compression garments.

Improving patient’s lives through education and awareness about lymphoedema.

06/11/2025

02/11/2025

💚🧡🤍

01/11/2025

Josy and Bernie are at the Kapiti Women's Expo at Southwards car Museum today.

Come and visit us if you're in the neighbourhood.