Self-Care Tip #3 – Lymphatic Drainage

Until You Can Get a Massage…
Self-Care Tip #3 – Stimulate Your Lymphatic System

There are so many healthy side effects of getting a massage – from pain management and stress reduction to hormone and digestion regulation to increased circulation and improved sleep. Today I want to talk about lymphatic drainage – one of the many important benefits of massage – and how you can stimulate your lymphatic system yourself until you can get a massage!

Tip #3 – Stimulate Your Lymphatic System

What is Your Lymphatic System?

Your lymphatic system is a complex system of tissues, organs and glands that help to filter waste and toxins from your body. There is lymph fluid in all of your muscles, tissues, and all the spaces in between. It is integral to your immune system and keeping you healthy, and fighting off illness and infections. Lymph fluid brings white blood cells to your tissues and collects dead cells, bacteria, viruses and other toxins. As the fluid passes through the lymph nodes, which are found throughout the body, but are mainly found in the neck, armpit, and groin, the lymph nodes filter out the bad stuff and flush it from your system.

While doing some research on lymphatic drainage, I started geeking out a little too hard. I’ve always been an anatomy and physiology nerd and the lymphatic system is so interesting and way more complex than I could really get into in a blog article. Here are a couple links to follow if you want to learn more in-depth information:

Merck Manual – Overview of the Lymphatic System
Good Ol’ Wikipedia – Lymphatic System

Lymph fluid doesn’t have a pump (like blood has the heart) to move it through your body, so it relies on many simple techniques to move the fluid and flush it through your system.  Massage aids in general circulation, and it also helps to move lymphatic fluid through your body. Right now you can’t get a professional massage to stimulate your lymphatic system, but fortunately there are lots of ways to do it on your own!

Move your body – You’re more likely to get stagnant lymph fluid in your body if you lead a sedentary lifestyle or work at a desk and/or computer for most of the day. Moving your body is the simplest and easiest way to get your lymph fluid flowing. This can be walking, running, yoga, pilates, strength training, dance, swimming – basically anything besides standing or sitting still.

If it feels hard to move your body during the stay-at-home orders, especially if you’re used to exercising in a gym, always remember there are a ton of online classes you can take advantage of – check out my blog from last week on moving your body for those resources

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Self-massage – there are many ways to give yourself a lymphatic drainage massage – I have found some videos (links below) that give you great visuals for how to do this. If you have any medical conditions that affect your lymph nodes or heart, such as cancer, congestive heart failure, etc. please consult your doctor before you do any lymphatic drainage techniques on yourself.

In addition to these videos, I have some general tips:
* Use very gentle pressure – lymphatic fluid doesn’t need very much pressure to be stimulated. You want your pressure to be about the weight of a nickel.
* Always stimulate the closest lymph nodes before doing longer flushing strokes. Stimulate the lymph nodes in your neck before flushing your face, the lymph nodes in your armpits before flushing your arms, and the lymph nodes in your groin before flushing your legs
* On your arms and legs, always massage towards the heart

Here are some videos I like that show you how to perform self-lymphatic drainage:
Dr. Alan Mandell
Massage by Heather
Heart Alchemy Yoga
New Dimensions Physical Therapy

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Breast massage – As I mentioned before lymph fluid is pumped through your body with muscle movement. For those of us with breast tissue, we don’t have muscle in our breasts to move the fluid so lymphatic fluid can tend to settle in our breasts and become stagnant, which means our breasts don’t always get the toxin flush they need. This is especially true for those of us that wear underwires in our bra, which restricts lymph flow even more.

To help move lymph fluid through our breasts I recommend daily self-massage. I love this video for more info and instructions:
Breast Self-Massage by Breast Remedy Seattle

If you want even more information on breast massage, Breast Remedy Seattle has a few other great videos on their YouTube channel.

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Dry-brushing entails using a natural bristle round brush to gently brush dry skin towards the heart to aid in circulation and lymphatic drainage.

Check out this video by TheMoments for more info and a demonstration of dry brushing before a shower. Stop watching around 7:15 to avoid some product reviews (unless you care about shampoo and lotion she uses.)

Click here for some examples of dry brushes you can purchase if you don’t already have one.

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Drink lots of water – the more water you drink and the more hydrated you are, the more you eliminate the crud that your lymph fluid is collecting from your cells and tissues through urinating.

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Diaphragmatic breathing – another of the simple ways we help lymph fluid flow through our bodies. A great explanation of this can be found in this article.

Additionally, the diaphragm and the pelvic floor have a symbiotic movement when you breathe deeply: as you inhale your diaphragm flattens (expanding your rib cage) and your pelvic floor lowers; as you exhale your diaphragm returns to its dome-shape and the pelvic floor rises.  This movement “massages” all of your organs, which encourages blood and lymph flow through your abdominal cavity.

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Hydrotherapy – taking contrast baths or showers helps to move lymphatic fluid because lymph vessels contract when exposed to cold and dilate when exposed to heat. This action acts as a pump for the fluid. This can be accomplished by taking a shower with very hot water then turning it to cold then back to hot, and alternating the temperature a few times.

Contrast baths are easier with just a body part instead of the whole body, unless you have two bathtubs side by side, which can sometimes be found in a spa or sports rehab facility. If you have fluid retention in your legs, for example, you can have two buckets of water – one with hot water and one with ice water; you immerse your legs in one bucket and then the other, alternating a few times.

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Bounce on a yoga ball – the gentle movement of bouncing on a yoga ball can help your lymph fluid to flow – here is a video with more info and a demonstration.

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Loose fitting undergarments – Our undergarments are likely to cut off lymph flow if they are too tight. They wrap around our two major areas for lymph nodes – the armpit and the groin. By keeping our undergarments loose, and avoiding underwires in bras, we are letting all the good lymph fluid flow throughout the day.

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While our bodies’ lymphatic system is a complex network of organs, glands and tissues, it’s really the simplest activities that keep it moving – moving your body, breathing, drinking water. And when you need a little extra help, self-massage and contrast baths are very effective in keeping our immune system strong and healthy!

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If your interest in lymphatic drainage was piqued by this article, please watch the video below! I am chatting with Emily Kamala of Conscious Living, LLC and we get more into depth regarding lymphatic drainage and cranial sacral therapy – enjoy!