Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) Massage

Firstly, before I go into the ins and outs of MLD Massage I will explain a little bit about your lymphatic system and its functions.

You should be familiar with the circulatory system, the system that takes your blood around your body transporting oxygen and other nutrients to ensure we are healthy and our bodies can grow.

What is lymph and the lymphatic system?

The lymphatic system works closely with the circulatory system as part of our immune defence system to prevent infections and disease.

(Often shown as green on any medical images, although it definitely isn’t green).

Unlike the circulatory system it doesn’t have a pump (the heart for circulation) and it only travels in one direction – it relies on the circulatory system, muscular contractions and external forces to move the lymph around the body.

Lymph – from the Latin ‘lympha’ meaning water is the interstitial fluid found between the cells (only lymph when in the lymphatic system otherwise it is interstitial fluid). It is a straw, milky coloured fluid that contains water, lymphocytes, nutrients, salts, hormones, urea and other components.

Can you remember when you grazed your knee? Remember the blood, the dirt and grit and the agony when your mum got a wet paper towel and tried to dab and scrub it clean – once that was over and the blood had stopped can you recall that it still kept weeping with a straw coloured liquid. Now you know what that was!

Another example – that bruise on your leg – it goes from black and blue through various stages of colour, maybe a bit of purple and yellow before eventually fading – well it is the lymphatic system that is helping remove those dead cells from the trauma site.

So the lymphatic system is draining and filtering fluid removing dirt and pathogens to prevent infections and disease.

It is helping with fluid balance (swelling after a twisted ankle), removal of waste, fat absorption and helping defend against those nasty germs to name but a few of its roles.

It is a very valuable system within the body and lymphatic draining massage can help improve its function and there are numerous benefits.

I am not going to go into any more detail but the system is  made up of lymph vessels, lymph nodes and lymph ducts as well as working with the thymus, tonsils, spleen, bone marrow, appendix and other organs within the body as well as having a hand in some way with pretty much every other system from the circulatory right through to the reproductive system and everything in between. (Just ask when you see me and I will happily explain further).

What is MLD Massage?

It is a very specific gentle massage that encourages the circulation of lymph through the body. Under normal conditions lymph is travelling around 3 ml per hour, with the aid of MLD we can increase that 10 fold to around 30 ml per hour.

75% of lymph lies just below the skin so pressure and direction of the technique is very important and it is not recommended to be carried out during the same treatment as any deep tissue work.

Although it is a very light massage it is not recommended to have full body treatments done in one sitting as it can have a very exhaustive effect on the body, so we would focus on specific areas depending on what we are using the technique for.

Benefits and Conditions MLD can treat

Some of the benefits (not an exhaustive list)

• Reduce oedema (build up of fluid)
• Stimulate the immune system
• Scars, Stretch Marks, wrinkles, incision site reduction
• Remove blockages
• Reduce chronic pain
• Helps clear cellulite
• Encourage fat to evacuate through lymphatic vessels

I was intending on putting a screenshot from a presentation given about the conditions MLD can help with but to fit it on the picture I had to stand too far away, so I have listed just a few …..(I have also been advised that is very good as a treatment prior to any beauty work)

Systemic/Chronic Conditions

Lymphoedema / Fibromyalgia / Multiple Sclerosis / Hay Fever / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myelgic encephalomyelitis / Rheumatic conditions / Haematomas / Lactic Acid removal / Bruising……..

Facial and Head Pathologies

Headaches / Migraines / Sinusitis / Dental Work / Dry eyes / Earache / Facial palsy / Neuralgia / Eczema……

Upper and Lower Body Pathologies

Swelling / Whiplash / Golfers Elbow / Carpal Tunnel / Dislocations / Swollen Knees / Arthritis / IBS / Colitis / Constipation……

NB: Everyone will react different to the treatment but there have been lots of positive outcomes to numerous conditions and we are still learning about what else this technique can successfully work on.

Now I have given a very basic overview of the lymphatic system and what a manual lymphatic drainage massage can do but I am always happy to answer any questions you may have on the subject.

However, you will be pleased to know that this is the reason I had limited availability over half term as I was getting fully trained in this and can now offer it as a treatment.

If you think it may benefit you (and chances are it will as it is an excellent treatment for a massive range of conditions) message me and we can arrange to get you booked in.

Thanks for reading and I am looking forward to rolling this treatment out to a lot more clients.

Paul

Thanks to AHG for the training and I have borrowed a couple of the images used.