What Is Lymphatic Massage?
First, let’s look at the Lymphatic System and what it does to better understand how the massage works. The Lymphatic System is the system of tissues, vessels and organs that work in conjunction to maintain fluid levels in our body, support immune function, and keep blood circulating. The system carries lymph, a clear fluid that contains proteins, waste fat cells and metabolized cells through the body which is filtered through the lymph nodes. Waste is removed from the body as clean lymph circulates back through. When the lymphatic system isn’t moving lymph through the body properly, excess fluid in the body builds up, causing edema and creating a puffy, uncomfortable look and feel.
Lymphatic drainage massage was developed to treat lymphedema, a condition of accumulated fluid within the body that often develops after removing lymph nodes. A trained massage therapist can manually massage the body in a way to push lymph through the body, breaking up areas of swelling and reducing excess fluid in the body.