One of the many types of massage therapy you can opt for is something called “lymphatic drainage” massage. What is this, really? And does it work?
Your Lymphatic System
Your lymphatic system moves a colorless fluid through a special network of tissues, lymph nodes, and vessels throughout your body. Your lymphatic system serves many purposes, including assisting your immune system in transporting white blood cells to where they need to go. It helps clear waste products out of tissues and organs, helps balance fluid levels in the body, and transports fats and proteins digested in your intestines back to the bloodstream.
Why Would I Need a Lymphatic Drainage Massage?
The theory is that often lymph nodes and vessels can be blocked, either by inflammation, various infections, tumors, or poor lymphatic circulation. When this happens, lymphatic fluid can collect, pool or stagnate in various areas of the body. When swelling occurs due to a blockage in the lymphatic system, the condition is known as lymphedema.
Massage therapists use specific types of massage techniques to help move the lymphatic fluid and stimulate lymphatic circulation. It can relieve some forms of swelling caused by excess fluids after surgery, injury, or illness.
It is often used to reduce pain and swelling caused by excess fluid after breast cancer surgery. Lymphatic drainage massage is also proven effective for reducing pain and stiffness for those suffering from fibromyalgia.
However, what research does show is that results in medical applications, such as reducing swelling after surgery, only last for about 6 hours or so after treatment.
Lymphatic Drainage for Cosmetic Treatment
Many say that lymphatic drainage improves their appearance by enhancing their skin tone, decreasing puffiness, or helping them lose weight. Unfortunately, there is little research to back up the solid effects of lymphatic drainage on skin health or appearance, or on weight loss.
However, like other massages, lymphatic drainage can increase circulation, help you relax and reduce stress, and in those ways, might help you feel and look better!
Lymphatic Drainage for Skin Health
Lymphatic drainage massage is now offered in many skin care clinics as a possible way to help treat eczema, TSW, psoriasis, and acne. The thought is that mobilizing better circulation of lymph fluid may reduce the toxins that make their way to the skin, as well as stimulate and balance the distribution of your immune cells.
Whether or not lymphatic drainage massage works to reduce symptoms or prevent flareups in chronic skin conditions is not backed by research, but there are anecdotal stories that it helps some people.
If your skin can tolerate massage, has no open lesions, and such massage is not painful to you, it might be worth a try. It most likely will do no harm. It’s important, however, to simultaneously work with a health professional such as a TCM dermatologist, to get to the root cause of your skin condition for lasting results.
Contraindications
Unfortunately, there is very little research done on the effectiveness of lymphatic drainage massage for most specific health conditions. Lymphatic drainage massage is contraindicated when there is also cellulitis, radiation dermatitis, venous thrombosis, and directly over cancerous tissue. While effective at reducing mild cases of lymphedema, it is less effective in chronic cases of lymphedema. It can only work if the lymph vessels themselves are undamaged and in working condition.
Conclusion
Massage therapies, like other natural therapies, are just now being thoroughly studied for their effects on specific health conditions. Unless you have a condition that contraindicates lymphatic drainage massage, there is no harm in trying it and seeing how you look and feel afterward. Just know that it may not be the magic bullet it is claimed to be in massage advertisements, and its effects are temporary. Be sure to seek out other medical treatment that gets to the root cause of your condition, in addition to massage therapies.
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About the Author
Olivia Hsu Friedman, LAc, Dipl.OM, DACM, Cert. TCMDerm, is the owner of Amethyst Holistic Skin Solutions and treats Acne, Eczema, Psoriasis, and TSW. Olivia treats patients via video conferencing using only herbal medicine. Olivia is Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Acupuncturists, serves on the Advisory Board of LearnSkin, and is a faculty member of the Chicago Integrative Eczema Group sponsored by the National Eczema Association.