Why is lymphatic drainage important?
Lymphatic drainage is important because your lymph is your body’s biggest “detox system”. Detox is something we need to urgently support when we are on a healing journey. When your body is at a stage of crisis, often our toxins get stored away until our bodies have the nutrients and energy to excrete them.
Benefits of lymph drainage
It can improve your immune system
Reduces stress, anxiety and fatigue
Helps with breastfeeding
Reduces inflammation
Improves reproductive health
Promotes unblemished and glowing skin
Helps with migraines and chronic pain
What is the lymph system and where is it located?
The lymph system produces, stores, and carries white blood cells that fight infection and other diseases. It is composed of the lymph vessels and lymph nodes. The other parts of this system are bone marrow, the spleen, and the thymus. The lymph vessels are located right under your skin and connect via the lymph nodes. Have you had swollen lymph nodes before? That’s your lymph system fighting infection! But there is more, your lymph system ties into all the tissues of your body just like your blood vessels. This is how nutrients and toxins get to and from your cells.
Basically, your lymph system is a mini highway system that speeds away and takes care of a lot of functions behind the scene. It’s the secondary circulatory system, the first is our cardiovascular system.
The Lymph System
Signs to look out for during lymphatic CONGESTION
Edema
Skin problems like psoriasis, acne, eczema
Weight gain at random areas causing little fat deposits
Swelling
Lowered immune function
Chronic infection
Chronic inflammation – pain in tissues and joints
Reduced detoxification – toxin accumulation
Earaches, vision problems and nasal congestion
High histamine levels causing difficulty breathing, swallowing, or even talking
What leads to lymphatic congestion?
Your body is working hard to remove harmful toxins and substances from your body every day. Even beneficial substances like hormones need to be detoxed daily as they cannot be recycled. For example, when estrogen is not getting detoxed, it will build up and cause estrogen dominance. Your body produces toxins just by digesting and breathing. It is a natural cycle, part of being alive. Essential and non essential things constantly come in and out of your body. They go out via the urine, stool, skin, hair, nails, lymph and sweat.
But in our environment, a lot of other exogenous toxins are lurking around. Substances like:
Xenoestrogens (estrogen mimicking plastics)
Heavy metals from industrialization
Black mold that grows in paper homes
Organic pollutants such as BPA (bisphenol also used to make plastic)
Pesticides and phthalates (chemical used to make plastic durable)
All these things tend to be a bit too much for our ancient biology especially when we do not nourish ourselves properly. Other detox organs like the liver and kidney slow down when they don’t have the resources they need. All this junk clogs up the lymph which leads to lymphatic congestion.
Why your lymphatic drainage is important.
When the lymph system is clogged by all the things mentioned above, the immune system, part of your lymph system, can’t get to the places it needs to get to. If this happens, it won’t be able to fight:
Bacteria
Viruses
Fungus
Candida
Other pathogens
All these things lead to immunosuppression and making you more vulnerable to infections and chronic illness.
What to look out for when clearing lymphatic congestion?
Most tools only work on the superficial lymphatic system. But it is very important to work on the deep lymphatic system since the superficial lymphatic system dumps into the deeper one.
The deeper system then dumps into the colon and liver so that your toxins leave the body bound to bile by the liver, and out the body via your colon and stool. So, all these systems need to work effectively otherwise toxins back up inside the lymph system and stay stuck, causing lymphatic congestion. That is why nutrition is so important. Your liver won’t work properly on a low carbohydrate or vegan diet lacking vital nutrients and macro nutrients. Your metabolism needs to be fast in order to eliminate properly. Your thyroid needs to be dialed into functional ranges so that your digestions works smooth.
My favorite tool to clear lymphatic congestion is an ionic foot bath. The Ionic foot bath reaches to the deep lymphatic system.
How does the ionic foot bath work?
The ionic foot bath generates negatively charged ions that get sent into your feet via 200 sweat glands located in your soles. Negatively charged ions bind to positively charged ions. Most all toxins have a positive charge.
Do you feel better after a vacation at the ocean? Oceans create lots of negative charged ions and they help you charge up your body and detox.
The foot bath stimulates your lymphatic tissues and inner organs to release all the junk I mentioned above. Your feet then dump the toxins into the water. Additionally, negatively charged ions also stimulate an internal whole-body detox which can be observed via lab testing for up to 3 days after the footbath session. This process is very gentle and noninvasive.
A lot of folks get results after just 1-5 sessions. I get reports of feeling lightness, more energy, less inflammation, better sleep, better blood sugar levels, etc.
My favorite ionic foot bath is made by the platinum energy system based in Canada. Use coupon "Wellness23" to safe $150 on your Footbath order. They offer wonderful research material on their webpage as well as a large folder that comes with your order, and the machine is affordable and safe to use on you and your family. Unfortunately, there are many different knock off machines that are inefficient and can produce harmful amounts of electricity in the water, and even shock you. Platinum energy system is grounded and will not harm you.
Another excellent tool for a congested lymph system is the rebounder.
Rebounders are mini trampolines. They are highly effective in activating your lymph. NASA has performed a lot of studies on them to detox astronauts after having been in space and accumulating too much radiation.
Infrared saunas are another effective lymph moving tool.
Since the lymph system runs right under the skin, red light stimulates the lymph to expel toxins via sweat. Saunaing also targets subdermal fat cells with infrared light, which can be hard to be reached otherwise. There are lot of different saunas. The Sauna system by CreatrixSolutions is a good starting point, and features non toxic sauna material, EMF (electro magnetic frequency), and correct infrared wavelength.
Of course, the lymphatic system depends on other things to help it drain like movement, deep breathing, diet, and herbs. Daily walks in nature is a must to nourish body and soul. Making some time in the day to perform conscious breathing can have a tremendous positive affect on your body. And a pro-metabolic diet will provide the nourishment needed to eliminate toxins effectively.
Other tools to consider:
Homeopathy. Homeopathic remedies aim to stimulate the body's own healing mechanisms.
Lymphatic drainage massages can have great benefits, especially around the face/head/neck area that is hard to reach with other tools. Trained practitioners go along the lymph system and use specific techniques to pump / activate the lymph. This is different than deep tissue massage or Swedish massage. Those address the tissue and not the lymph. You can also try self-massage. Here are some great videos.
Skin brushing is another option which can be done from your own home. Since the lymph system is directly under your skin, gentle brushing stimulates it. For this you use a very soft brush and stroke your skin in a specific way. Look up some videos to do it correctly. A lot of folks use essential oil while doing this, but I advise you that essential oils are volatile organic compounds and are toxic themselves.
Finally, Cupping is an effective lymph moving tool that is often offered by masseuses and acupuncturists. Small cups are pressed to the skin under the influence of heat to create a vacuum. The suction from the vacuum pulls fluid to the surface, stimulating the lymph and can be a useful healing experience.
Get your lymph moving to feel light, happy, alive, and full of energy. Reach out if you don’t know where to start on your healing journey and let me guide you along the path.
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