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10 Key Tips to Help You Achieve Optimal Lymphatic Flow
Demystifying the Lymphatic System
I see it everyday, the effects of a compromised immune system and sluggish lymph system. Most of us don’t really understand the impact a few simple steps can have on improving your skin and stimulating your other organs to run at optimal capacity.
Women ask me everyday, how do I get my skin to look like yours? Or they’ll list off all the complaints about their skin, and then ask what to do to fix them.
The simple answer of course begins with good skin care; it really is the cornerstone to how your skin can look and feel everyday. The more complex answer however is to look beneath the surface and determine if deeper work needs to happen within the lymphatic system.
Think of the lymphatic system as a highway, which connects to a larger highway, your circulatory system. Together, these roadways help keep your body functioning by transporting oxygen, water, nutrients, and removing toxins and other pathogens out via the liver, kidneys, and digestive system.
Let’s jump right in and discuss 10 key tips to help you achieve optimal lymphatic flow:
- Hydration
- Exercise
- Massage
- MLD & Lymphatic Drainage Facial
- Hot/Cold Therapy
- Yoga & Deep Breathing
- Dry Brushing
- Beneficial Foods & Supplements
- Infrared Sauna
- Inversion
Hydration
I know we all know that we should drink lots of water everyday, and the ratio is pretty simple; 3.7 litres for men, and 2.7 litres for women. Half your body weight divided by eight will also tell you how many 8 ounce glasses of water per day. Drinking lemon water in the morning has added detoxification benefits as well.
Now, this is just to replace what you naturally lose everyday through regular activity, and it’s important to keep in mind our skin only receives 4% of the water we drink, while losing 17% each day. You can do the math – it’s impossible to hydrate our skin simply by drinking water.
So what do we do? How do we achieve glorious, hydrated skin?
Simple…. by product, and bouncing. Yes, I said bouncing. Let me explain.
Exercise
Exercise is critical for the lymph system, because while our circulatory system has a pump (our heart), the lymph system relies on our muscles to contract and relax, thus moving fluids through the tissues and into the bloodstream. Water is an integral part of these to allow that beautiful flow of fluids into the bloodstream. This process also transports oxygen and releases toxins. While all exercise is beneficial, jumping on a mini trampoline (also known as rebounding) is one of the best ways to get that flow and lymph moving.
Think about it, when you bounce down and start to rise, the lymph fluid is forced downwards. Likewise when you reach the crest of your jump and start to fall back down, lymph is then forced upwards! This action more than triples the force you can achieve without the bouncing (running, jogging, any lateral activity). So get out there, get a rebounder, dance, jump, skip, do anything that sends you into the air and back down again. Plus, it’s really fun and brings out your inner child, which in turn decreases cortisol and boosts your beta-endorphins!
Massage
Massage therapy is well known for its therapeutic benefits of muscle relaxation and circulatory flow. Both of these have an incredibly beneficial impact on the lymphatic system as well. Pressure along your muscles helps the system send toxins, fluids and fats to organs so they can be filtered and removed from the body. This technique is different from Manual Lymphatic Drainage.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage & Lymphatic Drainage Facial
The lymph system runs just beneath the surface of the skin. This is the main difference between regular therapeutic massage and MLD. When you press too deeply, you by-pass the lymph system.
MLD requires very light level two touch, incorporating gentle kneading, pressing and general direction of lymphatic flow. Where traditional massage presses on the muscles, gentle MLD promotes flow by pulling skin, using gentle circles, redirecting flow when needed, and using a proximal to distal approach to allow sluggish lymph fluid to drain to the lymph nodes. When limbs are affected and swollen, the process takes time and care in order to improve the flow of the impacted limb.
With the face, the improvement in puffiness around the eyes, jaw and cheeks is immediate! You can reveal cheekbones in a matter of minutes by working the fluid from the face and down towards the lymph nodes in the neck. This is one of the reasons why Facial Sculpting and Buccal Massage is gaining such popularity.
*Please see below for contraindications to MLD.
Hot/Cold Therapy
We combine the change of temperature within several facial treatments at Yellow Door Studio for the very reason of it being so beneficial for reducing inflammation with cold and increasing circulatory flow with heat. We use chilled ice spoons to gently massage the face in our Hydra Series of Facials, as well as our Facial Sculpting and Buccal Massage Facial.
Yoga & Deep Breathing
As I’ve reached my 40s and 50s, I truly see the appeal of Yoga. Not to say that Yoga isn’t hugely popular for people in their 20-40’s, I believe Yoga is beneficial for everyone! It brings you into a state of stillness and self awareness which is wonderful. However, as my body starts to feel the effects of stiffer muscles and limbs, I find I experience great joy while easing my body into the stretches and poses in Yoga. The peace and expansion I feel at the end of a session is really phenomenal.
The assistance with our lymph system is felt in several ways; the beautiful diaphragmatic breathing you incorporate into the practice helps you relax, which alleviates stress, which reduces cortisol, a stress hormone. When your body is pumping high levels of cortisol, it sends us into fight or flight mode, and that causes the important processing of our bodies to come to a halt, blocking the lymphatic system which in turn stops the immune system from functioning effectively. The trickle effect of these stress hormones has a dire impact on our bodies. Left unchecked, the result is illness, skin disorders, auto-immune reactions, and possible long term detrimental effects of cancer. It is the belief in the holistic field that all cancers begin from stress, but that’s another blog topic.
Another way Yoga benefits our lymph system is from the inverted positions (downward dog, child’s pose, cat and cow pose, etc.). The bending and twisting of the positions squeezes the lymph system, which pushes the fluid along and towards the lymph nodes and out into the circulatory system.
Dry Brushing
I have incorporated dry brushing into my daily routine for decades. One because I have psoriasis and I find it helps keep my skin fresh and free of the constant sloughing off it is prone to do, but also for the circulatory benefits. It’s a great way to stimulate the lymphatic system because your pressure is at the perfect level, not hard or deep. You will want to brush towards your heart, in short circular motions. Start at your ankles and work your way up, travelling along your calves, thighs, hips and stomach into your torso.
For each arm, start at your hand and again towards your heart. I avoid my face and start at my jaw and brush gently downwards, into the décolleté and towards the heart. You can use a longer handle that fits into the back of the brush to reach down your back. Here you can divert from working towards the heart and simply run down the length of the spine. This aids the flow of your spinal fluid along your vertebrae.
Beneficial Foods & Supplements
There is a direct connection to diet and gut health, and the health of the rest of your body. We all know it’s best to eat whole foods, staying away from processed foods. Shopping the perimeter of your grocery store is a good way to follow this rule. You should also be mindful of preservatives in food, paying attention to the labels on anything packaged or boxed.
Anti-inflammatory foods help target inflammation that makes it hard for our bodies to eliminate toxins. Foods like seaweed, leafy greens, nut proteins and citrus are beneficial in reducing inflammation. Spices like cumin, turmeric and garlic are also helpful in promoting a healthy lymphatic system. Eliminating refined and processed sugar is a huge part of our gut health.
A key factor as well are prebiotics and probiotics. Improving gut health via these supplements helps not only with our immune system, but with achieving healthy weight, reducing cravings for sugars and carbs, improving skin issues and increasing energy. Probiotics even improve our body’s natural production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, thus naturally improving our sleep cycle.
Here’s the key though: both should be taken together in order for the best gut health benefit. Probiotics create healthy bacteria, and the prebiotics are what the bacteria eat. The more fuel you give your bacteria, the more beneficial to your gut health. It’s like having a car with no gas; you have to add fuel to make the car run.
Infrared Sauna
If you’ve ever sat in a sauna for any amount of time you’ll remember how quickly you start to perspire. I am a fan of saunas for the heat, circulatory and detoxing effects, so let’s discuss what is different when you add infrared into the mix.
With the addition of the infrared wavelength, you are exposed to the health benefits without the risk of radiation from the sun. The light waves penetrate deep into the skin, making it easier for the cells to regenerate and communicate with each other. This increases the release of toxins from your organs (including your skin), with the added benefit of sweating from the heat which boosts the toxin release effect. You can quite literally watch your pores release as you relax against the cedar planks. Remember, releasing toxins is what the lymphatic system does, so any help you can give it is appreciated.
Additional benefits are increased metabolism, reduction of pain and inflammation, as well as skin management for certain conditions. For me this is a game changer for my psoriasis.
Keep in mind, you must replace the liquids you’re losing, so take water in with you and keep drinking! I also prefer a wet heat as opposed to dry heat in the sauna.
Inversion
This is the final tip for improving your lymphatic flow. Similar to the rebounder, we are forcing the flow to go in a direction, and in this case, it’s away from our feet and towards our heart and head.
With inversion, you are strapped to a padded table and turned upside down. Whenever we are upside down, our circulatory and lymphatic systems are stimulated. Gravity brings blood and oxygen to the tissues while pushing out toxins. Those toxins move through the lymph system, and are transported out of the body.
Using an inversion table also benefits the joints and spine by elongating the vertebrae and taking pressure off the base of the spine and giving our joints a break. It is a wonderful feeling of weightlessness, as well as all that blood and oxygen being sent to our brain gives our neurology a much needed kick start. Think of it like rebooting a computer.
Contraindications to MLD
As with any therapy, there are contraindications (reasons not to do the therapy if you have…) for Manual Lymphatic Drainage. They include acute cellulitis/erysipelas, unstable hypertension, congestive heart failure, renal failure, hepatic cirrhosis with abdominal fluid, untreated TB or malaria, acute DVT, superior vena cava obstruction and infections.
Local contraindications included untreated thyroid dysfunction, metastases and primary tumours.
Treatments offered at Yellowdoor Studio
In case you missed them while reading this post, here again are the list of treatments offered at Yellowdoor that will help boost your lymphatic and immune systems:
Facial Sculpting & Buccal Massage
Repair Dry Cupping Therapy and Oil Massage
Love, Yellowdoor