Lymphatic Drainage

This is a body system comprised of organs, vessels, and nodes. 

Its function is to detoxify and defend the body. 

It does this through a fluid flush.

Everything in your body is sitting in Interstitial Fluid that has leaked out of your blood capillaries.

 (ISF will be "plasma" once it has been reabsorbed into the circulatory system and is "lymph" when it is absorbed into the lymphatic system)

Lymphatic capillaries absorb all the excess fluid in your body and flush it through the one way Lymphatic Vessels and Lymph Nodes to be identified, cleansed, and repaired by the cells made in the Lymphatic Organs.

People compare it to the circulatory system because its capillaries reach everywhere.

This system has to be manually pumped, unlike the heart. 

This pump can come from massage, deep breathing, or exercise.

Here is more detail...

Some Notes and Definitions

The cellular information

• lymphocytes and monocytes are cells that are a crucial part of the lymphatic system

• lymphocytes include 20-40% of your white blood cells and have a "memory"

  • fight disease

  • identifying cells as helpful or dangerous

  • T cells: these destroy marked pathogens and call more cells to help

  • B cells: these make pathogen-specific markers to flag them for destruction

  • natural killer cells: these can kill tumor and virus cells without prior exposure to them

• monocytes include 2-8% of your white blood cells

  • macrophage: engulfs pathogens and remove the dead cells

  • dendritic cell: these alert other white blood cells of danger and its location. they also take identifying information from the pathogen to the other white blood cells to help them create a specific neutralizer

Main Organs and Major Nodes

| Thymus |

• place where T cells mature

• much less active after adolescence

| Spleen |

• filters blood and removes damaged red blood cells

• stores monocytes

| Tonsils |

• protects against inhaled or ingested pathogens

| Peyer's Patches | 

• protects against pathogens in your small intestine

| Bone Marrow |

• forms all blood cells 

• place where B cells mature

| Lymph Nodes |

• filters lymph and traps pathogens to be marked and destroyed 

• where lymphocytes interact with pathogens

Ducts, Veins, and Major Nodes

|Right Lymphatic Duct |

• drains from right side

  • head

    • temple

    •  TMJ area

    • neck (.5 in below earlobe)

    • mid jaw

    • chin

  • neck (cervical nodes)

  • arm (axillary nodes)

  • upper torso (mediastinal nodes)

|Thoracic Duct |

• drains from the 

  • legs

  • abdominal area

  • the left side of chest, head, and neck

• located vertically from T12 to your collarbone

• bottom portion forms into the Cisterna Chyli

| Cisterna Chyli |

• vessels draining specifically from the lower trunk and pelvis

|Subclavian Vein |

• location under the collarbone

• brings oxygen poor blood back to the heart

• lymphatic system dumps into here

|

Lymphatic Drainage is the flush

Lymphatic Drainage massage is facilitating that flush through manual massage therapy

To help imagine this process

•  pour water on a table

is it just sitting there? unless something moves it - yes.

• you could tilt the table and the water would flow

• this is why stillness is not good for the lymphatic system, it creates stagnant lymph

our bodies prevent backflow in the lymphatic system by utilizing one way valves in the lymphatic vessels

• as gently as you can with your hands, push the water across the table

it takes very little pressure to move the water - similar to your lymph. 

too much pressure will collapse the lymphatic vessel.

The Flow

*Definitions are in the "What is the Lymphatic System" section*

your lymphatic capillaries absorb fluid that has leaked out of your blood and into "empty space" in your tissues.

then

this fluid travels into your lymphatic vessels and nodes

depending on which part of the body this lymph fluid is coming from

it directs back into the bloodstream through the

• right lymphatic duct

or

• thoracic duct

Both of these ducts dump lymph into the subclavian vein where it reabsorbs into the blood

A system specifically for your brain to remove waste and distribute nutrients using a "fluid highway"

This process happens naturally while you sleep

• removes

  •  lactic acids

  • protein build up

  • excess potassium

• redistributes

  • amino acids (protein builders)

  • sugar (energy)

  • fats (energy stores)

  • neurotransmitters (chemical messengers)

The Flow

Your glymphatic systems drains through the meningeal lymphatic vessels to the deep cervical lymph nodes

• hydrate (through water, fruits & veggies, and minerals)

• deep breathe (pumps the cisterna chyli)

• exercise (stimulates lymph flow)

• avoid toxins

• receive lymphatic drainage massage

Always consult your doctor.

Conditions that LDM will pose a risk to:

• Congestive Heart Failure

• Kidney Failure

• Liver Disease

• Blood Clots

• Active Illness/Infection

Conditions that can be improved by LMD:

• bloating

• post operative lymphedema

• brain fog

• autoimmune disease

• digestion trouble