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• Lymphatic-Drainage Massage for Face
• Lymphatic-Drainage Treatment for the Body

Lymphatic Drainage Massage: Little Pressure, Big Results

A lymph-drainage massage can help rid the body of toxins and excess fluids. Find out how lymph blockages get unstuck with Groupon’s guide to this modality.

Sometimes a healing touch is the lightest touch of all. During a lymphatic drainage massage, the practitioner—usually a licensed massage therapist or licensed esthetician—performs a rhythmic, circular motion on specific points of a client’s body. The pressure involved is extremely gentle: for especially delicate tissues, it might be as little as the weight of a dime or the tiny shrunken head of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Though mild, this treatment can effectively alleviate swollen limbs, and some practitioners believe it can even aid issues as diverse as cold congestion and cellulite.

Such gentleness is effective because, unlike muscles targeted in a conventional massage, the lymphatic system lies close to the surface of the skin. Its vessels collect excess fluids from tissues throughout the body, filtering them through the lymph nodes’ bounty of white blood cells before depositing them back into the bloodstream. Since the vessels, like a Christmas-movie millionaire with a lesson to learn, aren’t connected to the heart, they rely on the contractions of the skeletal muscles and muscles in the vessel wall to keep the fluid flowing. When these methods aren’t enough—or when a blockage occurs—lymphs can lie stagnant, causing swelling and congestion. Lymph blockage may also cause certain types of toxins to build up in the body’s tissues, since it’s normally the lymphatic system’s job to route proteins that can’t squeeze into the cardiovascular system through the capillaries.

Unlike the cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system only moves in one direction—toward the subclavian veins at the base of the neck. The practitioner will start there, draining the lymphatic ducts in order to open up space for new lymph to flow in. They’ll then work down the body in the opposite direction of lymph flow, targeting areas such as the armpits that have a high concentration of lymph nodes.

Learn more about what to expect at a massage.

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