What is Lymph?
Lymph is the name given to the fluid once it has been collected from your tissues and taken up into the lymphatic vessel system.
Our lymphatic system is a major body system in charge of clean up. Removing waste, excess (water attracting) proteins, long chain (unhealthy) fats, damaged / dead cells & debris, bacteria & viruses.
Your lymph vessels work in groups, called territories, many of which are situated all over the body. The fluid and contents is collected via external (movement of skin) and internal (muscle contraction and other bodily functions) to assist delivery to the deep system. It then travels along it’s intended pathway (through many vessels and valves) until reaching a lymph node. The nodes are in charge filtering, cleaning and reconcentrating the lymph, which in turn triggers the immune response to kill the bacteria and antigens whilst also producing antibodies to protect for future invaders.
Once the nodes have processed it, the clean lymph moves on, passing through more territories and more nodes until it reaches the end of the pathway, via our lymph trunks and finally our thoracic ducts. It’s here that the lymph returns to the blood and begins the cycle of re-circulation and collection again.
So, if you consider, all the waste and disease your body is trying to remove, you can see how important this system would be to your health!! I think it’s crazy that this system is not studied in great detail within a medical degree.
Take a look inside the body to see our lymphatic system in action.
CREDIT: Prof. Neil Piller for video
By maximising the pump action, it will result in the decongestion of fluid, whilst also removing unwanted waste and inflammation out of the tissues, allowing the body to be free and able to assist many functions such as our hormone distribution, weight control, energy and the all important healing, fighting infections, rest & recovery.
For information in relation to specific lymphatic conditions see the our pages under the conditions tab on the main menu.
Treatment for our lymphatics begins with Manual Lymph Drainage……
Clean up from the inside out with
Manual Lymph Drainage
Your Lymphatic system is your frontline defense for infection, illness, inflammation and overall health, but is often overlooked.
Given the chance, it is the key to healing most ailments!
A good working lymph system (LS) is key to your health and recovery under normal every day circumstances. However, add injury, surgery or a predisposition to the mix, and it could change everything.
When this system is compromised due to either malformations since birth, illness, or has been damaged or removed due to radiation, chemo, or cancer surgery, (actually, any surgery has the potential to damage key lymph vessels), it can have alarming and long term debilitating effects on this system, from which you may not notice for many years. By then, your condition has likely worsened, progressively becoming harder and harder to manage.
Please Note – The above mentioned conditions seldom get better on their own without intervention, they will likely get much WORSE!
Key Indicators: Swelling (symmetrical or asymmetrical), pain, heaviness, thickened skin, pitting, immobility, chronic inflammation. Constantly feeling unwell, skin sores that won’t heal and so much more….