Are you Truly Healthy?
By: Rachel Iacobazzi Riecan
The Immune System. For something spoken of so often, it sure is neglected. Having a healthy immune system is essential to maintaining many other body systems, yet we tend to only give it notice when we've already caught a bug or the threat of a worldwide pandemic is looming. Besides drinking adequate water, exercising, and eating right, what else can one do to keep the Immune System functioning optimally so the risk of catching somethng is lowered?
One answer is Lymphatic Drainage, or cleansing. The Lymphatic System is a network of vessels almost mirroring your blood vessels. They move germs and extra fluid from healthy cells to the lymph nodes, where the germs are neutralized and the fluid is cleansed. The vessels also carry white blood cells to areas of injury to promote the healing process or to cells under viral or bacterial attack. The only problem is that the lymph vessels have no pumping mechanism like the heart to move fluid through. Thus, it can sometimes become stagnated. Lymphatic Drainage stimulates the smooth muscle inside lymph vessels to pump the fluid through so it can move on to the nodes and spleen to be purified.
What can one expect in a treatment? Lymphatic Drainage can be done with or without clothing, depending on the therapist, the area to be treated, and the patient's treatment goals. The therapist will use extremely light pressure (around the weight of a nickel on the skin), it generally induces deep relaxation, and the treatments are usually spot treatments or are done in sessions working up to a whole body session. Removing too much stagnation at once can cause an overload to the nodes and make one feel nauseous. While it should not be performed while someone is acutely ill, during recovery is fine and it has been found effective in the treatment of localized swelling, injury, rheumatoid or osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, scars, insomnia, cancers, pre- and post surgery recovery, and fibromyalgia. Beyond cleansing the Lymphatic System and whipping the Immune System into shape, results can include skin regeneration around wounds and wrinkles, decreasing inflammation and chronic pain, decreased menstrual discomfort, muscle spasm relief, and decreased cellulite.
If you are someone struggling with any of the above symptoms or keep getting sick, it is a treatment definitely worth looking into. If you are generally healthy, periodic cleanses help keep you that way.