I would like to introduce you to the lymphatic drainage treatment that I perform as part of comprehensive therapy. I think that this procedure deserves much greater recognition and popularity. What are the benefits of undergoing this treatment? Firming the skin, reducing swelling, cleansing the body of toxins, and reducing cellulite. It is recommended for athletes for post-workout regeneration. What is lymphatic drainage? Lymphatic drainage is a form of influence on the lymphatic system, which is designed to reduce edema and improve its motor function. The lymphatic system is part of the circulatory system, which, unlike the other component, which is the circulatory system, is a semi-closed system. To understand what it is about, you need to familiarize yourself with the filtration process and the resorption process. The first is the infiltration of blood from the capillaries into the interventricular space as passive transport, i.e. from higher to lower concentration. The resorption process is the transfer of blood from the capillaries to the venous vessels. The embarrassment is that the two processes are not created equal. The calculation shows: The resorption process is NOT the same as the filtration process. 100% -90% = 10% We have a problematic 10%, which is the blood that still remains in the intercellular space, which the lymphatic vessels must drain to the lymph nodes. My professional adventure with lymphatic drainage touched Germany, where this procedure is very popular and widely used after injuries and surgeries. No wonder if this procedure was developed and published in the 1930s by Danish physiotherapist Emil Vodder. Performing lymphatic drainage: shifting phase - the movement of fluid towards the proximal lymph nodes by applying pressure to the tissue, relaxation phase - refilling the lymphatic vessels. The aim of the treatment is to restore physiological tissue drainage and create optimal conditions for the regeneration of the damaged lymphatic system. In a disease situation, when a lymph node is in the vicinity of active inflammation, stagnation may occur as a result of the increased production of tissue filtrate in relation to the transport capacity of the lymphatic system. However, prolonged stasis will lead to the formation of lymphedema. We can distinguish two types of lymphoedema: primary and secondary. Primary swelling results from abnormal structure or physiology of the lymphatic system. Secondary edema occurs as a result of damage to the vessels and / or lymph nodes caused by cancer, contusions, surgery or radiotherapy. Indications for the lymphatic drainage treatment - primary and secondary lymphoedema - fatty edema - venous-lymphostatic edema - post-traumatic and postoperative edema - post-workout regeneration - elimination of the feeling of heaviness in the legs - cellulite reduction - cleansing the body of toxins Contraindications to lymphatic drainage 1) absolute: - decompensated heart failure (in the case of cardiac edema) - acute inflammation caused by pathogenic germs. 2) relative - malignant neoplastic lymph edema - overactive thyroid gland - hypersensitivity of the carotid sinus - Heart arythmia - other: menstruation, pregnancy, epilepsy, intestinal diverticulosis, abdominal aortic aneurysms, significant postoperative adhesions and radiation inflammation of the pelvic organs. According to the recommendations of the International Lymphological Society, manual lymphatic drainage is the basic method of conservative treatment of lymphoedema. It is an element of complex decongestive therapy (CDT), which also includes other supportive activities such as multi-layer bandaging, exercises to improve lymphatic drainage and skin care. This therapy involves two phases of action. Intensive phase - maximum reduction of the existing swelling. In this phase the emphasis is on daily lymphatic drainage, compression therapy (bandaging) and educating the patient about exercise and daily skin care. Fixing-optimizing phase - maintaining the achieved effects of the therapy. Its effectiveness depends on the patient's involvement in the therapy, because it is his shoulders who care for the daily skin care, bandaging, improvement exercises and self-massage. In this phase, drainage is performed 1-2 times a week. This ailment is chronic, so it is worth treating drainage prophylactically and using it regularly. For prophylactic purposes, tights and compression stockings with compression class 1 or 2 are used, and for people with permanent swelling - bandages and underwear with a pressure class 2 at least.