Manual Lymph Drainage - To Fiddlesticks (and others)

[Guest guest]

Hi there,

I remember reading your post about the manual lymph drainage therapy

you received before and after surgery.

My brother in-law is a physiotherapist in Ontario and he sent me some

information about MLD to help me out with my surgery (that is in SIX

days!) I'm wondering if you could read his description of MLD and

tell me if it resembles the kind of treatment you received.

Of course I will listen to my surgeon and bring this up with him

before I try it, but I'm just curious if it sounds like what you had done:

" *Massage in the morning after waking or showering and in the

evening after dinner.

- pressure should cause your finger tips under your nails to turn white.

- use 2-3 fingers - have patient sit up or semi-reclined

1) Apply pressure in front & above ear and proceed down onto neck.

2) Apply pressure under tip of chin and proceed down onto neck.

3) Apply pressure behind ear and proceed down onto neck.

- each pass should take 15 seconds (slow) and each of the 3 areas

should be repeated about 10 times on each side of the face

Note: A cool cloth should be applied following MLD for 5-10 minutes or

take an ice cube in a zip lock and massage in the same sequence as

above if bruising occurs.

Remember: Lymph Nodes and the lymphatic system is made up of one-way

valves so only massage in one direction and if swelling is only in one

location, still do all the above locations "

Thanks so much for comparing this to what you received,

Take care,

~Kirstin

[Guest guest]

I disagree with the statement that the fingernails should turn

white. MLD therapy should be a very light touch, that description

implies a lot of pressure to me (of course, I'm not a physiotherapist

nor any expert, just an experienced patient). The lymph network is

composed of some pretty fine threads, and all you want to do is help

open them up, and try to keep things moving. There's also a sequence

to consider - the therapist worked on particular areas first, then we

moved on as they opened up. Yes, I did light touch on myself, but

only after hands-on training by my therapist.

I'm hoping you will have a real therapist perform treatment on you,

ideally one who is Vodder-trained (Vodder is the person who developed

the technique).

Best of luck with your surgery prep!

> Hi there,

>

> I remember reading your post about the manual lymph drainage therapy

> you received before and after surgery.

>

> My brother in-law is a physiotherapist in Ontario and he sent me

some

> information about MLD to help me out with my surgery (that is in SIX

> days!) I'm wondering if you could read his description of MLD and

> tell me if it resembles the kind of treatment you received.

>

> Of course I will listen to my surgeon and bring this up with him

> before I try it, but I'm just curious if it sounds like what you

had done:

>

> " *Massage in the morning after waking or showering and in the

> evening after dinner.

>

> - pressure should cause your finger tips under your nails to turn

white.

> - use 2-3 fingers - have patient sit up or semi-reclined

>

> 1) Apply pressure in front & above ear and proceed down onto neck.

> 2) Apply pressure under tip of chin and proceed down onto neck.

> 3) Apply pressure behind ear and proceed down onto neck.

>

> - each pass should take 15 seconds (slow) and each of the 3 areas

> should be repeated about 10 times on each side of the face

>

> Note: A cool cloth should be applied following MLD for 5-10 minutes

or

> take an ice cube in a zip lock and massage in the same sequence as

> above if bruising occurs.

>

> Remember: Lymph Nodes and the lymphatic system is made up of one-way

> valves so only massage in one direction and if swelling is only in

one

> location, still do all the above locations "

>

> Thanks so much for comparing this to what you received,

>

> Take care,

> ~Kirstin