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Re: What is MLD therapy?

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Hi Diane,

That's great that your massage therapist is training in MLD

(actually I just read about another program called LDT which is

Lymph Drainage Therapy, through the Upledger Institute - who

pioneered the cranial-sacral therapy - so there are at least 2

different schools now). One of the nice things about having a

therapist schooled in different therapies is that you don't have to

make separate appointments, and they are also more familiar with

your body. Hope it works out for you!

> I asked my massage therapist about MLD therapy at my last massage

and found

> she had recently begun training in MLD. Lucky for me! Thanks to

the advice

> of and Sara, I plan to use MLD as part of my recovery

process.

>

> I'm due for surgery late this fall (yikes!) and will let everyone

know how

> MLD works for me.

>

>

>

> Diane, Oregon

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Connie,

Not sure if any one replied to this post yet. MLD is manual lymphatic

drainage massage. For a more detailed description of what it involves

with a diagram of the body parts it acts on see:

http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Bodywork/eidelson71_p.ht

m

Basically MLD works on your lymphatic drainage system. You may have

noticed bruising or yellowing of the area underneath your chin post-

op. That's your lymphatic system trying to get the excess liquids

from the swelling post-surgery out of your system. MLD aids this

process by facilitating the drainage manually and thus decreasing

swelling and bruising.

I had MLD pre-surgery and quite a few post-surgery and it really

helped with my swelling. Also thanks to doing it before hand I was

able to avoid any swelling (I also took arnica). Some people find the

MLD works for them others don't see a difference. I use MLD on a

regular basis to help circulation in my legs so knew that it worked

for me. To find out whether it's the thing for you I would read up a

little more on it and try to meet with an MLD therapist whom you can

ask questions to, maybe even try out one massage to see how you like

it.

Hope this helps.

Sara

> I noticed a couple of posts mentioning this. What is it? Does it

> really help restore feeling?

>

> Connie

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You can also look up " Vodder School, " which is where some of these

treatments originated. And I think they're becoming increasingly

useful and used by women who have lost lymph nodes to breast surgery.

As I understand it, the arm of a woman who has had one or more lymph

node(s) surgically removed is more likely to swell. Therapists are

now using MLD to help treat that -- one of the physical therapists in

our local hospital took the training just for that purpose.

Cammie

> > I noticed a couple of posts mentioning this. What is it? Does

it

> > really help restore feeling?

> >

> > Connie

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MLD questions for anyone who knows:

I've recently become acquainted with a girl who is an aesthetician.

(The girlfriend of my husband's friend.) She recommended possibly

having some massage done on my face after surgery, and when I

mentioned MLD she got all excited and began talking about it, though

we were interrupted and the conversation was lost.

What I'm wondering is if an aesthetician is a qualified person to do

MLD? I got the impression that she knew a lot about it, but haven't

had the chance to see her again to know if *she* does it. I wouldn't

mind giving it a shot, but I certainly don't want to trust my healing

face to just anyone.

I also want to recommend it to my father-in-law, who had some

cancerous lymph glands removed from his pelvic area last year and now

has permanent swelling in his leg. Is this type of thing ever covered

by insurance?

Thanks!

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I would check with the aesthetician that she is certified in MLD

technique e.g Vodder school or any other recognized school of

lymphatic tissue massages. I have had an aesthetician perform MLD on

me in the past and found her to be good but she had also taken sevral

courses in the technique and had certificates hanging around her

office. i wouldn't let someone who " dabbles " in MLD touch me at any

time, much less post-op. I would also ask her if she has experience

of treating cancer patients or people who have had a face lift who

often use MLD massages to decrease recovery time.

As for your father-in-law, I think that in the US some insurance

companies do cover massage therapy for certain cancers and I would

think that the lymphatic nodes cancer falls in this category.

Definitely worth checking out!

Sara

> MLD questions for anyone who knows:

>

> I've recently become acquainted with a girl who is an aesthetician.

> (The girlfriend of my husband's friend.) She recommended possibly

> having some massage done on my face after surgery, and when I

> mentioned MLD she got all excited and began talking about it, though

> we were interrupted and the conversation was lost.

>

> What I'm wondering is if an aesthetician is a qualified person to do

> MLD? I got the impression that she knew a lot about it, but haven't

> had the chance to see her again to know if *she* does it. I

wouldn't

> mind giving it a shot, but I certainly don't want to trust my

healing

> face to just anyone.

>

> I also want to recommend it to my father-in-law, who had some

> cancerous lymph glands removed from his pelvic area last year and

now

> has permanent swelling in his leg. Is this type of thing ever

covered

> by insurance?

>

> Thanks!

>

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Hi ,

You should ask where they studied, was it Vodder technique

(reputable school, originators of technique). You can always ask

about the course itself too, to get a feel, how long was it, are

they certified in this technique. Sometimes people go to weekend

courses that are not very long and start working without being

certified (for example, yoga teachers are sometimes not certified,

or do very little training). Many spas have therapists/technicians

who have received little training. There's not a lot of regulation

in some areas, although this is changing.

Ask how long they have been practicing MLD and how many clients they

see for this therapy in a week. If it's infrequent, they are perhaps

not the right person.

An aesthetician is not the same thing as a therapist, as far as I

know.

My MLD therapy was covered by insurance because it was performed by

a physiotherapist (for which I should have had a doctor's referral,

according to my insurance policy, but they paid anyway). It's

important WHO does the therapy for insurance purposes. Massage

therapy performed by a non-registered massage therapist is not

covered by insurance.

I would go very ul with massage therapy on someone who has cancer.

This person should discuss it with their physician or oncologist

before proceeding.

Hope that helps,

> MLD questions for anyone who knows:

>

> I've recently become acquainted with a girl who is an

aesthetician.

> (The girlfriend of my husband's friend.) She recommended possibly

> having some massage done on my face after surgery, and when I

> mentioned MLD she got all excited and began talking about it,

though

> we were interrupted and the conversation was lost.

>

> What I'm wondering is if an aesthetician is a qualified person to

do

> MLD? I got the impression that she knew a lot about it, but

haven't

> had the chance to see her again to know if *she* does it. I

wouldn't

> mind giving it a shot, but I certainly don't want to trust my

healing

> face to just anyone.

>

> I also want to recommend it to my father-in-law, who had some

> cancerous lymph glands removed from his pelvic area last year and

now

> has permanent swelling in his leg. Is this type of thing ever

covered

> by insurance?

>

> Thanks!

>

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Thanks for your reply. I don't think she is certified, and I don't

think she's been at her job very long. Nice enough girl, but she's a

bit younger than me (I'm 28) and she seems pretty new at all this.

I'll see what other options there are in town.

Thanks! :)

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