Lymphatics - keeping your body clean

#lymphaticsystem #lymphatics

If you are wondering what the lymphatic system is or does, believe me, you are not alone. It is THE most forgotten-about and neglected system in the body but I promise that by the time you finish reading this, you will be a fan.

To whet your appetite, here are 4 fun facts about your lymphatic system:

1)     Without it, we would be 3-4L bigger every day. That’s right, we swell and go back to size every day and it’s our lymphatic system that does the clearance. One week without it and we would be like the Michelin man: 21 kgs heavier (3.3 stone). Imagine.

2)     If our body was a fish tank, our lymphatic system would also be the filter. Imagine stagnant dirty water if the filter stopped working? Well, ditto for our body… our lymphatics clear waste from our cells and without it, we would be a swollen toxic mess: germs would thrive and diseases proliferate. Take a bow, lymphatics, for keeping us clean.

3)     Considering that most anatomy was described over 400 years ago (when they were robbing bodies from graves to investigate), it was only in around 2016 it was  discovered that our brain had lymphatics (called glymphatics). When they blocked these in laboratory mice, it caused dementia because the brain couldn’t clear its waste. Now research is underway to see how much of a factor the glymphatics are in the genesis of neurological diseases, like MS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimers. Exciting times for sure.

4)     Here’s the big one: there is not ONE prescription medication for the lymphatic system. This is shocking when you consider all the thousands of drugs for just about every other system in the body. Instead, the lymphatic system has been cheerfully ignored by western medicine for ages: most doctors, nurses and other health professionals get a couple of hours anatomy lesson on the lymphatic system at most. Thereafter, it is considered an enigma and a bit woo-woo. When was the last time you heard of someone attending a lymphologist??

 Yet this magical system does even more for you and your body…..read on….

The lymphatic system is essentially a fluid transport system (the green bits), separate from our blood system for the most part. It delivers 3-4L of fluid waste back into our blood stream into the subclavian veins in the neck.. It transports some other important things:

·        Waste products from our cells

·        Fats from our gut (to be synthesized by the liver) because these are large molecules and can’t be transported easily in the blood stream

·        Hormones. Our lymph system is very closely linked with our hormonal system and assists in transporting hormones around our body

Are you impressed yet? But wait, there is more:

There are 500-800 lymph nodes in our body, that filter and clean fluid waste (Thank you lymphatics). About one third of these lie in the head & neck area to clear waste from the brain and organs of the skull and they are also concentrated around our internal organs in our trunk. They ALSO are an integral part of our immune system and initiate immune responses to viruses and bacteria. In fact, they are our first line of defense against invaders to the body. When you have a sore throat, the swollen ‘glands’ in our neck are, in fact, lymph nodes involved in fighting the infection.

So I repeat: this system has been largely ignored by western medicine. Not by others, mind you: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Ayurveda, reflexology and herbal medicine ALL have remedies for the lymphatic system. Conventional medicine has.. (ahem!)….nada. Even lymphatic massage ( also known as manual lymphatic drainage) did not start life as a treatment for lymphatic issues like lymphoedema. It actually evolved from the wellness industry on mainland Europe, which historically had health spas and promoted health maintenance long before it was trendy. It was believed (and is likely to be true) that lymphatic drainage massage helps keep our body clean, making it less likely for diseases to take hold.

Manual Lymphatic Drainage

Conventional medicine really only became aware of lymphatic issues when damage to the lymphatic system evolved from cancer treatments and started to cause trouble. When you remove or radiate lymph nodes, there is a fluid build-up in your tissues, which causes a swelling known as lymphoedema, which is highly resistant to treatment. We use lymphatic massage (it's called drainage because it's basically draining your lymphatic pipes!) to treat this, but it’s so much easier to prevent than cure.

Outside of lymphoedema, It’s still considered a bit alternative and cray cray to be getting lymphatic massage for wellness. But it shouldn’t be. Looking at all that it does for us, isn’t it possible that failure or sluggishness of the lymphatic system could potentially be a factor is SO many chronic and inflammatory diseases, brain diseases, even hormonal issues?

 Also consider this: if you are getting repeated infections in a particular organ or body part, it is MORE than likely that the nearby lymph nodes are getting overloaded and congested from fighting the pathogen. In my opinion, getting lymphatic drainage done in the area can only help the situation.

But there are a few other things you can do to give your lymphatic system a bit of a helping hand:

(and yes, it's all the usual suspects!)

·        Avoiding frequent eating of fatty foods gives the lymphatics system less work to do ( remember, it transports fats to the bloodstream)

·        Keeping a healthy body weight also means that this transport system, which works hard against gravity, doesn’t have to work so hard.

·        Exercise is king: The lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump to push the fluid upwards to your neck so it depends on muscles to work efficiently – this is called the ‘muscle pump’. Re-bounding (trampoline) is particularly good as the added vibrations are even better.

·        Deep breathing stimulates the diaphragm, which is the main pump for the lymphatic system, another reason why exercise is good for you. See my video on how to breathe correctly here

·        Keep well hydrated

Youtube Vids

So, go on. Treat your lymphatic system to a lymphatic massage (MLD Ireland has a list of practitioners).  I’ve also a couple of Youtube videos to DIY.

Don’t expect miracles either, it takes a few months for things to really clear. (2-3 times/week as tolerated).

Check out my neck lymphatics video here if you have repeated infections of gums, teeth, sinuses or neck.

Check out my general daily lymphatic clear-out here for an all-over clearance

Check out my DIY videos for those with lymphoedema here

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