The Science of MLD

Folks often ask, “What does Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) feel like?”

That’s a difficult question because it’s difficult to truly describe what anything feels like. Imagine being asked to describe what it feels like to wear your favorite sweater or to describe what it feels like to push your body to medal at your latest sport event. Feelings are so personal to the human feeling them. In order to describe things in the bodywork sphere we are forced to compare it to other things that we may or may not have experienced.

So bear with me as I try to do this.

First, I’m going to describe the terms which are based in the science of MLD: gentle, light touch, rhythmic. Then I will dig into the descriptors that are a little more complicated because it varies from person to person: relaxing, comforting, and boring.

Gentle

The goal with MLD is to move the body’s structures in such a way that the lymphatic system “activates”. The way this is done is by stretching the client’s skin in a way that best works with the lymphatic collectors which sit at the connection point of the skin and the body surface it covers. Because of this superficiality of the anatomy that we’re addressing we’re Not “Digging into” muscles or pounding out knots.

Light touch

Going back to the anatomy of the lymphatic system- our lymphatic collectors are activated by microscopic filaments surrounding our lymphatic system. If touch during MLD is too heavy, it actually shuts down the lymphatic collectors. Not permanently, but in a way that is counterproductive to the movement of lymphatic fluid. Movement of lymphatic fluid is what reduces swelling. Light touch is what we’re going for. 

Rhythmic

Lymphangiomotoricity is the most fun word that I learned during my specialist training. It’s the term that describes the movement of the individual lymphatic units, which are called lymphangions which moves like peristalsis, the wave-like movement which helps lymphatic fluid toward your lymph nodes. It's a natural, automatic process that keeps things flowing in the right direction. The rhythmic nature of MLD treatment mimics the body’s natural response, activating it to work at peak capacity.

Relaxing

Smooth muscle movement, the lymphangiomotoricity mentioned above, generally happens when your body’s parasympathetic nervous system is activated. The opposite of “fight or flight” this part of the nervous system “turns on” the body’s ability to “rest and digest”. So while there is no “relaxation switch”, and everyone’s reaction to manual therapy is different, activating the parasympathetic system is one way to “jumpstart” one’s ability to relax.

Comforting

As mentioned in this post (LINK), the light touch around MLD is often viewed as very comforting because of the activation of the parasympathetic system and its rhythmic nature.

Boring

Relaxing for some is boring to others. Regardless of which camp you find yourself in, view this treatment as an opportunity for your brain to take a break while your body uses this time to reset.

Ready to get started?