Here at Smooth Body Contours in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, post-surgery/procedure drainage massage is a standard part of aftercare following noninvasive, minimally invasive, or surgical body contouring treatments.
In addition to hastening the removal of fat cells targeted by spot-reducing techniques like laser liposuction and fat freezing, this gentle lymphatic drainage massage technique can be used to:
In short, drainage massage can promote healing, support optimal wellness, and improve a variety of common health concerns. Here’s how this holistic, hands-on therapy works, and what you can expect from your sessions.
As a central player in both immune system and circulatory system function, your lymphatic system cleanses your body fluids and keeps them moving and well-balanced.
Specifically, your lymphatic system is a vast network of organs, nodes, vessels, and tissues that work in concert to collect extra fluids, or lymph, from your body tissues, process out any waste, bacteria, or toxins, and transfer the clean fluid back into your bloodstream for continued use.
Colorless and watery, your lymph may contain any of the following:
Through a vast network of capillaries and tubes (lymphatic vessels), this vital fluid-balancing system transports lymph from body tissues to small, bean-shaped glands (lymph nodes) that filter the fluid. From there, it moves on to lymphatic collecting ducts, which send clean lymph back into circulation.
Post-surgery/procedure drainage — also known as lymphatic drainage massage — is a holistic, manual therapy that uses light, gentle pressure and long, rhythmic strokes to stimulate your lymphatic system and move lymph fluid, waste, and toxins through the body more efficiently and effectively.
Whether you’re looking to boost a sluggish lymphatic system for improved lymph clearing, or your goal is to assist a healthy lymphatic system when extra-efficient lymph clearing would be ideal (such as after a body contouring treatment), drainage massage is done in three steps:
As with any massage treatment, you start by getting undressed (down to your undergarments or your personal level of comfort) and lie down on your back. Once you’re comfortably positioned on the heated table with a warm blanket draped over you, we can start the emptying process.
Drainage massage uses gentle pressure and long strokes to address the regional lymph nodes first, effectively emptying them so they’re ready to take on more fluid. We typically start by emptying the lymph nodes in the central part of your body (i.e., groin, chest, abdomen) before we empty the lymph nodes in your extremities (i.e., neck, armpits).
We use gentle pressure instead of “deep tissue kneading” because your lymphatic system is just below your skin; we apply this pressure in the form of long, rhythmic strokes to stimulate lymph fluid movement.
Once your lymph nodes have been emptied, we move on to each subsequent body area that drains toward the prepared lymph nodes. Using the same light pressure and long, rhythmic massage stroke technique, we release lymph from each area of body tissue in a step called clearing.
Finally, our continued application of light, gentle strokes start working to move the lymph that’s been cleared from your body tissues to the corresponding empty lymph nodes. This step, which is known as reabsorption, encourages your lymphatic system to filter out damaged cells, toxins, and pathogens more efficiently so it can send the cleansed lymph back into circulation.
Given that there’s a wide range of conditions and problems that can be improved by efficient lymphatic drainage, enhanced immune system function, and increased circulation, drainage massage has a myriad of beneficial applications. At Smooth Body Contours, we frequently use it to:
No matter your main reason for having a drainage massage, it can deliver a plethora of major incidental benefits over the course of 8-10 sessions. Most people say that routine lymphatic drainage treatments leave them feeling far less tense and stressed — and far more energized, balanced, and calm — than they’ve felt in a long time.
Would you like to see what post-surgery/procedure drainage massage can do for you? Call or click online to schedule a visit at your nearest Smooth Body Contours office in Sandy Springs, Georgia, or Orlando or Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
