max415•19d ago

DAE realize they were massaging the wrong lymph direction for months?

I was doing upward strokes on the neck for lymphatic drainage until a client brought in a diagram from her surgeon that showed it's actually supposed to go downward, and now I feel like I gotta re-train my whole hand memory.

3 comments

3 Comments

brian_rivera5919d ago

@nathanj56 brings up a good point about the face and scalp... but actually even on the face the lymph flow can be tricky. Most diagrams show the face draining toward the neck, but the direction changes depending on the area. For the cheeks, you want to stroke toward the ears, not straight down the jaw. I had to unlearn that one myself after watching a demo from a lymphedema therapist. It's all interconnected but the path isn't as simple as just up or down everywhere.

amy_foster7919d ago

Oh man, I did the same thing with the cheek thing. I mean, I spent weeks stroking my face straight down like some sad little waterfall and wondered why nothing was happening. Maybe it's just me but that ear direction feels so wrong at first, like you're just pushing fluid into your ear canal or something. I finally watched a video where a therapist used a marker to trace the pathways on someone's face and it was like a lightbulb went off... a very slow, dim lightbulb.

nathanj5619d ago

Gently remind yourself that it's not just about direction... the lymph system actually moves in a specific path that varies depending on what part of the body you're working on. For the neck, downward strokes are correct because that's how it flows toward the collarbone area where it all drains into the bloodstream. But for the face and scalp, upward strokes are still right since the lymph moves toward the neck. So you're not totally off... just got the neck part backwards like most of us do at first. It's honestly confusing how different diagrams show different things.