Self-Massage
Spend about 15 minutes on self-massage in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. After you become comfortable with the routine, you can use this time for meditation as well. After self-massage put on your compression garment, except at bedtime, if you do not sleep in compression.
The goal is to improve lymph drainage in healthy lymph vessels and move excess fluid out of swollen areas and into areas where it can drain normally.
Do not massage if you have:
Acute infection of the legs/arms
Unstable heart disease
Bronchial asthma
Renal failure
Acute deep vein thrombosis
Upper Extremity
1) Use the palm of the hand to gently stroke down each side of the neck from the base of the skull to the shoulder (clavicle), including all the lymph nodes in the neck (cervical lymph nodes) as shown in Fig. 1. Repeat the strokes 5 times on each side.
Fig. 1
2) Place the palm in the armpit (axilla) as shown in Fig. 2 and stroke gently toward the centerline of the chest. Repeat 5 times on each side going to different points on the centerline.
Fig. 2
3) Start with your palm on the outside edge of the shoulder as shown in Fig. 3 and scoop your hand up to the base of your neck. Gradually move your starting point down closer to the elbow, about an inch at a time (Fig. 4), and stroke to the base of the neck (in the direction of the lymph flow).
4) Once you reach the level of elbow, start from the shoulder again and stroke the front and back of the arm in a similar manner to cover all sides of the arm.
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
5) Concentrate on the elbow area by making 2-3 strokes from the wrist (Fig. 5) up to the shoulder (Fig. 6).
6) Repeat on the other arm.
Fig 5.
Fig. 6
Lower Extremity
1) Gently but firmly stroke the flat hand up along the inguinal crease (inguinal lymph nodes) where the leg meets the trunk. Repeat 5 times on each side.
2) Starting at the top of the thigh (Fig. 7) stroke up the inguinal crease, working your way around the circumference of your leg as far as you can reach. Gradually start lower (closer to your knee Fig. 8) with upward strokes to the groin.
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
3) Reach below the knee (Fig. 9) and stroke up to the knee, working around the circumference of the leg (Fig. 10) and starting from progressively lower points (Fig. 11) down to the ankle (or as far as you can reach).
4) Starting from the ankle (or as far down as you can reach comfortably) make 2-3 strokes upward, over the knee and thigh, and up the inguinal crease to the abdomen (Fig. 12).
5) Repeat on the other leg.
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
By Emily Iker, MD