Improve your health by helping your lymphatic system!
The lymphatic system may be still part of a mystery in our overall health, it does not get the same attention as the cardiovascular or respiratory or musculoskeletal or nervous or even the digestive system (with all the gluten free, IBS, celiac concerns being talked about). This system is overlooked, maybe even forgotten about.
What does it do?
It helps us to heal from injury and has the ability to ward off colds, flus, and disease. It fights off attacks from germs, invaders to our body, and helps against infections. It also cleans up the cellular waste byproducts.
Imagine in terms of our house:
Our blood is like the pipes in our house, bringing in water that flows around our house. Lymphatic system is like the waste system that takes the dirty water out of the house for treatment and processing etc. What would happen if we did not have a waste system in our house? Yup, not a pretty sight! Our living space would become dirty with potentially various contaminents.
So too as the blood delivers water, nutrition, oxygen to keep our body healthy, we need the lymphatic system to be healthy and efficient so that it can do its work and take away cellular debris and waste as well as be our strong immune system!
What happens if it gets weak?
If we let this system get weak and it is not properly maintained, it can start to become sluggish and slow, then it may not do its work as effectively. Some potential side effects of a weaker lymphatic system are:
- swelling in hands, legs, and feet
- facial puffiness
- sensation of fullness in arms or legs
- feeling of tightness in the skin
How to help your lymphatic system …
Hope your curiousity has been tweaked about the importance of the lymphatic system and how it helps us stay healthy!
So, as a certified lymphatic therapist here in Calgary, who has given a more in-depth look at the lymphatic system and have seen what can happen when the lymphatic system is compromised and has seen how it can be improved through specific lymphatic therapy, I want to share with you what I have learned with 2 quick ways to help your lymphatic system.
- Help your lymphatic system by moving. Go for brisk walks, even if they are short. For example a 6 minute daily brisk walk.
- Do deep abdominal / diaphragmatic breathing daily. This could be linked up to your meditation routine or just before you get up in the morning or before you go to sleep. Try out even 5 good inhale and exhale to your ‘belly button area’.
You can also treat yourself with a manual lymphatic therapy session to help boost your lymphatic system. A lymphatic therapy session is very similar to a massage therapy session, except no oils are used as the skin needs to move to stimulate the lymphatic system.
Contact us, so we can help you take care of your lymphatic system with our manual lymphatic therapy session.
in sanitatem,
Francois, CLT, MES, KTP
Founder, Chief Certified Lymphatic Therapist, Certified Medical Exercise Specialist & Kinesiotape Practitioner
lymphoedemacanada.com 