Lymphatic Flow

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I have been practicing massage in Salt Lake for over a decade and have developed a very unique blend of lymphatic and structural work. I find that clients...even those with a medical background...know very little about the lymph system. I dedicate a lot of time during massage and in my newsletter to educating my clients about lymph in easy to understand language. The article posted here is from my August newsletter.


I am using this blog because website upkeep isn't my strong suite and while I work to improve that...this blog is easy to use. Blogging also offers a variety of different benefits...including the ability for the public to make comments. As this blog is dedicated to the lymphatic system and lymph massage if you would like more pointed information about me...please see my website.

Lymphatic Flow

The Lymph system's primary function is to isolate infection and cellular waste from the rest of the body and purge it. The capillary (the smallest blood vessel) delivers blood with its oxygen and nutrients. The local cells use these nutrients and excrete waste. There may be pathogens or antigens present that create an immune response, leaving dead cells and perhaps live infection. Some of the blood and waste products are picked up by tiny veins. But much of the vascular fluid and waste - and hopefully all of the live infection - is picked up by tiny lymph cells, This process is happening all over the body all the time.

Like tributaries trickling into a stream that feeds a slow-moving river, the lymph system transports lymph fluid through ever-widening vessels, moving it through 500 filtration and collection points - your lymph nodes. At each successive node the lymph fluid is filtered and bacteria removed. If lymph fluid is blocked in one lymph node it will usually take a detour, but when blockage is extreme it can cause the lymph fluid to back up and cause swelling in the surrounding tissue, a condition known as lymph edema.

The far-reaching lymph cells merge at certain points to form lymphatic trunks. You have six major lymph trunks in your body, each responsible for draining filtered fluid from one region of the body.

The lumbar and intestinal trunks drain a large volume of purified lymph fluid upward from your lower extremities, pelvis and abdomen into a collection pouch at the base of the thoracic duct.

The now enriched and purified lymph travels up your torso through the thoracic duct along the left side of your esophagus. It merges here with the lymph from your left trunk and arm, and finally returns to the bloodstream at its junction with the left subclavian vein, located above your heart and under your collarbone. A much smaller volume of filtered lymph fluid from nodes and trunks along the right side of your head, neck and arm is fed back into the bloodstream by the righ lymphatic duct, on the right-hand side of your collarbone.

Amazingly, the lymphatic system has no central pump but depends on muscle contraction and manual manipulation to move fluid,

How does the lymph move without a pump? Water, exercise, deep breathing and massage are essential ways we can enhance movement of lymph through our bodies. Additionally, the organs of elimination (skin, kidney, liver, bladder, small and large intestines) need to be doing their jobs well so that the lymph does not get overwhelmed with waste products.

If the lymph system gets blocked or overrun (due to illness, surgery, toxic overload or lack of activity), lymph fluid gets backed up. This can cause swelling, joint pain, nausea and fatigue. Stagnant lymph may be stored within nodes for a long period of time but eventually becomes too toxic for the body to handle well.

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