WELLNESS TREATMENTS NOW AVAILABLE TO LOCAL RESIDENTS OF TROY, MICHIGAN
Many of our clients in the Sterling Heights, MI and Troy, MI area reach a point in their lives when they want to improve their health and the quality of their lives. Since massage therapy and bodywork are already a part of their wellness program, many clients turn to alternative therapies to further improve their health. Let’s talk about your Lymphatic System!
Lymphatic System Health:
Most of you know that the lymphatic system is the body’s defense mechanism or immune system. Lymph is the liquid that flows through our bodies carrying metabolic waste, toxins and any other foreign invaders out of our body, thereby keeping us healthy. Like blood, lymph travels through vessels throughout our body. Unlike blood, though, lymph is not “pumped” through lymphatic vessels. The heart is the non-stop pump that moves oxygen-rich blood from the lungs through arteries and veins, feeding our organs. Lymph, on the other hand, is moved through the body through muscular contractions. So, the more active you are, the better and faster lymph moves through your body. Since lymph carries waste materials from all regions of your body to the heart for cleansing, the better and faster it moves, the better you feel.
If you are sedentary, not exercising or working your body on a regular basis, the flow of lymph through your body will be slow. If you are active, regularly exercising or leading a busy life, your lymphatic system will healthier. Let’s look at the average person living in Troy, MI. You get up everyday, eat a healthy breakfast then dash off to work. Many of you take time every hour to get up and walk around the office, if for no other reason than to refresh our minds and bodies. Then at lunch, you might head to the Troy, MI Parks and Recreation Center for a Spinning Class or Yoga Class. At the end of your work day, you head home to prepare a healthy dinner to enjoy with your family. This may not seem like an active lifestyle, but it is. By simply moving your body throughout your day (walking, exercising, meal prep), you are contracting and relaxing your muscles hundreds of times a day. These simple movements MOVE lymph through your body.
There is another great way to stimulate your lymphatic system: Massage.
Massage is a great way to encourage the flow of lymph through your body. You have probably noticed that most massage therapist’s strokes move toward the heart. We do not do this by accident, but by design. Since we therapists know we are stimulating the flow of lymphatic fluid during a massage, and that this fluid is moving to the heart, we tend to move our strokes in this same direction. A gentle Swedish Massage uses long, flowing strokes, moving lymph with each stroke. You may also have heard of Manual Lymphatic Drainage. This is a specialized type of bodywork, a very gently massage, that aims specifically to help lymph move through your body faster. Dry Body Brushing is yet another type of bodywork that stimulates the lymphatic system. Either as a self-care treatment or a bodywork session, Body Brushing is a great way to encourage the flow of lymph. Using dry, natural bristle hand held brushes, a massage therapist gently brushes the skin, with strokes moving toward the heart. The gentle pressure of the bristles moves lymph with ease through the lymphatic vessels, carrying toxins and waste material to the heart for cleansing. As an added bonus, the skin “feels” invigorated, as blood flow is also stimulated and dead skin cells are sloughed off.
At Allied Massage Therapy we are pleased to offer many services that can greatly enhance your lymphatic system. Residents of Troy, MI and surrounding areas need look no further than Allied Massage for all your wellness needs.
