Benefits of Lymphatic Massage After Surgery

You’re having us make some cosmetic improvements through surgery (or we’ve already completed the work), and you’re anxious to get to your great results as quickly as possible. No matter how minor, surgery is surgery and your body needs time to recalibrate and rebalance certain systems that are involved in healing, such as your lymphatic system.

That’s why Dr. Thomas McHugh offers lymphatic massage here at McHugh Plastic Surgery. In the following, we explore why your lymphatic system can be temporarily knocked off balance and how we can correct the imbalance through targeted massage therapy.

Lymphatic system basics

Your lymphatic system is a group of tissues, vessels, and organs that work together to provide immunity, promote fat absorption, filter out waste, and balance the fluids in your body.

It’s this last task that we’re going to focus on — balancing fluids in your body. Under normal circumstances, your capillaries (tiny blood vessels in your body) leak out about 20 liters of plasma to deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. Once your tissues absorb what it needs, it leaves behind plasma waste and your blood capillaries pick up about 17 liters of this.

The remaining 3 liters is processed by lymphatic capillaries that send the fluid through your lymphatic system (the fluid is called lymph) and it eventually re-enters your bloodstream.

When your lymphatic system is functioning well, you have a good balance of fluids in your body. If the system is disrupted, which can happen after surgery, you can develop lymphedema, which can lead to fluid buildup in your tissues, usually in your arms and legs.

Why lymphatic massage after cosmetic surgery is a good idea

Minor lymphedema can develop after certain cosmetic procedures, such as a breast lift, breast reduction, tummy tuck, or liposuction. This is a natural occurrence as your body launches a healing response to the surgery, and it can occur soon after the surgery or even years later.

To offset this potential side effect, we provide gentle lymphatic massage that targets the lymph nodes in your body. We gently massage them to encourage lymph flow throughout the system to combat fluid buildup.

An adult body contains about 800 lymph nodes, and they’re concentrated in certain areas, such as in your:

• Neck
• Armpits
• Chest
• Abdomen
• Groin

During your lymphatic massage, we concentrate on the lymph nodes in your neck and armpits primarily and gently manipulate them to promote better flow and combat fluid buildup. 

In most cases, we recommend a series of lymphatic drainage massages — between 3 and 5 — after your cosmetic procedure, and we can adjust this number depending on your needs. Rest assured, this type of massage won’t hurt and can be very soothing.

To determine whether you can benefit from lymphatic massage or to schedule your massage, please contact our office in The Woodlands, Texas, to set up an appointment today.