Manual Lymphatic Drainage: Gentle Hands and a Flow in the Body

1. What Is It Actually?

Manual lymphatic drainage is not a substance that you eat or drink. It is a treatment with the hands. 'Manual' means: with the hand. 'Drainage' means: gently conveying fluid onwards. To help you understand this, a picture helps. In your body, besides the blood, there flows a second fluid: the lymph. It is clear and travels between the cells, a bit like water between pebbles. Along the way, it collects fluid and brings it to small stations, the lymph nodes. You cannot see it. Sometimes, however, you feel it when your feet appear thicker after sitting for a long time. During manual lymphatic drainage, a person lies calmly on a treatment table. A professional places their hands on and strokes slowly over the skin, always in a certain direction. The grips are gentle, no firm pressing, no kneading. This is intended to set the fluid in motion and allow it to continue flowing. It is more like the slow pushing of water than like kneading dough.

2. Where Does It Come From?

Manual lymphatic drainage belongs to the treatments in which professionals work with their hands instead of giving tablets. In the studies on it, it is mentioned together with other treatments in which the body moves. You can encounter it in a practice or in hospital. There, for example, a person lies after an operation on the breast, and a professional works with calm hand grips on their arm. The treatment takes its time, and often movement is added afterwards, such as exercises. Professionals learn the hand grips in training, just as other professions also have to be learned. You therefore cannot simply copy them from a book.

3. What Are the Researchers Investigating?

There are 595 works on this treatment. In 483 of them, people took part, and 131 of them were comparisons: one group received the treatment, another did not. Each of these works represents time and care from people who wanted to look closely. The studies often concern people who experience fluid swelling in the arm after an operation on the breast. Researchers want to know: does the swelling become smaller? Does the arm feel better? Does the shoulder move more easily again, and how do the people feel overall? Some works examine many studies at once, others accompany a small group. Much is still open. Researchers continue to ask what the hand grips alone change and what the exercises alongside contribute. Some studies are small; they provide initial indications on which larger works can build.

4. An Experiment to Think About

Take a wet sponge and place it on a plate. If you press firmly with the flat hand on it, the water squirts to the side and the sponge becomes flat. If you press very slowly and lightly instead, the water moves out calmly and the sponge keeps its shape. Many people use this image when they explain the gentle hand grips: not pressing, but pushing. You can try it in the kitchen, simply to get a feeling for slow movement. Whether your body really responds to the hand grips in this way is one of the questions that researchers are still investigating.

For adults and professionals: the detailed page on Manual Lymphatic Drainage.