One of Posture Massage’s specialties that you may be aware of is lymphatic drainage. I have blogged a lot about the lymphatic system and the benefits of draining it in our blogs Lymphatic Drainage & You, Surgery & Lymphatic Drainage Therapy, as well as Lymphatic Drainage & Cancer Recovery. I encourage you to read all of them to better understand how the lymphatic system works but today I am writing about what is in your lymph fluid. What exactly is lymphatic fluid made of and where does it come from? Let’s dive deeper!
What does it look like?
First of all, lymphatic fluid is the fluid which drains into the many facets of the lymphatic system and comes from all the organs and tissues in our bodies. Water, proteins, and other substances are slowly leaking from our teeny tiny blood capillaries into the tissues surrounding them. Without the lymphatic system, our tissues would swell and swell. Lymph is generally a clear or whitish fluid which flows through the lymphatic system before it is released from the body into the blood to be recycled or removed as waste.
What is it composed of?
One major component of lymphatic fluid is lymphocytes and other white blood cells. These cells from our blood are the ones responsible for traveling around the body and attacking bacteria. The other major component of lymphatic fluid is chyle, which is fluid from the intestines and contains fat and proteins.
Lymphocytes, what are they?
A part of our immune systems, lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell which essentially travel around your body and monitor the landscape for foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Once they detect a foreign invader they attack and break down those things. They develop in your bone marrow and then when they are mature they are found throughout our bloodstream and lymphatic system. You may be quite familiar with lymphocytes as they are often referred to as T Cells (T lymphocytes) and B Cells (B lymphocytes).
- T Cells: T cells control your body’s immune system response and directly attack and kill infected cells and tumor cells.
- B Cells: B cells make antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that target viruses, bacteria and other foreign invaders.
As Cleveland Clinic states: “Lymphocytes help your immune system remember every antigen it comes in contact with. After an encounter, some lymphocytes turn into memory cells. When memory cells run into an antigen again, they recognize it and quickly respond. This is why you don’t get infections like measles or chickenpox more than once. It’s also the reason getting vaccinated can prevent certain diseases.
What do T Cells and B Cells actually do?
Cleveland Clinic explains: “Your T cells and B cells work together. They each have different roles in your immune system.
Your T cells help kill infected cells and control your body’s immune response to foreign substances. Most of your T cells need the help of another immune cell to become activated. After your T cells are activated, they multiply and specialize into different types of T cells. These types include:
- Cytotoxic (killer) T cells: Cytotoxic T cells attach to antigens on infected or abnormal cells. Then, they kill the infected cells by making holes in their cell membranes and inserting enzymes into the cells.
- Helper T cells: Helper T cells help your other immune cells. Some helper T cells help B cells make antibodies against foreign invaders. Others help activate cytotoxic T cells.
- Regulatory (suppressor) T cells: Regulatory T cells make substances that help end your immune system’s response to an attack. Sometimes, they prevent harmful responses from occurring.
B cells have receptors on their surfaces where antigens attach. B cells learn to recognize the different antigens and produce specific antibodies to attack each one. The B cells respond to antigens in two ways:
- Primary immune response: When an antigen attaches to a receptor, your B cells are stimulated. Some B cells change into memory cells. Other B cells change into plasma cells. Plasma cells make an antibody specific to the particular antigen that stimulated it. Production of enough of that specific antibody can take several days.
- Secondary immune response: If your B cells encounter that antigen again, the memory cells remember it and multiply. They change into plasma cells and quickly produce the correct antibody.”
High and Low levels of lymphocytes indicate that we are fighting a disease or having trouble with our immune systems so it is always smart to get our levels checked.
Chyle, what is it?
Chyle is a fluid made from our digestive system and is composed of tiny fat globules and lymphocytes. It is essentially nutrition for the tiny parts of our immune system and transports lymphocytes from the blood to the lymphatic system. To get specific, chyle is composed of “Protein, white blood cells, electrolytes, fat-soluble vitamins, trace elements, and glucose ingested from the interstitial fluid are all contained in the lymphatic fluid, which is then returned to the systemic circulation.
Chyle is often made up of chylomicrons, which are a mixture of long-chain triglycerides, cholesterol esters, and phospholipids.”
Two Major Pathways
The two major pathways of the lymphatic system and key spots for the lymph fluid to move are:
- The thoracic duct: It begins near the lower part of the spine and collects lymph from the pelvis, abdomen, and lower chest. The thoracic (thuh-RA-sik) duct runs up through the chest and empties into the blood through a large vein near the left side of the neck.
- The right lymphatic duct: It collects lymph from the right side of the neck, chest, and arm, and empties into a large vein near the right side of the neck.
These two ducts are often what I work on in order to get clients’ lymph moving along better and to ensure efficient drainage.
Tips to ensure that our lymph is moving along well:
Well now that we know our lymphatic system even better we can help support it so that our lymph fluid moves more easily.
- Hydration, hydration, hydration! Staying hydrated will ensure that enough water is in your body and tissues to keep it flowing and ridding itself of waste products.
- Stretch and exercise! Your lymph system does not have a pump, like a heart, attached to it so fluid moves throughout your lymphatic system using the movements of your body. Move around and stretch plenty and your body will take care of the rest.
- Drain your lymphatic system! Either by visiting a massage therapist or by using lymphatic drainage techniques that you have learned, gently massaging your lymphatic system can help the fluids to move along and can help certain areas of your body to open up better and drain more.
- Try a vibration board! Similar to moving more and massage, vibration boards can help our tissues to wiggle and jiggle, thus letting the lymph flow into the lymph system.
- Try dry brushing! Use a bristle brush that you lightly bring up along your body to your heart and clavicles. Don’t go to deep and be gentle!
- Deep breathing through your rib cage can also help to get your lymph a flowing, especially through your organs and tissues.
If you are experiencing fluid retention or swelling in your tissues and body, consider bringing it up in your next session with Posture Massage to see the benefits of lymphatic drainage massage. You will be amazed at how quickly things can start to look and feel better!
