[continued from Tales of a Lymph Drainage Therapist.]
In our interview with Dr. Bruno Chikly, he mentioned a special technique for treating cellulite with lymph drainage therapy. Lucky for us, Mya is ready to fill us in with the details.
Just as with other ailments, LDT therapists treat cellulite by manually following the lymphatic flow and feeling for areas of congestion. When they find one in an area of cellulite, they shape their hands into a diamond formation, forefingers and thumbs together. Then they gently compress the diamond formation against the skin, pulling the blood to the surface.
Mya demonstrates the technique for me. It is such a light touch, I was surprised when she lifted her hands to reveal a rosy diamond outline along the area she was working. This technique is followed with regular LDT strokes to drain the congested lymph out of the region (this is the part that makes you feel “like you’re being stroked with a feather by a fairy”).
“But that takes a bit of doing,” Mya explains, “depending on how much cellulite you have to work on. Cellulite is basically a longstanding lymphedema. It takes a bit of time and sequencing.”
Lymph drainage is a therapy you can perform at home, but it does require training. It’s difficult to teach the technique through a book, let alone a blog post. And there’s simply no substitute for the decades of experience of a skilled LDT practitioner like Mya.
If you’re interested in trying Lymph Drainage Therapy, but you’re not lucky enough to live close enough to schedule an appointment with Mya, you can find a lymphatic therapist through the National Lymphedema Network.
Mya Breman is a licensed clinical social worker and a licensed massage therapist. In her twenty years at the world-renowned Upledger Institute, Mya considers herself lucky to have been mentored by Dr. John Upledger, the developer of cranio-sacral therapy, and Dr. Bruno Chikly, the developer of lymph drainage therapy (LDT).
She now carries on their work by teaching and lecturing all over the world while continuing to care for clients through personal sessions. You can contact her through her website, http://mya-breman.com.
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Interesting stuff!
wow! Another great reason to make room for massage in your life!
This is interesting. I'm having my first lymph drainage massage next week and will be really paying attention to see what's going on after reading this post.
latebloomer –Please let us know how the session goes! The first session is always interesting because it's such a unique treatment. If you think of it, ask her what kind of lymph drainage technique she uses. If it's Lymph Drainage Therapy (LDT), then she is using Dr. Chikly's technique with the Manual Lymphatic Mapping. I still can't image how they are able to feel the lymphatic flow and rhythm with their hands!
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