Lymphatic massage is very safe when done correctly, but it’s not for everyone. Anyone with active cancer, blood clots, acute infections, severe heart conditions, kidney issues, fever or any other health conditions should always check with a doctor first.
The massage
To give yourself a lymphatic massage, you’ll need the right tools and technique. The experts break it down:
Assemble the materials
For treatments in her Los Angeles space, Lanini uses a custom blended cream that’s formulated with caffeine and antioxidants. But at home, “any oil or cream you have can be used to self-drain,” she says. The pro recommends massaging the arms, legs and stomach up to 3 to 4 times a week at home. “However, when done by a professional,” she explains, “1 or 2 times a week is enough, but each body is different.”
Upper body
To begin, Lanini suggests standing in front of the mirror and pressing on the area just below your collarbones to get the drainage started. “Then press the armpit three times with your right hand and vice versa.” Lanini urges clients to move their strokes in the direction of the lymph node or upward, always. Next, continue moving over the arms with light pressure from the elbow to the shoulder and repeat on the other side. To massage the stomach, press your palms flat down onto the area in between your hip bones and “with hands overlapping, make circular movements around the navel button 5 times,” she says. “Then pinch the entire stomach area” for about a minute, until the skin is slightly pink.
Lower body
Gospic says when it comes to massaging the lower body, everything will move upward toward the groin. She says to start with your hands in the crease, where your thigh meets the pelvis and use gentle inward strokes or pumps. Next, you’ll move to the feet and ankles, where she says to sweep the movement at the top of the foot toward the ankle. Once at the ankle, you’ll move to the mid-calf several times.
After moving on to the calves, she says to apply light presses from the ankle to the back of the knee. From the front of the knee, you’ll want to work up to the groin and then the back will go from behind the knee to your glutes and then to the groin. Finish up in clockwise circular massages from the hip to the groin, followed by diagonal sweeps.
Face
Bolvary says that a facial lymphatic massage gives you pretty instant results. You’ll want to start with clean skin and a little oil or serum, so your hands will easily glide when applying pressure. She says to start at the neck with gentle, downward strokes toward the collarbones and then move along the jawline from the centre outward. Then you’ll sweep the cheeks from the nose towards the ears, using very light pressure under the eyes, moving outward. Finish with the forehead by sweeping movement from the centre to the temples. “Then guide everything back down the neck,” she says.
Ensure proper after-care
The entire process should take about 15 to 20 minutes, but after care is perhaps the most important part of the equation. Lanini recommends prioritising hydration for 48 hours post treatment to promote drainage. She also suggests “avoiding sugar, alcohol, gluten and sodium” as much as possible, but to remember that we are all only human. “No need to obsess.”
How often should I do lymphatic drainage massage at home?
Bolvary usually recommends doing it three to five times a week for your body. Gospic says daily may be fine if you feel comfortable doing so and if you’re gentle with your pressure. For times where you’re dealing with inflammation (think PMS, travel, stress, eating lots of salty food), she adds that doing a lymphatic massage at home can change how you feel and look. But as with anything, the best results come when you’re consistent with it. “Lymphatic massage works best as a regular self-care ritual rather than something you can only do once in a while,” says Bolvary.
When to seek professional help?
While it’s easy to do a lymphatic massage on your own, there are times that require a more professional touch. “A trained practitioner isn’t just performing strokes,” says Gospic. “They’re reading your body like a map: congestion patterns, tissue quality, posture, breathing and how your system responds. That level of personalisation is impossible to fully recreate at home.”
