Speed your recovery....practice massage?!
The connection between innate and adaptive immunity absolutely
requires the lymphatic system. Dendritic
cells are phagocytic cells that reside at interfaces between the body and the
external environment. At sites of
inflammation, immature dendritic cells take up foreign particles and enter the
lymphatic system. These are very low
pressure specialized vessels meant to drain excess fluid from tissues and also
aid in immunity. Lymphatic flow is
particularly slow (like a trickle), meaning that a dendritic cell carrying
information about a foreign invader may not reach a lymph node for days! The lymph node is the site where the
dendritic cell can present antigen and activate an adaptive immune response
characterized by the activation of T and B cells. A major component of the
delay between innate and adaptive immune responses is the slow moving
lymph! This brings up an interesting
idea, that someone in class had mentioned during lecture. Can athletes speed recovery from infection
compared to sedentary individuals because they perturb their lymph to move faster
through physical movement? The answer
may be yes, but say you are a couch potato.
Should you miss out of opportunities to speed your recovery?
This is when I stumbled upon Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD)
massage. This is a type of gentle massage
(that therapists must take special classes in order to receive certification!)
meant to aid or speed natural lymphatic drainage and flow. Scouring through many websites I have found
that this massage is a common therapy for lymphedema but also claims that it
can boost immunity, reduce swelling and pain, release toxins, and even reduce
stress! Even more spectacularly, I found a youtube video showing how to do self
lymphatic massage! But just be careful,
because if you push with too much force you can actually collapse the lymphatic
vessel and be in a worse spot than you were before. Intriguing?
Cooky? What do you think?
Hey Courtney,
ReplyDeleteVery intriguing (and a little cooky). During your research of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) massage, did you encounter any studies supporting its effectiveness?
This technique has been used for over 7 decades in Europe (where it started) and is an accepted treatment for edema following surgery. There have been papers and studies which have all found this type of massage to be beneficial for reduction of edema. In contrast, there is "talk" that this massage could be beneficial for overall immunity or to fight your common cold, but no primary papers or studies to back that up. Therefore, it definitely is a little bit cooky! There was a paper in 2009 (Kim SJ, Kwon OY, Yi CH. Effects of manual lymph drainage on cardiac autonomic tone in healthy subjects Int J Neurosci. 2009;119(8):1105-17) which showed a significant decrease in heart rate in subjects undergoing the massage (sympathetic nervous system). So if for nothing else, it could be relaxing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding and providing the citation. After taking a look at the study, it was likely underpowered (N = 32), but interesting nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteDid you find much regarding infection or recovery from infection among athletes (or highly active individuals) compared to non-athletes (or those with sedentary lifestyle)? After the lecture in which it was brought up, I did a quick search and found a few things. One study suggests that after long-term intensive training, the innate immune system may actually be negatively impacted (Morgado, 2012). Note: This study also had a small sample size (N = 29).
http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/10910293
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21584686
http://www.springerlink.com.hsl-ezproxy.ucdenver.edu/content/8711662777151212/fulltext.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17414793
I think this is very interesting! It does sound intriguing but a little cooky when talking about releasing toxins. Ive heard a lot of small talk about ways to detox your body and their potential benefits. Many of them require crazy diets and restrictions however, it is good to know that there are other, safer ways to detox! Did any of the websites you saw mention anything about the other benefits of this type of massage?
ReplyDeleteThis suggestion does make sense. Athletes get sports massages in order to increase blood flow to their muscles and to increase their range of motion. With the lymph system being very close in proximity to the systemic circulation, I guess you could extrapolate and say that this MLD massage technique has several beneficial outcomes. Though people have to get certified, I wonder if the cons outweigh the pros. Any idea how successful the MLD massage really is, compared to how often there is an injury or something goes awry?
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really interesting concept because I think that anything that you can do to speed up recovery is also a plus. It reminds me of a YouTube video I watched of someone's nightly facial routine and they used what looked like a smooth rock to massage their face down their neck to reduce swelling and puffiness in their face due to excess lymph. I wonder if this type of massage can also be applied to other things like as a way of preventing fluid pooling and swelling when you're stuck on a airplane sitting down for so long or for people that have office jobs and are constantly at the desk.
ReplyDeleteI found these links that talk about benefits and one of them even has case studies.
http://www.lymphaticdrainagemassage.co.uk/BenefitsofMLD/tabid/221/Default.aspx
http://www.positivehealth.com/article/manual-lymphatic-drainage/manual-lymphatic-drainage-and-its-therapeutic-benefits
(Am I missing the link to your YouTube vid, Courtney?)
ReplyDelete