If you’re a sucker for a good health and wellness beauty trend, you’re going to love this new one.
Move over celery juice, there’s a new wellness trend taking over Instagram and TikTok and we’re here for it. If your social feed has looked anything like ours over the past few months, then you would have noticed influencers, bloggers and models alike posting about getting something called a lymphatic drainage massage to detoxify their bodies. After seeing some before and after pictures, we did some investigating for ourselves (and you guys, of course) and this is what we discovered.
What is the Lymphatic System?
Despite gaining huge popularity recently, lymphatic drainage massages have been around since the 1930’s. To really understand how they work it’s important to touch on the lymphatic system itself. As part of life, our bodies build up toxins. It’s the lymphatic system’s job to remove these toxins and waste by transporting lymph (which is a clear, slightly yellow fluid) throughout the body through a network of tissues and organs via our lymph nodes. Essentially, it works to clean our bodies as well as maintain healthy fluid levels.
What is a Lymphatic Drainage Massage?
A lymphatic drainage massage is a massage known to help speed up the removal of waste and toxins from the body. It aids our lymphatic system by applying intensity using a particular stroke pattern to send lymphatic fluid towards the nearby lymph nodes. This in turn results in a number of benefits, ranging from clearer skin to a reduction in swelling and water retention, making your stomach, face or the particular areas it has worked appear leaner and de-puffed. Some additional benefits of a lymphatic drainage massage include: increased circulation, boosted immune system, improved digestion, reduced appearance of cellulite and stretch marks, boosted metabolism and improved hormonal balance.
Where do I get one?
Like all massages, a professional is always preferred, however considering we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and that might not be an option we have found some great tips online to get you started. Wellness TikToker Carly White has shared this great morning massage that will drain your face lymph nodes & de-puff. It takes a few minutes and she recommends adding it to your routine for noticeable difference. You can do it with your fingers like Carly or use a gua sha facial tool for some extra grit. Health and wellness guro, Melissa Wood has also shared an IGTV here on how she gives herself a quick at home lymphatic drainage massage on her body using a dry brush. Because we take our research very seriously, we also found the actual masseuse who looks after Hailey Bieber, Shay Mitchell, Winnie Harlow and lots more celebrities. For those of you who are interested in stalking her results (and visiting when it’s safe to do so) you can find her on Instagram here. While she’s based in Hollywood, once travel is permitted post-coronavirus you can book your visit. If it’s good enough for Hailey, it’s good enough for us.
BRB, we’re off to practice our massage moves.
