From Swollen Feet to Vitality: Lymphatic Hacks

In this Stance for Health podcast episode, Dr. Rodney and Karen delve into the often-overlooked lymphatic system and its critical role in maintaining overall health. 

They highlight how this system, responsible for clearing out bodily waste, is frequently taken for granted until issues arise. 

The episode emphasizes the importance of promoting lymph flow to prevent stagnation and associated health problems. The hosts provide practical advice on enhancing lymphatic function through lifestyle changes like movement, saunas, and gentle massage, offering listeners a roadmap to better health by unlocking the potential of their lymphatic system. 

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Transcript

From Swollen Feet to Vitality: Lymphatic Hacks

[00:07] Dr. Rodney: Welcome to Stance for Health podcast with Dr. Rodney and Karen Wirth where becoming healthy is not complicated. Control your health by focusing on six areas of life that we teach you so you finally have the energy you have to do what you want instead of being a victim of your age. I have over 20 years experience working as a chiropractor and Karen is an author, speaker and longevity coach. We've seen how a tiny change in your habits today can open up your life to a powerful future. Start today and take your Stance for Health.

[00:53] Dr. Rodney: Hi and welcome to Stance for Health podcast. I'm Dr. Rodney, seated next to Karen Sebastian Hope Lady Wirth and today we are excited to bring you information about unlocking your lymphatic potential. What jumps out the most to you about this lymphatic system that we possess as human beings?

[01:13] Karen: I think that the lymphatic system is one of the most neglected systems in the body that we take for granted until something goes wrong. In fact, most of us don't even think about our lymph nodes until we hear someone that had breast cancer that had to have her lymph nodes removed and might have lymphedema. So this is such an interesting topic because there is something that you can do on a regular basis that's going to make you feel so much better and can give you better control over your health. And that's what we've been doing now. And I was introduced to it because of the Fat Zapper, which is an incredible Erchonia laser that you target the areas where your fat cells are a little bit too plump and then they get a microscopic pore in them and the excess fat goes into the interstitial space. You have to use your lymphatic system to flush that out and to get rid of it. I have not fully understood the lymphatic system, so I'm going to ask you some questions. Why is the lymphatic system so important?

[02:23] Dr. Rodney: I'm glad you asked that question. Like so many other parts of our body that we don't often think of, the lymphatic system in terms of of service to your body is like the feet. You don't think about it until they're talking to you. Well, sometimes at the end of the day your feet might be swollen because you haven't been move around much.

[02:47] Karen: I know that. I also was just thinking about the fact that I know I have lymph nodes. When I've got a sore throat and some lymph nodes have collected something in them, the white blood cells of the lymphocytes that are there to help me fight infection or they're getting there, collecting what should not be there. And so I think that's in a nutshell is we don't think about our lymphatic system until there's a stagnation point.

[03:18] Dr. Rodney: I've underestimated for years the number of lymphatic vessels that it takes to do the job, to basically to be the garbage pickup or the garbage collector, the toilet if you will, for the circulatory system. So much in fact, that you have the circulatory system, you have that number of vessels. So think of that as a fixed number of vessels. Now think of how many lymphatic vessels you have. It's multiplied five times.

[03:50] Karen: Oh, I didn't know that.

[03:52] Dr. Rodney: Yeah.

[03:52] Karen: What.

[03:53] Dr. Rodney: We'll talk more about this when we go into the actual mechanisms of how to flush your lymphatic system or encourage it. But that's where the coming to, to stance and, and places like what we do, you, you can't, you can't perform an adjustment, a chiropractic adjustment without affecting the lymphatic system.

[04:12] Karen: And that is something that's so often neglected because people think of chiropractic as let me get out of pain versus let me get healthier. Not just in the nervous system, but now as we're seeing, in the lymphatic system as well. And I love that we are addressing this because we, what we have today in our society due to our lifestyle is we have a lot of people whose lymphatic system is struggling. So how do I know if my lymphatic system is struggling?

[04:49] Dr. Rodney: I'm glad you asked that because I was in a discussion with one of our son in laws a while back and he sits a lot. That's his job. He has to do a lot of work in the seated position. And most of us do, let's just face it, most of us are desk jockeys. And he had complained about having swollen feet. Well, you might also have swelling around your collarbones, which is where there are some significant puffy armpits. Puffy armpits, sure. And then, you know, obviously chronic infections or inflammation or autoimmune disorders.

[05:25] Karen: Some people that just go from one.

[05:27] Dr. Rodney: Infection to another, even chronic pain and unexplained weight gain. It's another one of those things where it's a little bit like you're swimming in it. You're a fish and you're swimming in it and you don't even know it's water. It's like, okay, oh, well, how's the water today? And the answer would be, what in the world is water? Well, this is the lymphatic system. It's what we're swimming in and we don't even know it.

[05:50] Karen: What leads to that stagnation?

[05:52] Dr. Rodney: We just talked about its lack of motion at the joints, many of the joints of which connect either to your torso or connect. Like where you're flexing at the knee or you're flexing at the elbow, or you're leaning your head left and right, looking left and right, basically any kind of novel motion that you do throughout the day. Deep diaphragmatic breathing.

[06:18] Karen: So what do we do about it then? Because I'm not going to be able to leave my job of running at the computer. So what recommendations do we have for people?

[06:31] Dr. Rodney: That is so good. That is such a great question. It’s so overwhelming. Let's break it down. Let's make it really simple. I think that getting involved in a health club that has a sauna and then being able to do what you're about to talk about in that sauna, which actually amplifies the effects of lymphatics or lymphatic stimulation. Right. From what.

[06:58] Karen: I think that one of the things that I've learned that I absolutely love doing is that there are massage points, places that you can massage, and that if you do that consistently, even for 30 seconds, and the most important one is the left collarbone. Can you explain that?

[07:19] Dr. Rodney: That's where the thoracic duct, one of the main lymphatic vessels that I mentioned earlier, actually drains right into the subclavian vein.

[07:29] Karen: Okay, so that's where it's needing.

[07:32] Dr. Rodney: Yes, stepping. And it's coming from lymph nodes in your neck and lymph nodes in your axillary region and lymph nodes all over your body For.

[07:41] Karen: I've been training women in the sauna how to do this lymphatic massage. And I came in one day and a lady was just whacking herself so hard. And I said, what are you doing? She says, I'm doing lymphatic massage, but it's gentle. You don't want to leave bruises. You don't want to hurt yourself. And I think that's really, really important. And you have your collarbone, so you want to do above and below the collarbone. So you're rubbing it and tapping it. You do both sides. You can do them at the same time. But I do recommend that you focus.

[08:18] Dr. Rodney: First, on that lesson, for those of you that aren't as familiar with anatomy as you'd like to be, think of it as the highest bones on your chest. The places where if you pound up by your neck, if you bang into it real hard like you've hit your. Your shin or something, because it's a bone that's so close to the skin.

[08:34] Karen: So that's the collarbone. Then the second place is do a Spock movement with your hands where you separate the fingers.

[08:44] Dr. Rodney: What if I don't know how to live long and prosper?

[08:46] Karen: Yeah, there you go. But what you're wanting to do is you want to rub behind your neck and then by your ears.

[08:53] Dr. Rodney: With that, you're splitting the difference in, like your third digit from your thumb, index, middle finger, and then your ring finger and pinky are on one side of your ear. Then your thumb and your index finger and your middle finger on the other side of your ear.

[09:08] Karen: Absolutely. Next is your armpit. You can squeeze it. I like to do everything by threes. You squeeze three times and then you pat your armpit and you just go, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, pat, pat, pat, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, pat, pat, pat. Next is diaphragmatic breathing. Now, this is critical because too many people, when you say breathe, what happens?

[09:34] Dr. Rodney: They are locked in stress mode. They're locked in fear, fight or flight, some form of threat, and they don't even know it.

[09:42] Karen: And that's with their. The chest going up in front. So what I recommend is that you put one hand on your chest and the other on your belly, so to speak. And then you make sure that when you breathe in, your belly goes out, so it's. And then back.

[10:01] Dr. Rodney: So in other words, I shouldn't be concerned about making my tummy look round?

[10:06] Karen: No, not at all.

[10:07] Dr. Rodney: It's designed to look that way.

[10:09] Karen: Exactly. Now, the next one is inguinal, where you flex your. Your hips and you can make your hand like you're going to do a karate chop. And then you rub both sides and pat, pat, pat from both sides. Pat, pat, pat. Behind your knees is another one. Okay, so that's very important.

[10:29] Dr. Rodney: So you're encouraging fluid, lymph, lymphatic fluid from your lower extremities, from your legs, from your knees and such.

[10:38] Karen: Like I said before, you go behind your knees. You can even do your ankles. If you're having cankles, you're rubbing that. And another one that's not mentioned, that can also be important is the area right in your arm where you bend, where your elbow would Be the front part of that. And so, as you can see, it's important to move.

[11:02] Dr. Rodney: And when we talk about lymphatics, I've been doing myofascial release and percussive therapy now for over 20 years. This is like the 21st year that I've implemented it. And all of these points are addressed in the procedure that is performed. When you come to stance, it's more than working on the fascia. It's actually working on the lymphatics, as it turns out. And all these places that Karen has mentioned. The power of motion is really what we've wanted to talk about before. Chiropractic actually helps to restore proper motion to not just your spine, obviously, but with the type of thing that we do with the core exercises that we recommend with stretches. We're doing core stretches, and that will actually increase the amount of lymphatic drainage that's taking place and its efficiency.

[12:01] Karen: Absolutely. So moving, walking briskly and swinging your arms. That arm swing is so important. How many times do we see people walking by our house and they are out walking? More power to them. What are they doing? They are on their phone, Their heads are down. They're holding their phone with one hand, and they're walking the dog with the other. They're not getting the lymphatic benefit.

[12:31] Dr. Rodney: So in other words, that's movement, but it's not as purposeful as it could be.

[12:35] Karen: Perfectly. Rebounding on a mini trampoline or a balance ball.

[12:41] Dr. Rodney: Right.

[12:41] Dr. Rodney: Or even, like jumping jacks.

[12:43] Karen: Yes.

[12:44] Dr. Rodney: If you don't have access to that at a given time.

[12:46] Karen: Yes. Dancing and flowing movements. So that's pretty fun.

[12:51] Dr. Rodney: Yeah.

[12:52] Karen: And dry brushing. That's something. If you want more information on lymphatic accelerators, you can come and I'll be happy to give you some information on the sirona and at the same time, the lymphatic exercises.

[13:12] Dr. Rodney: Thank you.

[13:13] Karen: And vibe plate. That's part of what you get every time you come to get an adjustment and do the neuro-rehab here at Stance Chiropractic. It's what we're doing to wake up the brain, and it actually gives people exercise. It's been so amazing lately because you can take pulse, and they're amazed that by just standing there, it seems like they're doing nothing, but their body is having to adjust. That is also helping with the lymphatics.

[13:42] Dr. Rodney: Absolutely. One of the reasons we love doing this is because it fits so much with scripture. Have you ever heard the term before? Maybe even outside of the Church or outside of scripture. Have you ever heard of laughter is like a medicine? Right. And now we're starting to see why. Because belly laughter actually stimulates lymphatic flow.

[14:03] Karen: Yes. I mean, we're not talking about a sarcastic. We're talking about the kind of laughter where your sides hurt. And that's so important. Hot, cold showers can also do it. That's not a very popular one with the people that I suggest it to, but you can start with 30 seconds at the end of each shower. There, your nice hot shower, turn it to cold for 30 seconds. Now, if you can manage to get up to five to seven times back, hot, cold, hot, cold. That's going to be the best thing for getting your lymphatic system just going again.

[14:46] Dr. Rodney: And so one of the benefits of doing this that is somewhat secondary, but it's tied in with why we are doing all this. It's. It's to. To help you take your stance for health. And, and what we want to do is, is help you go the distance. And some of the things that will get in the way of that is when you have a sluggish lymphatic system, it's gonna back up and affect your cardiovascular system. And guess what? It's gonna affect the glymphatic system and therefore your brain. So what. What we're getting at is that this can actually help to reduce incidence of heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and, you guessed it, dementia. There is some connection to that.

[15:30] Karen: That's breathtaking.

[15:31] Dr. Rodney: Right?

[15:32] Karen: And I'm so grateful that we have a practice of going to the sauna at a minimum twice a week. And I'll have to get you trained better to get all those guys in the sauna. The way it's a separate sauna, the women have their own. Thank goodness. I think it's just fun because when I walk in now, they go, oh, it's Karen. It's the lymphatic lady, massage lady. And I love that because I just, I share that for free, knowing that that is going to help them take…

[16:08] Dr. Rodney: Their stance for health. So good to meet with you today. We'll talk to you next time.

[16:17] Dr. Rodney: Thank you for joining us at Stance for Health Podcast, where getting healthy and staying that way are not as complicated as you might think. Subscribe now and discover steps and small changes that can increase your energy and open the door to vibrant health and longevity. If this podcast has been helpful, please write a review. We'll see you next time.