Anyone who’s ever been to the physio and been given “homework” will know where I’m going with this. When you return to the physio and they ask if you’ve done your exercises or stretches, you can see that they are ready to sigh. All too often, people are “too busy” or “forget” and expect their health practitioner to do all the work for them. When in the realm of physical problems and treatments, taking a pill isn’t enough. It often requires lifestyle adjustments, such as a change to diet or exercise, or even engaging with a variety of specialist practitioners to achieve the best possible result. It requires the person to “own” their condition and work to improve it.
This is just as true for lymphatic problems. As your lymphatics interact with so many bodily systems, it is vital to explore possible interactions with your practitioner and to consider lifestyle adjustments when suggested. The patients who listen to suggestions and make changes to their lifestyles achieve much greater results than those who continue as before and come for the odd treatment.
I’ve already written about the importance of nutrition and inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in lymphatic drainage, it is important that people consider this, especially in the case of fluid retention in the legs. I’ve had several patients who have tested positive for coeliac, but were told that they could still eat wheat if they didn’t think it affected them. Of course, it did, just not really obviously. This is just one example – it could be all sorts of things. This is best addressed by a good doctor, naturopath or nutritionist. As are conditions that some poor ladies are lumped with, such as endometriosis that also cause inflammation the abdomen.
Similarly, I’ve found over the years that a lot of people with lymphatic problems are highly stressed and prone to over-thinking everything. Some active relaxation or meditation (not just watching telly) will often make a big difference to the level of a lymphatic problem.
But when you come for your consultation we’ll also talk about appropriate exercise levels, workplace factors, when it’s appropriate to wear compression garments and all the various things that can encourage or help fluid build-up in your tissues. If you take this information to heart and look to make positive changes to how you live day-to-day then you should achieve much better results than relying on treatment alone.