Said’s Newest Treatment: TCM Lymphatic Drainage
By Said Isayed Owner, TCMD, and Betsy Ranum MA, RN, NBC-HWC
A new service is available at MN Integrative Health Studio. It’s called TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Lymphatic Drainage, offered by MIHS co-owner and TCM expert/wizard Said Isayed, and it’s already wildly popular.
When Said asked me to work with him on an article about TCM Lymphatic Drainage for the blog, we sat down and talked, of course. But I knew I had to do the best kind of “research”: trying a session myself!
The lymphatic system is complex, working in tandem with the blood vessels of the circulatory system to promote healthy fluid balance, immune function, and fat absorption. Lately though, the lymphatic system is also getting attention in popular culture for its role in maintaining general wellness, skin health, and even beauty. Giving attention to the lymphatic system means supporting the body’s natural abilities to flow freely and drain excess, to absorb what we need and release what we don’t.
In a word: the treatment was wonderful. The TCM Lymphatic Drainage session was individualized to me, and included some of my favorite TCM modalities to get my qi moving in the right direction: cupping, tuina (TCM massage), and gua sha (“scraping” using specialized tools to stimulate circulation and release muscle tension).
While it was similar in some ways to other TCM treatments I’ve received, some things were new. I’d never had the back of my legs cupped before! And the focus on circulation felt like a full-body refresh, intense and relaxing at the same time. Said’s masterful knowledge of the human body through the holistic lens of TCM gave me a deeper understanding of what was happening in my system as the treatment transpired.
See below for Betsy’s interview with Said about TCM Lymphatic Drainage–largely recorded from the treatment table!
What inspired you to create a TCM Lymphatic Drainage session?
I've been seeing people after surgeries for years. And using Chinese Medicine treatments to achieve lymphatic drainage, people have very good results. For years, I was working on people with similar issues: post-plastic surgery or liposuction, hip replacement, knee replacement. I was seeing good results, and people told me they were getting better results than with other treatments. People told me they had been to so many other lymphatic drainage treatments, even the ones that the surgeons do. They’d gotten lymphatic drainage, the very professional ones, done. And still they said that after one TCM session, they were like 50% better.
What is the difference between medical lymphatic drainage and TCM Lymphatic Drainage?
Medical lymphatic drainage requires specialized training for lymph-related conditions and symptoms: post-surgery, edema from congestive heart failure, etc. TCM Lymphatic Drainage uses Traditional Chinese Medicine assessment, diagnosis, and modalities to address the symptoms and the person from a holistic, TCM perspective. We do the usual TCM intake assessment process, with extra attention to the circulatory system and the lymphatic system specifically. For example, do you feel swollen after a long day? Do you have a problem with retaining water somewhere? How frequently do you go to the bathroom?
Of course you want to understand people's bodies from a Chinese Medicine perspective. But then it would also be Western medicine kind of questions about symptoms: pains and aches, injuries, swelling, is this an acute injury? Did you just injure yourself or has it been going on for a while. Have you seen a doctor, or do you need to?
Why do you think TCM is so effective for lymphatic drainage?
I think it’s having more tools that fit every condition. This gives you more ways to help people. Because so far, in this session, we've already done cupping, gua sha, tuina…and depending on the person and their condition, you're going to do those in different ways, with different amounts of pressure, different depth, zone, area.
For example, if someone is not open to the idea of cupping, you can do other modalities. Or with areas that are actively swollen, you want to focus more on the surface to stimulate the microcirculation. You can do low or high pressure cupping depending on the needs of the person. You're not restricted. That's the thing about this treatment, is that it's adaptable. Everything in life is adapting. And so with this treatment, you just adapt according to the person.
How is lymph understood in the Chinese Medicine system? How is it conceptually similar or different from the Western medicine concept?
In TCM, lymph is about fluids. You need the fluids to move around the body, to nourish and cool down. But Chinese Medicine doesn't just look at the one thing, or a separate system. It looks at it as everything working together to achieve the goal. These TCM practices (cupping, gua sha, tuina) can improve microcirculation, which helps with many systems.
What do you consider to be contraindications for TCM Lymphatic Drainage?
Basically it's up to the practitioner to assess and use the right modalities for the right condition. There's no contraindication, it’s just we have to assess and use the modalities appropriately. Of course, when people come in, we always assess. We see if someone needs to see a doctor for certain things, if they are seeing a doctor or not, are they on medication, what do they do for self-care? How long has this problem been going on for?
For example, with DVT (deep vein thrombosis) or swelling in their leg, we have to know what to do and make the right decisions about how to work with their body, what to focus on and what to avoid. Or with cancer, a lot of times you don't want to nourish the cancer, you don't want to bring a lot of blood flow.
You ask about medication, like blood thinners or others, which determine the degree of how you work with the pressure and the techniques. You can do it lighter or avoid the area or something like that.
It’s also intuitive. People come in different shapes and conditions. So you have to work around things to achieve the single goal. Someone who's deficient and weak, you've got to work on them in a different way that someone who has a big body, and so on.
The answer is it depends. That's always how it is in Chinese Medicine.
What are the advantages of doing a TCM Lymphatic Drainage session for someone who doesn’t have a particular medical condition, or an obvious concern with lymph–and is just doing it for general wellness?
If people are overall healthy, you could do a quicker general treatment thing and a nice facial treatment. The facial drainage is not just cosmetic. Improving circulation in your neck and face also helps your brain. And when you relax the neck and upper back, your blood pressure can be improved.
If a person comes in without any special condition, you would just do a general treatment to help them improve their lymphatic drainage and circulation. Or if someone has specific questions or requests, like I feel puffy in my face, for example, you focus on the face and neck.
To find out more about TCM Lymphatic Drainage and other Minnesota Integrative Health Studio services, check out our website. You can book online here. Questions? Feel free to contact us, call (612.345.5648), at or stop by “the studio” on our corner of northeast Minneapolis.
Resources
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