More on the lymphatic massage

I think I remember now that the physiotherapist asked me to wear loose clothes this coming Monday because she's going to try bandaging my arm after giving me the lymphatic massage. In that case, it would only stay on until Thursday. Either way, I'll wear a top (or combination of tops - I usually wear a t-shirt and sweater combination) with loose-fitting sleeves.

The physiotherapist told me that the fluid under the skin contains cellular waste products and that the lymphatic massage will help those waste products to be filtered out and cleared from the body. It's important to drink lots of water to help this stuff be processed. I did some research and it seems that some people get lymphatic massages to clear the body of toxins (although they really mean cellular waste products and not external toxins).

Anyways, these waste products and the extra fluid end up being filtered through the kidneys and liver. Therefore, my physiotherapist warned me that I might feel a bit nauseous or off my food and that there might be an increase in sweat, urine, or bowel movements. She also warned me that the cellular waste products can change the smell of those secretions and excretions.

She was right on all counts - everything she described, I felt or experienced. I also felt that pain in my right side that I keep thinking is my liver but is most likely my bowel which I figure was also related to the side effects of the lymphatic massage. All of these things together tell me that the lymphatic massage definitely had some effect.

I'm feeling a bit better this evening even though I'm still off my food. I'll eat food but I won't seek it out and I'm not getting exciting about it. Maybe that's a good thing?

I've been doing the exercises that I've been given and so far I've only had problems with one of them. In that one, I lie flat on my back, raise my bent knee, grasp my shin, and bounce the knee back towards my chest using only my hips and not my back. The ball of my femur is too big for the hip socket which greatly reduces my flexibility and this exercise strains the limits of what little flexibility I have. I'll talk to my physiotherapist on Monday about changing that exercise to account for my hips.