So yesterday I woke up with a sinus-y head and by the afternoon, had developed a swollen lymph node in my neck. For my body, that usually means all hell is about to break loose. So I did the only thing I knew to do: gave it a little (painful) lymph node massage! I started trying to remember where I originally heard that this was a good idea, and 3 WebMD searches later, had found nothing corroborating my "strategy." I ventured out into the oh-so-reliable world wide web and found a couple of totally conflicting takes on this lymph node massage business.
Both "sides" (i.e. crazy people with no medical degree) agree that lymph node massage is a technique that helps increase circulation in the lymph nodes when they become swollen. The circulation then helps them drain, which is their natural function. They usually swell when your body becomes infected and they try to trap bacteria in the nodes, while producing white blood cells to kill the bacteria. Or something.
So the debate is:
A - massaging the lymph nodes is a good thing, because it helps release all those white blood cells into your system to go fight all that grossness.
OR
B - by doing that, you're also releasing all the bacteria that's been trapped into your system, which means you're actually instigating the sickness.
OR
C - why the hell are you doing that at all.
For the time being, my lymph node is un-swollen and I didn't wake up feeling any worse today than I did yesterday, so who knows. But if anyone has heard one way or the other, tell me! I don't want to sit here releasing toxins into my body (not to mention how painful it is to rub something that's already sore) if it's not for the better! Has anyone heard anything about this...ever? Katie, nurse-friend, anything?
1 comment:
i've not heard either way about what it does, but at rachel's day spa in memphis they offer a lymph node massage as a spa treatment - so i guess it's legit in some way.
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