When You Can't Sleep Because of the Pain: What I'd do to relieve my Lipedema leg pain.
Hi Everyone,
Before I had liposuction surgery, I didn’t sleep well. Every night, I’d wake up around 2 am with pain in my lower legs. My shins were tight and tender to the touch.
I’d lay there for a moment, thinking I might be able to get back to sleep. After a half hour or so, I’d realize the pain wasn’t going to let me. So, I’d start doing manual lymph drainage (MLD), as my physical therapist taught me.
I’d sit up in bed, lightly massaging my legs and thighs. MLD usually takes an hour if you do it right. Here’s how my lymphatic therapist taught me:
Start with diaphragmatic breathing: Lay on your back and inhale through your nose. Breath down into your abdomen. You will be able to see your belly rise. Exhale through your mouth, you’ll see your belly fall. This exercise gets your lymphatic system moving.
Lightly brush your shoulders/chest: Take your right hand and put it on your left shoulder, palm open. Lightly drag your hand down and toward the opposite (right) breast. Do that three times and then repeat on the other side.
Abdomen massage: Place your fingers, on your lower abdomen. Brush them lightly upward. Then put your right hand on your left side and lightly brush your fingers inward towards your belly button. Repeat on the other side.
Leg massage: This takes the longest time. Sitting up, use both hands and place them behind your leg on either side. Move your fingers around to the front and upwards. Do this several times on both upper and lower legs.
It’s important to be light with your touch; this isn’t regular muscle massage. The light skin stroking moves your lymphatic system, which is your goal; moving your lymph nodes so they can help flush the edema will help decrease your swelling and pain.
These directions are not exactly specific for MLD, but it’s a good start if you haven’t had some teaching by an MLD specialist.
In the meantime—here’s a video you can watch to get yourself more familiar with this practice:
Take care,
Michelle