Building the Immune System; Massage for the Colder Months

Live Holistically is a multi-author site.
This post was written by: Susan Blue

Ahhh!!!! Somehow getting a massage during the colder time of years seems to just get it for me. Maybe it is because my therapists hand heat up and when it is cooler, it feels so much more.

But more than that. Winter is my cross country ski and snow shoe time. Though I am not as active as I once was, sports massage has always been one of my favorite things to look forward to in the winter time.

I am ahead of myself. It is clean the gutters and get the leaves raked up and the deep mulching done. I look forward to my massages after the end of a week end doing yard work.

Shoveling gets me. I switch sides as I shovel. Several old whiplash injuries make my neck and upper back talk after the shoveling is done. I am not alone on this. Several of my clients have the same body issues.

Fall comes and I get out the heating pad that goes underneath the sheets. Not everyone wants it on at this time of the year. But those who do, appreciate a little cosy comfort with their body work.

Fall also bring flue season. My massages are part of keeping my immunity up. Besides sports massage, I get Lymphatic Drainage Massage. Our lymph system is part of our immune system. It is the little lumps and nodules you can get under your ears and around your throat. These little swellings tell us our body is fighting something foreign. It can be allergies, to many pollutants in the air, or a flue virus.

Our lymph system has 3 to 4 times the amount of blood veins and arteries. Who would have thunk?

Here is how it works:

• Between every little two capillaries (these are the smallest of the blood vessels) there is a lymph vein. Out of the capillary, the blood plasma (this is the clear fluid that carries the blood cells) oozes out into the cells. This is the end of the line for nutrients in the blood plasma. That fluid bathes the cells; delivering the groceries while picking up the trash (cellular waste). When this blood plasma is out there doing the delivery, it is now called interstitial fluids. It is the same fluid, it just has a different name because of its location.
• The little lymph vessel is the return station. The interstitial fluids enter here and become lymph fluid. Remember, it is the same fluid, the name has changed again. This is an enclosed hydraulic system. The movement of the body from respiration, daily activities and exercise moves the lymph through the veins. There are little gates along the way to keep it from flowing backwards.
• In the lymph veins are little stations that house cells that will act as guards. These stations are called lymph nodes. They will gather and hold viruses, bacterias, and other stuff. If your body has some swelling in the nodes around your neck or arm pits; you know your immune system is at work. There are too many of the bad guys to send through for your body to eliminate. They are being held until your system can deal with it.
• Another factor of your immunity are cells that travel throughout body. They are like pacman. They chomp up and eat any bacteria, virus, cellular debris or other stuff. These are T Cells. They are voracious.
• All the lymph vessels drain into a large vessels that dumps the lymphatic fluids into the heart. Now it becomes blood plasma. Blood gets oxygenated from the lungs.
• Your breath has the ability to carry out 80% of the wastes that the lymph has just brought in. So get busy and get a deep breathing practice going. Most of us use only 30% capacity of our lungs. That means our skin (biggest eliminating organ of our body), kidneys and bowels have to take the load and dump it.