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> also anyone know how is lymph pumped? I don't think the heart pump lymph so is it stagnant? I have a close friend who is working on getting certified as a ma
by d4mi3n 4y ago
> also anyone know how is lymph pumped? I don't think the heart pump lymph so is it stagnant?
I have a close friend who is working on getting certified as a massage therapist. Skeletal, muscular, and vascular anatomy make up a big part of the required knowledge for the certification.
Two interesting things I learned from them:
1. The lymphatic system is massive and runs alongside our vascular system. For example, there are many lymphatic veins that run through the head and face that empty out just near our clavicle, where they’re the picked up by large vascular veins to the heart, and then on to the liver for filtration.
2. The lymph system is not attached to our heat, and movement of fluid in those veins is purely driven by mechanical motion of our bodies. This is often why paraplegics or folks with other forms of paralysis end up with swollen feet—lymphatic fluid gets trapped in the extremities and collects whoever gravity dictates.
Fascinating stuff. Gave me a much greater appreciation for the level of knowledge and skill to be a massage therapist.
- SemanticStrengh 4y agoWow I wonder how much power does gravity has over lymph repartition in the body? I mean wether I lay down or stand still probably impact the "coverage" of our body by the immune system. There might be correlates between time to recovery and human position and movements then. BTW bugs do not have vascularisation their body is one single flask of stagnant fluid. And their brain is distributed..
- d4mi3n 4y agoFun fact: one of the red flag symptoms of a headache or migraine is if it is significantly less severe sitting up vs lying down. Or if it gets worse when you sneeze. I am NOT a doctor, but IIRC this can be a signal of serious issues they could be causing such a headache, as it means the blood pressure caused by lying down or sneezing is potentially stressing vascular structure in your head. See: https://youtu.be/d2vW_CHWqo4 https://youtu.be/d2vW_CHWqo4
- iamacyborg 4y agoA thing I find interesting is that autopsies are finding that folks with tattoos end up with stained lymph nodes as the tattoo ink gets spread through the lymphatic system. As tattoos have become hugely popular in the last couple decades I wonder if we’ll start seeing more health problems associated with the chemicals used in inks.
- kaba0 4y agoInk is known to be found in the blood for a bit of time after the tattoo (people can’t even donate for a year after where I live?). So it is not that surprising to find it in lymph nodes whose very purpose is to accumulate foreign things in the body and possibly make them “meet” with immune cells. Also, tattoos are not completely static structures, they are tiny ink droplets that do get collected by our body — we are just unable to handle a certain size of them. Tatto removal works exactly by breaking up the ink to smaller pieces which our cells can handle.
- iamacyborg 4y agoIt used to be 12 months in the UK for giving blood after getting a tattoo too, but they changed it fairly recently to be after 4 months.
- agumonkey 4y agoDo they talk about enforcing good cardiovascular health and PE as a way to maintain lymphathic drain too ?
- d4mi3n 4y agoNo idea, but from what I’ve head it’s commonly understood that people who regularly move and exercise will generally have better lymph circulation for that reason.
- agumonkey 4y agoYeah it makes sense but it's folk level logic so I was curious if it was mentioned in classes too. Personally, even wounds heal faster now that I took biking again. Digestion too.. we're really made to move on a regular basis.