Breast Health Education & Lymphatic Massage
Why Breast Health Education & Lymphatics?
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S., with one in eight women developing breast disease in their lifetime. Much like the complex experiences of menopause, many of us only hear a brief mention of breast health. When we reach puberty, we're advised to get a bra and wear it for the rest of our lives.
If you have a child and breast feed, then you get a little more education on the breast, but not how to care for them regularly.
Breast health sessions are designed to help educate women about the lymphatics of breast tissue & teach them how to do a more comprehensive breast exam.
This is especially important for women who have dense breast tissue, as the early signs of breast disease can sometimes be less detectable with traditional mammograms in dense breasts.
Women are taught how to palpate & visually examine their breast tissue, understand where congestion has developed, and how to help care for their breast health using lymphatic drainage. The goal of this work is to empower women with knowledge and tools to help prevent potential breast disease.And to discomfort associated with hormonal fluctuations.
This appointment is designed for any woman or anyone-AFAB that seeks the tools and knowledge to monitor and care for their breast health.
In these sessions you will:
• Be introduced to the Lymphatic System, what it is & its
importance.
• Be taught how to do Manual Lymphatic Drainage for
your breast health.
• Review your thermogram if you've have had one.
• Be given & taught a Breast Exam designed
by Bruce Rind, M.D.
• Be able to identify the variances in your breast tissue so
your are better able monitor your tissue yourself &
therefore notice any changes, should they occur.
• Be instructed on a Lymphatic Self-Breast Massage.
(Which is adjacent to and will build onto your self
lymphatic drainage techniques)
• Be introduced to and shown how cupping improves
breast health.
Anatomy of the female breast showing both the direction of lymphatic flow and of breast milk.
Breast Anatomy - Lymphatic Tubules and Nodes
In this appointment we review what we learned in the Breast Health Education appointment and start using cupping to treat the breast tissue.
The Breast Cupping session will consist of several minutes of breast cupping followed by the Lymphatic breast massage and then repeated several times during the session.
In all sessions, we discuss a care plan for you and introduce additional methods for breast health, as needed.
Often times, clients are being monitored by an integrative physician or naturopath.
OR the client’s plan may include developing a relationship with such and/or other integrative therapies, such as far infrared saunas, castor oil packs, vibrational therapies, acupuncture, chiropractic care, and exercise.
Vacuum Cupping is an additional and more thorough method of affecting the lymphatic tissue of the breasts by both hydrating the tissue and flushing out the lymphatic structures in that area. Using cups large enough to cover each breast, the vacuum pump gently squeezes and releases the tissue intermittently. It's similar to using a breast pump, only on a larger scale, and in many cases it is more comfortable.
In general, cupping assists to increase blood and lymph flow to undernourished and dehydrated tissue. Another benefit is to pull inflammation and cellular wastes from the body tissues so that the skin and lymphatic system can readily eliminate them. With cupping, scar tissue often releases quickly, despite the age of the injury or keloid tendencies.