Should you purge after a lymphatic drainage treatment?

Short answer: no.

I'm Jen Wilson, The Healing Rebel, and this episode is me getting into why the "go hard or go home" mentality has crept into lymphatic drainage, why some practitioners are pushing aggressive treatments designed to make you purge afterwards, and why that's the opposite of what your body actually needs to heal.

This episode came out of a conversation with a fellow massage therapist friend whose client kept going to someone else for lymphatic drainage because she always had a big purge afterwards. My reaction was: no. That's not what's meant to happen.

What I cover:

What purging actually is and when it's appropriate (sickness, diarrhoea, your body clearing something genuinely harmful)

Why a treatment that makes you purge is too aggressive for your nervous system

The concept of a "healing crisis" and why it's a red flag, not a badge of honour

How the parasympathetic nervous system safety is where healing actually happens

The Vodder technique I was trained in, and how a proper, gentle lymphatic drainage treatment works

Why the dramatic before-and-after photos of lymphatic drainage are mostly fluid loss that comes straight back

Why getting lymphatic drainage before your holiday won't keep you looking sculpted on the beach

What aggressive treatments actually cost you (vitamins, minerals, microbiome)

Why being soothed during a treatment matters more than the manual technique itself

How to support your lymphatic system at home in as little as one minute a day

A few questions I answer:

Should you purge after lymphatic drainage?

What is a healing crisis, and is it real?

Why does my body purge after some treatments?

Is aggressive lymphatic drainage better than gentle?

Can I do lymphatic drainage on myself?

Does lymphatic drainage help you look thinner?

Free download: my Lymphatic Drainage Self-Care Routine. A gentle, guided way to support your lymphatic system every day, in as little as a minute. https://iamjenwilson.thrivecart.com/lymph/

If you're in or around Glasgow and you'd like to come in for a proper, gentle Manual Lymphatic Drainage treatment, all the booking details are over at www.iamjenwilson.comGet my book 9 Rules to Sort Your Shit here - https://amzn.to/4eYtVnqRebel and Divine Anarchist hoodies and t-shirts here https://iamjenwilson-2.teemill.com/collection/new/Gut Friendly, Easy Recipe book here https://amzn.to/4gJsGICFollow my social channelsSubscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/iamjenwilsonLike my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/IamJenWilsonFollow me on Instagram https://instagram.com/iam.jenwilson

Is trauma stored in the body? Can fascia release heal it? Is there one modality, one practitioner, one magic pill that's finally going to fix you?

Short answer: no.

I'm Jen Wilson, The Healing Rebel, and this episode is me wading into the conversation (and in some places, the argument) that's playing out across the wellness industry right now. There's a particular kind of marketing happening where practitioners are promising trauma release through fascia work, and there's a particular kind of seeking happening where people are looking for the one thing that'll resolve everything.

I want to talk honestly about what's actually going on in your body when you experience trauma, what fascia is and isn't, what touch and movement and breath actually do, and why the "pill for every ill" mentality keeps us stuck.

What I cover:

Why The Body Keeps the Score has been overtaken by newer thinking (the brain keeps the score, the body is the scorecard)

Why two people can go through the same experience and only one comes out traumatised

How trauma creates patterns of movement, holding, and bracing in your body

A real client example of how a car collision shaped how she held herself in the driver's seat

My own example of holding patterns after my last Crohn's flare and the 2-year process of unwinding them

Whether fascia actually "holds" trauma in any meaningful way

Why emotional release during bodywork is real but isn't quite what people think it is

The role of touch, movement, and diaphragmatic breath in your body's natural processing

Why your lymphatic system needs breath and movement to do its job

How tears, sweat, and exhaling breath are part of your body's detoxification process

Why we've been culturally trained out of expressing emotion, and how to retrain ourselves

The "pill for every ill" mentality and why it keeps us stuck

You are not broken. You don't need to be fixed.

A few questions I answer:

Is trauma actually stored in the body?

Can fascia release heal trauma?

Is fascia an organ?

Why do I cry during massage or fascia work?

the difference between trauma and holding patterns?

Why is touch so important for healing?

Why does diaphragmatic breath matter for the lymphatic system?

This is for anyone who's been on the wellness path long enough to feel exhausted by the constant search for the next thing.

There's no one path through. There's only what's right for you.

Free download: my Lymphatic Drainage Routine. A simple way to start touching your own body with awareness, getting to know your own physiology, and supporting your natural detoxification process. https://iamjenwilson.thrivecart.com/lymph/

If you're in or around Glasgow and want to come in for a treatment, https://iamjenwilson.com/relaxAccess my FREE Posture for Health mini workshop here https://iamjenwilson.thrivecart.com/posture-for-health/Get my book 9 Rules to Sort Your Shit here - https://amzn.to/4eYtVnqRebel and Divine Anarchist hoodies and t-shirts here https://iamjenwilson-2.teemill.com/collection/new/Gut Friendly, Easy Recipe book here https://amzn.to/4gJsGICFor all information on working with me:www.iamjenwilson.comFollow my social channelsSubscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/iamjenwilsonLike my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/IamJenWilsonFollow me on Instagram https://instagram.com/iam.jenwilson

I've been a participant in the wellness and wellbeing industry since 2002 and working in it since 2009. That's 24 years of being in this world, watching it evolve, watching the science shift, and watching myself shift along with it.

This episode is an honest review of the things I used to believe, used to teach, used to post about, and have since had to let go of.I'm Jen Wilson, The Healing Rebel, and if you've been on your own wellness path for a while, you'll probably recognise yourself in some of these. The point isn't that I got it wrong and feel bad about it. The point is that being willing to update your beliefs as you learn more is part of being a serious practitioner and a serious human.

What I unlearned:

That science is the pinnacle of all knowledge (it's brilliant, but human biology doesn't always behave the way science needs it to)

That I was indestructible and could just push through with more effort, more workouts, more discipline

That "go hard or go home" gym culture was actually healthy

That rest is lazy or unproductive

That veganism was the healthiest way to eat (after 20-25 years vegetarian/vegan, my body told me otherwise)

That elimination diets are a long-term solution

That you can just push through tiredness, fatigue, and burnout

That suppressing emotions is the same as being strong

That being on the contraceptive pill for years had no effect on my emotional landscape

That a chronic illness diagnosis (Crohn's, in my case) was the end of the road

That fasting is universally healthy, particularly for women in the perimenopausal years

A few questions I answer:

Why isn't science always the final word in wellbeing?

Is veganism actually healthy for everyone?

Why is rest so often confused with laziness?

Should women in perimenopause be doing intermittent fasting?

Can chronic illness actually lead to a better life?

What's the link between contraceptive pills and emotional flatlining?

Drop your own "what I've unlearned" moments into the comments, I'd genuinely love to know.

Free download: my Lymphatic Drainage Routine to get you started. https://iamjenwilson.thrivecart.com/lymph/About Jen:

Jen Wilson is The Healing Rebel, a holistic wellness practitioner with over 17 years in practice, supporting capable, responsible women over 40 who give to everyone and struggle to receive. Working from her private home studio in Springburn, North Glasgow, Jen offers The Reset, The Recalibration, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Therapeutic Fascia Massage, Menopause Massage, Reiki, Reiki Drumming, and Sound Healing, plus online classes and an on-demand subscription library. Access my FREE Posture for Health mini workshop here https://iamjenwilson.thrivecart.com/posture-for-health/Get my book 9 Rules to Sort Your Shit here - https://amzn.to/4eYtVnqRebel and Divine Anarchist hoodies and t-shirts here https://iamjenwilson-2.teemill.com/collection/new/Gut Friendly, Easy Recipe book here https://amzn.to/4gJsGICFor all information on working with me:www.iamjenwilson.comFollow my social channelsSubscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/iamjenwilsonLike my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/IamJenWilsonFollow me on Instagram https://instagram.com/iam.jenwilson