A lymphatic drainage massage at home sounds like a dream. Self-care is more important than ever, and we’re looking for new ways to create moments of respite. This is especially true when we don t feel like leaving our homes. A lymphatic drainage massage—a technique beloved by celebrities for its sculpting effect—is actually a beauty skill worth mastering on your own. While there are times you should seek a professional (and who wouldn t want to book a massage treatment?), this is something you can do in the comfort of your own home and still get the main benefits.
But how? Below, we have the experts explain a DIY approach, step by step. Let s turn the dream into a reality.
Key Takeaways
- A lymphatic massage is a gentle, rhythmic technique that helps move lymph fluid through the body to support your body’s natural detox process.
- A lymphatic massage may help support the immune system, reduce inflammation, improve circulation, help digestion, and boost energy.
What is a lymphatic drainage massage?
A lymphatic massage, as massage therapist Sophie Bolvary explains it, is a gentle, rhythmic technique that helps move lymph fluid through the body. Unlike a deep tissue massage, Bolvary says it’s all about light pressure movements that support your body’s natural detox process. “I always describe it as giving the lymphatic system a soft nudge to do what it already wants to do,” she says. “Just more efficiently.”
"Lymphatic drainage is a kind of massage that supposedly stimulates the natural drainage of the lymph, which helps to eliminate waste from the body," adds lymphatic massage expert, Flavia Lanini. “The goal is to move the fluid out of [the] tissues and into the lymph nodes, where bacteria, viruses, and other harmful microorganisms are destroyed.”
What are the benefits?
“The benefits really sneak up on people in the best way,” says Bolvary. She lists less puffiness and bloating—especially in the face and mid-section—as some of the more immediate results you can see post-treatment. Over time, she says that a lymphatic massage may help support the immune system, reduce inflammation, improve circulation, help digestion, and boost energy. It may even help your skin look clearer and brighter, and she adds that you may experience a calming sensation over your nervous system. “It’s a full-system reset,” she says. “It’s also a chance to feel your body in a unique way.”
Are there any risks?
Lymphatic massage is generally safe. Risks come when you do it wrong. “At home, the biggest issue I see is people using way too much pressure,” says Bolvary. “If you’re digging in, you’re working against the system, not with it. Lymphatic work should always feel light, sweeping, and soothing.”
“Too much pressure can temporarily collapse lymph vessels,” adds Petra Gospic, lymphatic massage therapist and founder of The Body Lab. “Random directions just push fluid around with no exit. Skipping drainage areas means you’re stirring everything without letting it go. If you feel heavy, nauseous, or unusually tired afterward, it usually means you moved more fluid than your body was ready to clear.”
It’s also not meant for everyone. Bolvary says those with active cancer, blood clots, acute infections, severe kidney issues, or fever should always check with a doctor first.
Lymphatic massage is very safe when done correctly, but it’s not for everyone. Anyone with active cancer, blood clots, acute infections, severe heart conditions, kidney issues, fever, or any other health conditions should always check with a doctor first.
The Massage
To give yourself a lymphatic massage, you ll need the right tools and technique. The experts break it down as follows:
For treatments in her Los Angeles space, Lanini uses a custom blended cream that s formulated with caffeine and antioxidants. But at home, “any oil or cream you have can be used to self-drain,” she says. The pro recommends massaging the arms, legs, and stomach up to 3 to 4 times a week at home. “However, when done by a professional,” she explains, “1 or 2 times a week is enough, but each body is different.”
I tried the technique for myself. While Lanini uses firm pressure to deliver her transformative treatments, I quickly learned my hands were not as strong, so I tested out a set of body tools, like de la Heart s wooden version, and Esker s jade roller, to mimic the same results. Here, the pro walks through her recommendation for DIY’ing lymphatic drainage at home.
To begin, Lanini suggests standing in front of the mirror and pressing on the area just below your collarbones to get the drainage started. “Then press the armpit three times with your right hand and vice versa.” Lanini urges clients to move their strokes in the direction of the lymph node, or upward, always. Next, continue moving over the arms with light pressure from the elbow to the shoulder and repeat on the other side. To massage the stomach, press your palms flat down onto the area in between your hip bones “With hands overlapping, make circular movements around the navel button 5 times” she says. “Then pinch the entire stomach area,” for about a minute, until the skin is slightly pink.
Gospic says when it comes to massaging the lower body, everything will move upward toward the groin. She says to start with your hands in the crease, where your thigh meets the pelvis, and use gentle inward strokes or pumps. Next, you ll move to the feet and ankles, where she says to sweep the movement at the top of the foot toward the ankle. Once at the ankle, you ll move to the mid-calf several times.
After moving on to the calves, she says to apply light presses from the ankle to the back of the knee. From the front of the knee, you ll want to work up to the groi,n and then the back will go from behind the knee to your glutes, and then to the groin. Finish up in clockwise circular massages from the hip to the groin, followed by diagonal sweeps.
Bolvary says that a facial lymphatic massage gives you pretty instant results. You ll want to start with clean skin and a little oil or serum, so your hands will easily glide when applying pressure. She says to start at the neck with gentle, downward strokes toward the collarbones and then move along the jawline from the center outward. Then you ll sweep the cheeks from the nose towards the ears, using very light pressure under the eyes, moving outward. Finish with the forehead by sweeping movement from the center to the temples. Then guide everything back down the neck, she says.
Ensure Proper After Care
The entire process should take about 15 to 20 minutes, but after care is perhaps the most important part of the equation. Lanini recommends prioritizing hydration for 48 hours post treatment to promote drainage. She also suggests “avoiding sugar, alcohol, gluten, and sodium” as much as possible, but to remember that we are all only human. “No need to obsess.”
How often should I do lymphatic drainage massage at home?
Bolvary usually recommends doing it three to five times a week for your body. Gospic says daily may be fine if you feel comfortable doing so and if you’re gentle with your pressure. For times where you’re dealing with inflammation (think PMS, travel, stress, eating lots of salty food), she adds that doing a lymphatic massage at home can change how you feel and look. But as with anything, the best results come when you’re consistent with it. “Lymphatic massage works best as a regular self-care ritual rather than something you can only do once in a while,” says Bolvary.
When to seek professional help?
While it’s easy to do a lymphatic massage on your own, there are times that require a more professional touch. “A trained practitioner isn t just performing strokes,” says Gospic. “They re reading your body like a map: congestion patterns, tissue quality, posture, breathing, and how your system responds. That level of personalization is impossible to fully recreate at home.”
Bolvary agrees and says that if you’re dealing with chronic swelling, post-surgical recovery, stubborn inflammation, or hormonal bloating, then it’s best to seek a professional. Or if you’re just looking for a deeper massage with targeted results, she says that a trained therapist will better understand the exact lymph pathways and pressure you need to move fluid efficiently and safely. “At-home work is great, but professional work can take your results to a completely different level,” she says.
After a few days of following Lanini’s approach, I found my legs had benefited most with a slightly trimmer silhouette. When I woke up the next morning after a massage, my stomach felt a little flatter. While the results aren’t as striking as they would be after an in-salon treatment, I’ve grown to appreciate the 20-minute ritual as a meditative way to wind down—and look after my body—a few times a week.
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