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Lymphatic drainage for the stomach: the 5-minute routine, step by step.

Eight steps and five minutes, mostly breathing: you open the neck, the armpits and the groin, breathe with your hands on your belly and move the skin of the lower belly towards the groin.

Do it guided now 5 min

Free, no sign-up. The gesture on video, the direction drawn over it and the pace, step by step.

8 steps · 5:00 Sources ↓

Edited by José Antonio Neto Not clinically reviewed

Lymphatic drainage for the stomach: the 5-minute routine, step by step. Guided routine Evening · Calm belly Breathing, neck and belly 5:00

8 steps Breathe · Neck · Armpits · Belly · Legs · Belly · Breathe

When

In the evening, before bed, not straight after eating, sitting with your back straight.

What you may notice

Calm and a more relaxed belly: slow belly breathing helps you let go of tension. For digestive bloating there is no evidence that massage helps; if it is frequent or painful, get it checked.

What you need

Loose clothes at the waist and dry skin.

The routine

8 steps, 5:00

  1. 01

    Belly breathing

    Your hands do nothing: they rise with your belly as you breathe in and fall as you breathe out. Your shoulders stay still.

    0:40
  2. 02

    Open the collarbone

    Down and in, tracing a J towards the centre, always above the collarbone. The skin moves only as far as it naturally goes. Target: the supraclavicular lymph nodes.

    0:45
  3. 03

    Sides of the neck

    Stretch the skin back and down, then release. Target: the cervical lymph nodes and, from there, the collarbone.

    0:25
  4. 04

    Armpits

    Stretch the skin up and in, then release. Target: the axillary lymph nodes.

    0:45
  5. 05

    Hands-on belly breathing

    As you breathe in, your belly pushes your hands up. As you breathe out, your hands sink with it, with very gentle pressure.

    0:40
  6. 06

    Groin march

    Keeping the gentle pressure, lift one knee a few centimetres and lower it; then the other. Like a slow march.

    0:30
  7. 07

    Lower belly to groin

    Stretch the skin diagonally down and outwards, towards each groin, then release. Only the skin moves; nothing deep.

    0:25
  8. 08

    Belly breathing

    Your hands do nothing: they rise with your belly as you breathe in and fall as you breathe out. Your shoulders stay still.

    0:50

Before you start

There are times not to do it: new or one-sided swelling, a fever, a warm or painful calf. Side effects and contraindications

The guide

Every move explained, with why it is done that way: Lymphatic drainage massage for the stomach and bloating

Sources

  1. 1.Livewell Southwest (NHS) · Lymphatic drainage
  2. 2.West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust · Self lymphatic massage of the head and neck
  3. 3.British Lymphology Society, 2022 · Lymphatic drainage guidance
  4. 4.Lymphoedema Network Northern Ireland (CSP) · Simple lymphatic drainage for the arm and trunk
  5. 5.Lymphoedema Wales Clinical Network (NHS) · Upper limb simple lymphatic drainage
  6. 6.West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust · Simple lymphatic drainage: legs
  7. 7.Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS · Head and neck simple lymphatic drainage
  8. 8.Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2022 (PubMed)