It is not a relaxing massage. It follows the course of the lymphatic system with gentle, slow, repetitive movements that push the lymph towards the nodes, where it is filtered and returned to the venous system.
Its field is fluid, not fat or muscle: fluid retention, cellulite, lymphoedema, tired legs and, above all, recovery after plastic surgery, where it speeds up the resorption of bruising and prevents fibrosis and adhesions.
The session lasts 45 to 60 minutes, in a treatment room with the patient lying down. The areas most often treated are the legs, abdomen, arms, face and back.
Regimens vary a great deal from case to case: courses of 6 to 10 weekly sessions for aesthetic goals; 2 or 3 a week in the first weeks after surgery; and prolonged treatment with clinical follow-up in chronic lymphoedema.
There are contraindications that call for prior assessment: congestive heart failure, recent deep vein thrombosis, acute infections, fever or severe inflammation, and active cancer without medical supervision.
At the Instituto de Cirugía Plástica del Mediterráneo, in Valencia, we offer specialist lymphatic drainage treatments: a technique with both medical and aesthetic backing that brings many benefits to the body. This is a professional procedure that goes well beyond the idea of a relaxing massage: its effect on circulatory, lymphatic and tissue health makes it a key therapeutic tool in many conditions.
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Lymphatic drainage is a manual technique that follows the course of the lymphatic system, a network of vessels that carries lymph: a fluid that collects toxins, metabolic waste, proteins and other particles the body needs to clear.
With gentle, slow, repetitive movements, the practitioner encourages the lymph to move towards the lymph nodes, where it is filtered and then returned to the venous system. This improves lymphatic circulation, reduces swelling in the tissues and supports the immune system in working properly.
The body treatments we offer are not in competition with one another: they work on different tissues. Pressotherapy, manual lymphatic drainage and the Renata França method act from outside — the first with pressurised air, the other two by hand — and their effect is on fluid: they push the lymph towards the nodes. Mesotherapy infiltrates active ingredients into the superficial dermis, and carboxytherapy introduces medicinal CO₂ into the subcutaneous tissue. INDIBA infiltrates nothing: it raises the temperature of the tissue from within, with a more superficial capacitive mode and a deeper resistive one. Knowing which acts where is what allows them to be combined with judgement rather than simply stacked. Diagram by the Instituto de Cirugía Plástica del Mediterráneo, simplified for explanatory purposes.
When there is fluid retention, cellulite, swelling or problems after surgery, this system can become overloaded. That is when lymphatic drainage becomes an essential ally in restoring the body’s balance.
When lymphatic drainage is indicated
At our clinic in Valencia we recommend lymphatic drainage in a range of situations, both aesthetic and medical. These are the most common:
Fluid retention: the treatment helps to clear excess fluid that has built up in the subcutaneous tissue.
Cellulite: it helps clear the substances that make orange-peel skin worse, improving skin texture.
Lymphatic oedema or lymphoedema: in patients with a disorder of the lymphatic system, drainage helps reduce the swelling.
Recovery after plastic surgery: following procedures such as liposuction, abdominoplasty or a facelift, it speeds up the resorption of bruising and fluid.
Tired legs and poor circulation: it eases the feeling of heaviness by stimulating venous and lymphatic return.
Cancer treatment involving node removal: in these cases, lymphatic drainage must be carried out on medical advice and with a specific technique.
The benefits of lymphatic drainage for health and appearance
Applied by a qualified specialist, lymphatic drainage produces a series of direct effects on the body that translate into visible, noticeable improvements:
Less swelling: moving interstitial fluid reduces volume in the affected areas.
Clearance of toxins: it helps cleanse the body at cell level, supporting metabolic and regenerative processes.
Stimulation of microcirculation: it improves the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, helping them repair.
Less bruising and postoperative oedema: it speeds up recovery and shortens the period of swelling.
Prevention of fibrosis and adhesions: particularly useful after aesthetic surgery.
Better-looking skin: the skin appears firmer, more toned and brighter.
General wellbeing: by promoting deep relaxation, it also helps reduce stress and improves sleep.
At the Instituto de Cirugía Plástica del Mediterráneo, every session is adapted to the patient’s state of health, needs and goals. The treatment takes place in a treatment room, with the patient lying down, in a calm, clinically prepared setting.
The therapist applies precise manual movements, with gentle but constant pressure, following the body’s lymphatic map. The areas most often treated are the legs, abdomen, arms, face and back, although these can be combined depending on the clinical picture.
Each session lasts roughly 45 to 60 minutes. In some cases they are combined with other therapies such as pressotherapy, radiofrequency or regenerative treatments, where medically advised.
How many sessions are needed?
There is no universal number. How many sessions you need varies with the goal:
For aesthetic treatments (cellulite, mild retention), courses of 6 to 10 weekly sessions are recommended.
After surgery, the frequency may be higher at first (2–3 times a week) during the first weeks following the operation.
In patients with chronic lymphoedema, treatment needs to be maintained over the long term with clinical follow-up.
It is always important to have a personalised assessment beforehand, in which the most suitable treatment plan is set out.
Who can have lymphatic drainage?
This treatment is safe and effective for most people. There are, however, some absolute or relative contraindications that need to be assessed by a professional:
Congestive heart failure
Recent deep vein thrombosis
Acute infections
Fever or severe inflammatory conditions
Active cancer without medical supervision
Where there is any doubt, we ask for a medical report or refer the patient to the relevant specialist to keep them safe.
Manual lymphatic drainage and other techniques: the differences
It is important to distinguish manual lymphatic drainage from other aesthetic techniques that work on the circulatory system or on body contouring:
Pressotherapy: uses air pressure in special garments. It is useful as an adjunct, and in lymphoedema there are trials in which compression bandaging is not inferior to manual drainage.
Circulatory or reducing massage: these are applied with more pressure and have a different aim. Lymphatic drainage is specifically for moving lymph, not fat or muscle.
Radiofrequency: acts on collagen and localised fat, and can be combined with drainage to enhance results.
For all these reasons, lymphatic drainage calls for specific training, anatomical knowledge and a refined technique in order to achieve the desired benefits without adverse effects.
All three move fluid, but they are not interchangeable. Manual lymphatic drainage does it by hand with gentle, slow, repetitive pressure, following the route of the lymphatic system towards the nodes; it is the one indicated in lymphoedema and after plastic surgery. The Renata França method is also manual, but with firm pressure and its own protocol of 97 manoeuvres that adds contour reshaping to the drainage. Pressotherapy is not applied by a person but by a machine: a pneumatic suit that compresses sequentially from the limbs towards the centre of the body. The machine compresses, but it does not choose the route, so it does not do the same as trained hands; even so, in lymphoedema there are randomised trials in which decongestive therapy carried out with pneumatic compression and bandaging alone was not inferior to therapy that includes manual drainage. Diagram by the Instituto de Cirugía Plástica del Mediterráneo, simplified for explanatory purposes.
What the published evidence says
Manual lymphatic drainage is well studied, and it is worth separating two scenarios, because the results are not the same:
After surgery, it speeds up the resolution of swelling. In a randomised, double-blind trial of 30 patients who had undergone bimaxillary orthognathic surgery, the group given manual drainage had faster and more marked regression of the oedema than the placebo group (p < 0.001), although peak swelling was similar in both (PMID 28872503).
In lymphoedema after breast cancer, the picture is more nuanced. A meta-analysis of 17 randomised trials with 1,911 patients concluded that manual drainage does not significantly reduce or prevent lymphoedema on its own, with one relevant caveat: it did show a benefit in those under 60 and when applied within the first month after surgery (PMID 33285693).
That is why we recommend it above all where the evidence is firmest — recovery after plastic surgery — and, in lymphoedema, always within a plan with medical follow-up and never as the sole treatment.
A randomised trial published in 2025 in 46 patients who had impacted wisdom teeth removed points the same way, comparing one side with the other in the same person: on the side treated with drainage there was less swelling, less pain and less restriction in opening the mouth. It reinforces the underlying idea, which is the one that matters after surgery: drainage does not stop you swelling — the surgery decides that — it shortens the way back.
At our clinic in Valencia we have not only advanced technology but a team of highly qualified specialists who are expert in the safest and most effective lymphatic drainage techniques. Our treatments are carried out under medical supervision where necessary and follow protocols personalised for each patient.
What is more, because this is a clinical setting, we guarantee the highest standards of hygiene, comfort and all-round care, particularly for patients who have had surgery or who have complex conditions.
Lymphatic drainage is a therapeutic tool with proven effects on health, appearance and wellbeing. If you live in Valencia and want to improve your circulation, clear toxins, reduce swelling or speed up your recovery after surgery, at the Instituto de Cirugía Plástica del Mediterráneo you will find a team ready to support you through that process.
Not all massages are the same, and where your health is concerned, trusting experienced professionals is the key to visible, lasting results.
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For moving fluid. It is a gentle, slow massage with a specific direction, designed to help the lymphatic system clear fluid that has built up in a tissue. Its clearest effect is on swelling and the feeling of heaviness.
Where it has a clear medical role is in situations in which lymphatic drainage is compromised — lymphoedema after cancer surgery, for instance — or in the swelling that follows an operation. In those cases it is not an indulgence: it is part of the treatment.
And there is an argument in its favour that is almost never put first: it is one of the safest techniques there is. A systematic review of eight randomised trials with 463 participants, in the context of recovery after surgery, recorded not a single adverse effect related to the treatment. Its measured effect is modest and concentrated in the first few days, which is why its authors position it as an adjunct that improves comfort within a broader programme — not as a treatment on its own.
Does it help you lose weight? Does it get rid of cellulite?
It does not make you lose weight. What goes down after a session is fluid, not fat, and the fluid comes back. If someone measures you in centimetres before and after and shows you the difference, that is what they are measuring.
On cellulite, the honest answer is the same as for pressotherapy: it can improve the fluid-retention component that accompanies many legs, and with that the skin looks better for as long as the effect lasts. It does not act on the structure that produces the dimple.
Is it the same as a relaxing massage?
No, and confusing the two is what sometimes stops it working. Proper lymphatic drainage is very gentle — it works on the skin and the tissue just beneath it, not on the muscle — it is slow, it follows a set anatomical route and it begins by emptying the exit areas before pushing towards them.
A firm massage is not “a more intense drainage”: it is something else, and on a swollen leg or after surgery it can be counterproductive.
Does it work after surgery?
It is one of its most common and most sensible uses: after body-contouring surgery it helps with the swelling and the feeling of tightness.
That said, when to start and with what pressure is decided by the surgeon who operated, because it depends on the technique, on the drains and on how the wound is healing; and the regimen is tailored to how each case is progressing and to each patient’s situation. Starting on your own at an outside centre without telling the person who operated on you is not a good idea, and a good drainage practitioner will ask you for the surgical report before touching you.
When should it NOT be done?
It is a gentle treatment with real contraindications, precisely because it moves fluid into the circulation: active thrombosis or suspicion of it, acute infection or inflammation, decompensated heart failure, severe kidney failure and active cancer without prior assessment. In pregnancy, individual assessment.
That is why a first session should begin with some questions about your health, and not straight away on the couch.
How many sessions do you need?
It depends entirely on what for. Recovery after surgery has its own regimen — set by whoever operates — and legs that swell by the end of the day have another. What is worth knowing is that the effect of a one-off session is short-lived: if the aim is to sustain an improvement, it needs to be set up as a course, not as an isolated treat.
Sources
Yaedú RYF, Mello MAB, Tucunduva RA, da Silveira JSZ, Takahashi MPMS, Valente ACB.Postoperative Orthognathic Surgery Edema Assessment With and Without Manual Lymphatic Drainage. J Craniofac Surg. 2017;28(7):1816-1820. PMID 28872503 — 30 patients, randomised and double-blind: the same peak oedema in both groups, but faster and more complete regression with drainage.
Ulu M, Ünal N, Şahin O, Kayalı Y.Evaluation of the effect of manual lymphatic drainage method on edema, pain and trismus after impacted bilateral mandibular third molar surgery: a randomized clinical trial. BMC Oral Health. 2025;25(1):438. PMID 40140780 — 46 patients with a side-to-side comparison: less oedema, pain and trismus on the treated side.
Liang M, Chen Q, Peng K, Deng L, He L, Hou Y, Zhang Y, Guo J, Mei Z, Li L.Manual lymphatic drainage for lymphedema in patients after breast cancer surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Medicine (Baltimore). 2020;99(49):e23192. PMID 33285693 — 17 trials and 1,911 patients: no significant reduction in lymphoedema on its own, with a benefit in those under 60 and when applied in the first month.
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