Natural breast health support is not only a preventative measure for breast cancer but can dramatically improve your daily quality of life. Many women only worry about breast health when something is wrong – cosmetically or medically. But your breasts need support as much as any other part of your body. Especially if you are experiencing symptoms of a breast imbalance.
Did you know that sore breasts before your period are a sign of an imbalance?
Breast pain and sensitivity don’t have to be a permanent part of your routine. Infinity Flexibility offers massage, lymphatic drainage, and cupping treatments that can help improve your breast health naturally. Common examples of issues that can be improved using TCM techniques include painful, sore, or swollen breasts, scarring from breast reduction or augmentation, post-mastectomy recovery, and more!
Keep reading to learn more about how you can support healthy breasts with the meridians at Infinity.
Breast Health and the Meridians
In TCM, breast health is dependent on the clean and smooth flow of Qi. Qi is often called the life force, it flows in set channels that crisscross the whole body. These channels are called meridians.
The meridians most commonly associated with the breasts are the liver, kidney, stomach, sexual, and brain meridians. Blockages in these meridians due to illness or an unhealthy lifestyle can cause breast pain, swelling, or even disease.
Many alternative medicine techniques can be used to support the healthy flow of qi. Massage, manual lymphatic drainage, and cupping all stimulate movement in the physical and subtle bodies.
Top 3 Infinity Treatments for Breast Health
The practitioners at Infinity Flexibility are always looking for new techniques to support a healthy body, mind, and spirit. The three techniques they use to support breast health are cupping, Phyto5 manual lymphatic drainage, and massage.
1. Cupping
Cupping uses glass cups to create suction on the skin. It gently stimulates the movement of blood and lymph fluid to relieve stagnation and encourage wellness.
Many professional athletes use cupping to help them recover from strenuous workouts. This technique is gentle enough to stimulate fluid movement in the delicate tissues of the breasts.
Cupping creates negative pressure. Negative pressure is the opposite of positive pressure that is used in deep tissue massage where the practitioner presses down on the muscles and tissues. Cupping relieves sore or tight muscles and tissues without compression.
The increase in blood and lymph flow has even been known to reduce scarring from breast reduction, augmentation, or mastectomies.
2. Phyto5 Lymphatic Drainage
Manual lymphatic drainage using the Phyto5 biorhythmic drainer is a mechanical massage. The cups are guided along the meridian lines, drawing stagnant lymph fluid from the extremities into the lymph nodes. The lymph system draws harmful cells and bacteria into the lymph nodes for breakdown and disposal.
The lymph system crisscrosses the body, dispersing white blood cells to fight infection and getting rid of harmful bacteria and waste. Infection, prolonged illness, and disease might take a toll on the lymph system and lymphatic drainage helps move the fluid along.
Lymphatic drainage is a unique offering at Infinity Flexibility that is perfect for breast health support. The treatment is gentle and doesn’t leave any marks, unlike body cupping. It even improves the appearance of your skin and is a powerful tool to help you recover from recent illnesses.
3. Massage
Massage therapy is another technique Infinity uses to support breast health. During massage school, one of our practitioners experienced a breast massage that permanently stopped the breast pain she was having during her monthly cycles. This eye-opening experience showed her that not only is breast pain treatable, but that massage might be the key to resetting the flow of qi in the breasts and eliminating any monthly discomfort.
Massage stimulates blood and lymph flow, improves lactation in breastfeeding mothers, and maintains healthy breast tissue. If you aren’t comfortable having someone else massage your breasts, you can do a self-massage. One added benefit of self-massage is that you are regularly checking for any lumps or changes to the breast tissue, a preventative measure to catch breast cancer early.
Breast Health: Prevention and Support
One of the most important reasons to take care of your breast health is to prevent disease. In TCM, qi stagnation from excess heat, cold, and phlegm can result in illness and disease.
Aside from examining your breasts regularly for pain, swelling, or lumps, you can also use a special diagnostic tool called thermography to identify and prevent breast imbalances.
Infinity highly recommends thermography as a yearly tracker for breast health awareness.
Thermography is a non-invasive procedure that scans the surface heat on different parts of the body. Your practitioner takes one scan when the body is hot and one when the body is cold. By comparing the results, they can see heat patterns and blood flow in the body’s tissues.
Thermography makes it easy to establish your baseline breast health without radiation, contact, or compression. It can be used with dense breasts or implants and is effective at identifying early-stage breast cancer.
Infinity recommends seeing Karen Kelleher at Boston Thermography or Karen Clickner at Conscious Body Natural Medicine for thermography in the Boston area.
Another way to support healthy and pain-free breasts is to go braless! Or at least, get rid of your underwire bras.
While no studies have found a definitive link between bras and breast cancer, the theory is that bras block the natural flow of lymph fluid leading to a build-up of toxins in the breast tissue.
Even though evidence does not support this theory, many women experience pain due to bras that are too small, too tight, or simply uncomfortable. Join the braless revolution and ditch your underwire.
Make An Appointment
Infinity Flexibility uses alternative medicine treatments such as massage, cupping, and lymphatic drainage to support the breast health of their clients in Natick, MA. These treatments are a great complement to regular breast exams, as a tool during recovery from surgery, and as a way to permanently eliminate premenstrual breast tenderness.
It’s never too late to consider breast health prevention and support. If you or someone you know could use a little breast health support, contact Infinity Flexibility to schedule an appointment! Or feel free to contact us if you aren’t sure which treatment is right for your needs.
