Essentially, when you sleep the brain tries to clear out excess proteins using the Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF). Lymph vessels in your neck are responsible for pumping this fluid away from the brain. In mice, as they age, 63% less dirty CSF is removed. In the experiment they used a topical cream that caused the smooth muscles in the lymph vessels to contract, restoring the clearing of dirty CSF to the levels of young mice.
We health unlocked members investigated and found that the lymph vessels responsible for this clearing were the cervical lymph vessels, felt in the soft spot below the ear between the jawbone and the sternocleidomastoid muscle. (Actually, the superficial cervical lymph vessel is on top of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, and the superior deep cervical lymph vessel is in the soft spot.) There is a picture of the head and location of these lymph vessels in the health unlocked link above.
Since learning of this, every time I wake up, whether in the middle of the night, or in the morning, I have been gently massaging these cervical lymph vessels, working towards moving the contents down my neck. I do this for several minutes until the tenderness abates. I have been feeling quite a bit better since doing this, and actually sleeping better too.
For most of my adult life, I have preferred to sleep on my left side. However, in the past several years then for some reason then I always wanted to sleep on my right side. When I would awake after sleeping on the right side, then most if not all of the tenderness is in the lymph vessels on the right side. Then, a few nights, closer to morning, I sometimes find myself being able to sleep on the left side, and sure enough, the lymph vessels on the left side are more tender.
When I was younger, I used to regularly sleep on my left side, and my Parkinson's symptoms first showed up on my right side. (The left brain controls the right side of the body.) So, my theory is that as my lymph vessels lost their clearing dirty CSF effectiveness, then my left brain was more regularly bathed in dirty CSF, causing more deterioration on that side. (My Dat Scan corroborated more deterioration on the left side.) Possibly my more recent switch to preferring to sleep on my right side was even my bodies way of trying to protect the more harmed side of my brain.
I encourage everyone to do this manual massage on your cervical lymph vessels every time you wake up during the night or in the morning.
I am also interested to hear if others had a preferred sleeping side and if their symptoms first showed on the other side -- or if correlation is not true for you.
Thanks,
Chris
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NextStage
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I will start this: "I have been gently massaging these cervical lymph vessels, working towards moving the contents down my neck. I do this for several minutes until the tenderness abates. I have been feeling quite a bit better since doing this, and actually sleeping better too."
I was on a Parkinson's support group call with some people that are not on Health Unlocked, and I told them about the information that I put in this post. Someone in the group said that they had gone to a masseuse who offered lymphatic drainage. They said that if you have lymphatic drainage done that you might actually feel worse immediately afterwards but feel better the next day. So, this is just a warning if somebody starts to go gung-ho on the lymph nodes to not be discouraged if at first you feel worse.
Nextstage. A picture would be a big help. I’ve clicked on the links but don’t seem to be offering the accuracy I’d ideally like to perform this action.
It was thought that lymphatics were absent from the brain until in 2015, scientists located lymphatic vessels in the brains of mice and subsequently humans. Work is underway to determine and describe the lymphatic vessels involved."
The Nature article abstract that Park Bear linked in the original health unlocked post to says to apply to the cervical lymphatic vessels. You can see below the location of the cervical lymphatic vessels in the picture, as well as more info in the paragraph. The link is the source for the picture/description.
• Superficial Cervical: The superficial cervical lymph nodes can be divided into the superficial anterior cervical nodes and the posterior lateral superficial cervical lymph nodes. The anterior nodes lie close to the anterior jugular vein and collect lymph from the superficial surfaces of the anterior neck. The posterior lateral nodes lie close to the external jugular vein and collect lymph from superficial surfaces of the neck.
The superficial and deep lymph nodes of the head and neck.
Interestingly, I have found that after a sacro cranial osteopathy session I feel first awful ,then later ,hours or a day or two I feel so clear minded, energy levels are up, and I have a better sense of smell. Apparently SC therapy helps with lymph drainage. I will try this too .
Thanks for this information, I'm going to read about this. However, prior to symptom onset I broke my collar bone in a cycling accident and one of the more difficult things was adapting to sleeping on my left side, previously I distinctly remember turning into my right to sleep. The injury prevented this for some time, more recently I want to sleep on my right but I still find it uncomfortable. My symptoms are right side and part of the reason it took so long to get diagnosed was that my symptoms were explained by a pinched nerve because of my injury.....
I don't have PD but I have been doing this every morning and evening as part of a general lymph moving session for the last few years, and I really notice if I don't do it. Hope it helps one and all. Cheers
So.... Whilst be diagnosed with PD process of elimination it was determined that I have about a 1/2" diameter mass on my left parotid gland. My symptoms are mainly on my left side and my DAT scan showed loss of function in the right side of my brain naturally. After a follow up MRI of the mass a year later it was determined that it is currently not advancing. I asked my Neuro at the time several times if there would be ANY correlation between the mass and my PD diagnoses and the answer was a resounding "NO" every time.
Based on this information it seems highly likely that this is related as by my understanding the parotid gland drains lymphatic fluid into the superior deep cervical lymph nodes. Any insight from the board would be appreciated as I would like to take this information to my current Neuro and see if they will do a deeper dive into the effects of the mass. Unfortunately, removing the mass is very evasive and dangerous according to my ENT. I'm also not sure if removing the mass would also mean removing the duct and therefore the ability of the lymphatic system to operate on that side of my body.
Yes. I sleep in the right almost exclusively and my left side was first to show symptoms. I'm looking forward to doing this massage. Every morning my head is stuffy, glands swollen andy neck painful.
When my youngest daughter was 3 she got Scarlett fever. For months afterwards her glands in her neck were hard and impacted. Whereas before she had been healthy she now started to catch every sniffle going around and was continually sick. A friend turned me on to a naturopath who told me her glands were packed full of crud from the Scarlett fever. She suggested massage with a mixture of lemon and frankincense oils along with alternating heat and cold. I did this to her every morning and after s couple of months the hardness broke up and slowly disappeared and she was back to her old healthy self. Cleaning these glands may be especially important with Parkinson's because movement helps clear them naturally and when you have Parkinson's you reach a point where you're definitely not moving around as much as you should.
I'm glad that you learned this and were able to help your daughter. It's also informative to know that after her serious illness, that you needed to work on her lymph nodes several months before her body was able to overcome the effects of all the assaults to her body.
I learned about exercise stimulating circulation in the lymph system back in 2018 when I was reading a book, and it was an eye opener for me. I knew that exercise was good for the body, but this clarified one mechanism through which it is helpful. Our blood always circulates, our lymph doesn't.
In 2019 at an in-person Parkinson's support group I shared this information about exercise stimulating circulation in the lymph system. The guest speaker, who to be fair was a gerontologist and not a movement disorder specialist, told the group that they only needed to worry about that if they had inflammation somewhere. That was still early in my journey, so I didn't know to say that everyone with Parkinson's has inflammation in their brain. The doctor in his presentation did say that exercise was good, based on studies they had done of elderly people who exercise or not. But he seemed to be locked into classical presentations of swelling in the body after an injury, and that was all the lymph system was good for.
There are other ways to pamper your lymphatic system, too, including:
' Deep breathing. Breathing slowly and deeply can help move fluid through the lymph vessels and nodes. Place both hands on your belly and focus on expanding your belly as you inhale and contracting your belly as you exhale. '
' Physical activity. Exercise helps move fluid throughout the body. Even a 15- to 20-minute stroll can help your body shift fluid around and eliminate waste. A short jog while focusing on deep breaths also does the trick. '
' Dry brushing. Dry brushing has gained popularity in recent years for its ability to keep the lymphatic system healthy while exfoliating the skin. Just move the brush in circular motions starting at the extremities and working your way toward the trunk of the body. '
' Swimming. Moving through water provides built-in compression for your body, so swimming is a great way to get your lymph fluid moving. '
' Tap your skin. Tapping the area just above the collarbones with light pressure can activate the lymph capillaries beneath the skin. '
' If you think that your lymphatic system may be compromised, talk to your doctor before attempting to do MLD on your own at home. '
This may also explain another positive effect of John Pepper's idea of fast walking to help fight PD.
Great list Art, to which I'd add...stay hydrated! Apparently even mild dehydration can gum up the works.
I delved into lymphatic massage a little bit when a relative was suffering from excruciating ear pain. Balloon dilatation on his eustachian tubes finally ended it, but that's another story.
Lymph from the entire head and neck flows through the "cervical lymph chain," which is composed of the superficial cervical nodes, superior deep cervical nodes and inferior deep cervical nodes. (The diagram in Park Bear's link shows this well.) Fluid moves in only one direction, so if the last set of nodes is blocked, massaging the others won't work as well. This video explains it better than I ever could; youtube.com/watch?v=CaVOML1...
Once the "terminus" is cleared, you can move on to massage of the cervical chain. Here's the briefest, clearest video of that movement I was able to find; youtube.com/watch?v=QtyxOkD...
I'm glad to hear others are increasing lymph flow in the neck. I've been doing this for over a year because the science and therapy makes sense. I can see when lymph is congested above my collar bone. I do MLD for the neck and head at night and MLD in the neck in the morning. Breathing is also very therapeutic for the lymphatics as well as swimming.
I have too and I don’t have pd! I had a weird problem a few years ago where it felt like my head was filling up with water if I lay down on my back. It felt like it was pressing through my head and making my eyes feel under pressure and that I had a lump inside my head. I went to all kinds of specialists and my doctor. Eye nose and throat x2, muscular skeletal specialist, had mri etc. They said it was anxiety and gave me anxiety meds.. (of course they did). They said there is nothing in the back of my head 🧐. Finally I went to a physio and Chinese medicine dr and they managed to help it with massage, and diaphragm release. I have continued to do the stretching and lymph drainage and finally it is almost completely better and I can lie on my back!
I also find doing extreme face expressions and stretching out tongue and rolling it back, side to side and stretching my neck everyday has helped. And twisting from the waist.
I just recently learned about Upper Cervical Chiropractic therapy, so I got my husband with Parkinson’s started with that. It’s so interesting how they adjust you. It’s called the Blair Technique and it looks fake, but fingers crossed it helps him in some way. He does think it’s improving his sense of smell. Ancient Chinese medicine claims that all diseases/illness starts in the neck. 🙏🙏
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