Swelling Protocol Update
In this episode I revisit the MovementREV Swelling Reduction Protocol as I released the updated FREE download. Reviewing the key spots of the protocol I explain what revisions I have made and how to utilize it in its most powerful form- integrating it with the LTAP (locator test assessment protocol). I also share what sequence to choose if you have not yet learned the LTAP.
Resources mentioned:
Download the FREE Swelling Reduction Protocol: https://www.movementrev.com/movementrev-swelling-reduction-protocol-download
Episode 3: "Swelling Protocol that Works Like Magic": https://www.movementrev.com/podcast/seasion-1-episode-3-swelling-reduction-protocol
Episode 25: "The Peripheral Heart":
https://www.movementrev.com/podcast/season-1-episode-25-the-peripheral-heart
LTAP Level 1 course:
https://www.movementrev.com/ltap-level-1-in-person
Considering the viscera as a source of musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction is a great way to ensure a more true whole body approach to care, however it can be a bit overwhelming on where to start, which is exactly why I created the Visceral Referral Cheat Sheet. This FREE download will help you to learn the most common visceral referral patterns affecting the musculoskeletal system. Download it at www.unrealresultspod.com
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Hey there and welcome. I'm Anna Hartman and this is Unreal Results, a podcast where I help you get better outcomes and gain the confidence that you can help anyone, even the most complex cases. Join me as I teach about the influence of the visceral organs and the nervous system on movement, pain, and injuries, all while shifting the paradigm of what whole body assessment and treatment really looks like.
I'm glad you're here. Let's dive in.
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Unreal Results podcast. So, I took last week off. It wasn't intentional. Last week was so busy. And, well, I hate the word busy because, like, busy is a choice, right? But also, busy was a packed schedule. I, um, I had been out of town for two and a half weeks. I came home for three days, I think.
Basically, yeah, I got home Late Wednesday night from the east coast. I was there for like I said two and a half weeks I had Thursday friday and saturday to myself And I thought I was gonna get all the things done, but it turns out I was really tired and then Sunday morning early. I left like early in the morning.
I left and flew up to Seattle to Go see one of my athletes and go watch his game. So basically Seahawks Um, and for whatever reason, every season I usually end up going to the games like later in the year, which, later in the year, Seattle games are rainy and cold. And, uh, so I was really trying to get to a game before it got, the weather got terrible, which, It was freezing when I got to Seattle.
I think the temperature was like 38 degrees when I landed. I was like, what? This game is gonna suck. By the time the game, the game was an afternoon game, and by the time the game rolled around, it was actually a beautiful, sunny fall day in Seattle, which is very hard to beat. And, um, it was a great game, a throwback game.
Which, funny enough, was the second throwback game I've been to this season. NFL is doing it right. They're calling them the Legend Games, like Legends, or NFL Legends, or, uh, I'm not really sure. Something regarding Legends. And the week before, actually, I was in Philadelphia for the Eagles Legends game. And the coolest thing, besides throwback jerseys, which, shout out to the Kelly Green Philadelphia Eagles jerseys, They're legit.
And then also the traditional blue Seahawks jerseys, big fan. And at the Seahawks game, PS this podcast is not about football, but I just feel like I need to update you on my life. At the Seahawks game, they had a additional. Um, mascot called Domi and I was laughing because I was like, Domi? What the hell is Domi?
And the woman sitting next to me was a girlfriend of one of the players who, I mean, she was like, I think she said she was 26. She's like, what is Domi? And I laughed because I was like, You are too young to know. Even though she's from the Seattle area, I was like, Domi is basically a shoutout to the Kingdome.
And the Kingdome was like, um, you know, demolished like, I think 20 plus years ago. Um, obviously the Seahawks used to play in the Kingdome, and so Domi was like one of their mascots. And a lot of their throwback shirts was like, Kingdome stuff, which was kind of cool. And I bought one, but then I ended up giving it to a friend because...
Sizing's wack. I'm like, no way, it was an extra large sweatshirt, no way it was extra large. It fit like a shmedium. Um, so anyways, um, the cool part of these throwback games, in my opinion, is um, Both stadiums played nothing but, like, 90s music during the game. And then at halftime, they had 90s, like, throwback artists concerts.
So in Philadelphia, the throwback artist was Tag Team. So they did, like, a 6 7 minute rendition of Whoop, There It Is, which was so cool. And then in Seattle, it was Montel Jordan, and he sang, um, This is how you do it, and it was so great. So, um, yeah, I went to five NFL games in six weeks, and I was like, no wonder I'm tired.
Um, a good problem to have, grateful to be able to go to the games, um, the majority of them were Eagles games, so I'm sure there are some Philly fans that would, like, Switch places with me in a second. I also, when I was in Philly, got to go to one of the um, NLCS playoff games against the Diamondbacks. A friend of mine, shout out Junco, is one of their athletic trainers.
Um, She's actually done, um, the mentorship, and some of my courses, and I've known her for a really long time, and I was really, you know, wanting to support her, and I know, um, a couple of the PTs on the Diamondbacks too, but it was just really cool to see her go to breakfast, connect, and cheer on the Diamondbacks, even though the Phillies, uh, beat them, like, They had like 10 home runs, which, being at a Phillies game, playoff game, with all those home runs, that was like a cool atmosphere.
Probably the closest atmosphere I've seen to that is, um, a Red Sox Yankees game at Fenway when the Red Sox win. So, um, that was cool. Um, what else? Yeah, I was just out of town. So I was telling you why I didn't record the podcast last week. Uh, so anyways, I went to Seattle, went to the game next day, next day, worked on my athlete.
Then next day, got up at three o'clock in the morning to make it to the SeaTac airport, uh, for a 6am flight to New York to see my athlete that plays out there for the Giants. And, um. That was a long day. And then I was in New York for... A little over two days, um, saw him two days in a row, and then I flew Thursday morning on the early bird flight, 5.
30 a. m. Eastern time. I flew to Phoenix, Arizona for my business coaching mastermind event, uh, Strategy and Scale with Jill Coleman, aka Jill Fit. Um, for a two day in person course and wow, Thursday was rough. I was tired. One just tired from the week, two, I realized that was not, well, I knew it wasn't the smartest move, but I, it was just the best for my athlete, but I realized, you know, like I was basically waking up at 1 a.
m. Arizona time and I knew I wouldn't get to bed until like at least 10 p. m. Arizona time so that was a very long day, but I made it and That was great. I flew back home on Saturday morning to San Diego and I've like literally been doing a whole lot of nothing since then which I learned that when, when, um, overall this year, even though it might not seem to you if you're new to me, this year I travel actually less than I used to.
Um, football season. In the recent history of rummaging used to be so exhausting. And I used to go, excuse me, I used to go on like maybe four or five flights a week. You know, across the country, Buffalo, New York City, Nashville, Seattle. Um, and... I basically, you know, and I did that every week of football season, so like 18 weeks in a row, and I learned then that the best thing I could do for myself is two things.
One, rest as much as I needed when I got there, like that's been a bit of only having like one or two athletes is, you know, I can just sleep. When I'm tired and sleep in typically, um, the way the flights work and, you know, not have to worry about doing a whole lot else, you know, maybe some computer work here and there.
And then I also learned that when I did get home, I really just needed a two day buffer before I was. able to have the energy and motivation to like, do anything. And so that true to form, um, Saturday and Sunday, I just was not. Feeling like doing anything but laying, laying around on the couch. I went to the beach both days to go for a beach walk.
Saturday, I ended up just sitting, staring into the abyss. Sunday, I ended up sitting for a while, but then I felt like, Oh, okay, I could do a short walk. And I did a short walk, which was like, I don't know, like 3, 500 steps. And about halfway through, phew, see? Tired. About halfway through, I could have probably been done, but, you know.
Sometimes you walk a certain distance and then you're like, shoot, I gotta turn around and go back. And then today, I've been doing a little bit more work, I woke up with a little bit more energy, ran some errands, sat forever at a doctor's appointment. Um, friendly public service announcement, uh, to get your annual mammogram if you are above 40.
And here we are, and originally, so that's why, that's why I didn't record a podcast last week. You can imagine. On the days I thought I was going to be able to the week before, I was tired and recuperating. And then this weekend, tired and recuperating because in my head I was like, Oh, maybe I'll record one Saturday and then I can release two this week, make up for it.
And then I was like, or maybe I just rest. Practice what I preach, because ironically enough, the podcast that I had planned for last week was all about, uh, the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the state of our nervous system that is responsible for our rest, right, or digest, recovery, regeneration, restoration.
And so I was like, that's ironic and I'm not going to force it because it's also whenever you're talking about the nervous system, it can get a little complex. Um, and I want to be able to give enough of my like focus and energy and bandwidth to make it a really good episode. I have a lot of notes written down for it.
And so it will probably be a longer podcast and I just want to give it. It's like do time. So then I was like, well, what else am I going to talk about this week? And I decided I'm gonna talk about the swelling protocol. I know I Recorded a whole episode on the swelling protocol that basically takes you through the protocol step by step But I wanted to sort of, which I will share in the show notes, so look for that if you haven't listened to it already, but I also wanted to share just some sort of thoughts around the swelling reduction protocol, um, and maybe some little things I would add in or I have added in, and how also, how The importance of integrating it within the listening of the body and the LTAP, the locator test assessment protocol.
So that's what I want to talk about today because today also on Instagram, which today is Monday, I, um, announced my new version of the free swelling. Reduction protocol download is now available. So I'll share that link in the show notes as well. You can also go on my movement, rev Instagram and go to the links and find the sign up there as well.
So, um, if you've already, if you already have done the swelling course, I haven't seen the protocol. It's really no different. It's the same protocol. Try it in true. Just. With a new flashy download, so it's a little bit, my thoughts are, I think, a little bit more organized on it, the resources are laid out better.
So, if you have the protocol and you use it, it's, it's probably not necessarily new information. Um. But also, hopefully better presented. Um, and the cool thing too about this free download is once you enroll, it triggers you to be in a certain sequence on my email list. Then you get, you're going to get I can't remember how many emails it is.
Let's say for the general, just for, I don't know, let's just say hypothetically it's eight emails. So an eight email sequence, um, that gives you more detail and more helpful, like tutorials and, you know, points you in the right direction for some further support on the spelling protocol. So, um, Okay. I think that's probably the best feature of the new, of the new download, is actually the email sequence it triggers.
Um, if you're not about getting emails, then don't sign up for it. But if you, uh, or sign up for it, get the download, and then up to subscribe. You know. Feelings not heard of you on the subscribe. I get it. There's a million emails in my inbox, and I only read a select few so Yeah, let's talk about it. So the swelling reduction protocol a little background as a review
I mean Ultimately the way I was treating swelling pretty good in the past and then after learning the visceral Manipulation work with the Baral Institute. I, you know, started noticing certain areas of the body, too, that whenever somebody had swelling, the assessment protocol would lead me to these areas.
And when I did treatment in these areas, the flow would significantly change, and their swelling would go down. Within the session, like, I would look at the swelling, measure it, like, measure the circumference. You know, palpate, see what it felt like, and then, and you know, maybe check range of motion, and then I would do treatment somewhere else, and we'd look at the person's limb again, and I'd look at the athlete, and I'd look at the body part, and I'd look at them again, and I'd be like, does that feel different?
Because that looks really different. Like, that's way smaller. I'm like, how could it be that much smaller? It's, it's been like, 10 minutes. And they're like, it feels better. And I'm like, oh, interesting. And so I started noticing that and then finally, you know, enough people it was like coming up with patterns.
It would be the front of the hip, like vascular, a very specific vascular piece in the front of the hip. It would be um, a very specific part of the lower leg. It would be a very, it would be the liver. So often, the, the assessment protocol would take me to the liver. Um, and it would be, um, also helped if I evaluated the clavicle, retroclavicular space on, uh, the side of their thoracic duct.
So it kind of, again, blended things that I already knew from the past in with this osteopathic approach. And I just was like, man, these seem to be really... important key spots. And so when I realized this too, it was like my athletes, like two of them, I was working with two linemen in the NFL and, um, one played for the Bills and one paid for the Titans.
So not on the same team. Um, but around the same time, they both sprained their ankles pretty bad, like, you know, significant grade three. Grade 2 ankle sprains, very swollen, bruised. And both of their athletic training sports medicine staffs were like, Mmm, I don't think you'll play this weekend. Like, maybe you'll play in two weeks.
Probably gonna be four weeks based on the amount of swelling you have. You know, and they'd get an MRI and stuff. And there was like legit damage done. But um, the biggest thing though that was holding them out was, um, The swelling and just the, like, mobility, um, and the comfort of moving around on a swollen limb like that.
And, um, so... Then I'd see them on their off days, which in the NFL, off days are Monday, Tuesday. So I saw them after the games and, um, I did the protocol on them, which at, you know, at that point wasn't necessarily protocol. It was just like, I assessed them, the, their body directed me to some specific spots.
Of course, it, it was similar because they have this swelling. And one of the things that I really focused on was restoring their distal pulses because the indication of good lymphatic flow, good vascular flow is good strong distal pulses. And so I knew I wasn't done with their treatment until I restored stored those pulses.
And once I restored their pulses, I was like, okay, you're good to go. And sure enough, within The treatment session they're swelling and gone down and then they went to bed and the next morning. I remember one day One of them, the next morning, like, messaged me and was like, are you awake yet? You know, I stay, I often stay with them at their house and their, like, guest room.
And he was like, are you awake yet? Because I'm about to go into the facility for treatment. It's like 6 a. m. And he was like, I feel like you should see my ankle. And I was like, oh, okay. Are you okay? And he's like, yeah. And I come out into the living room and he's like, It looks like he's in so much pain, which he is, but I look at his ankle and I was like, Oh my gosh.
And he's like, yeah. Right. And I was like, Holy cow. Literally no swelling. And I was like, wow. Okay. That's impressive, and I'm like, um, they're gonna be really surprised, and uh, I mean, you could potentially play this week, right? And he's like, yeah, like, it's pretty painful, but like, as I've been moving around on it, it's starting to feel better, but he's like, it's crazy, cause there's like, no swelling.
And I was like, wow, that's, that's... Crazy. And so of course he goes into the facility and they're like, wow, you know, the treatment we did yesterday really worked all the modalities we did great. And they do his general like range of motion rehab and stuff. And then next day he's able to participate in practice and.
I ended up playing that week. And, and again, like I said, that happened to, um, another lineman around the same time. And finally I was just like, man, that's nuts. And, you know, so a couple of things we learned is like, this really works, number one. Number two... The unfortunate thing, when you get rid of that much swelling after an acute injury, your soreness is gonna be pretty high because the swelling, actually, the distension that it creates within the joint and on the skin, um, provides a little bit of a sort of gait, uh, control theory of pain modulation, right?
Because it stretches the skin. So the skin receptors like sort of block the nociceptive information and it actually, when things are swollen, they're less painful, which is. I catch 22 because when things are swollen, the mobility and, um, the ambulation decreases, but the pain decreases, but, um, most of my athletes would choose to have more pain and better function.
So, um, we were okay with that trade off. And then, you know, we talked about it for a while, and then, and then what happened is, is, you know, as they saw their teammates go through the same thing, you know, they get an ankle sprain or a knee sprain or something, and they'd be out for an extended period of time, mostly because of the swelling, or even like have lingering swelling all season.
And, and the athletes started asking me. for the protocol in there. Like, can I send this to my teammate or are there things that he can do on his own to support this? And so I was like, yeah, sure. So we started sending it to their teammates and their response was really good. And then I was like, you know what, this is, this is early in the beginning of my online business.
And I was like, you know what, this protocol is too good to not share. I don't want any athlete to miss out on game time or, um, Anything if they didn't have to be and so I was like You know, F it. I'm just going to email out this protocol to everybody on my email list. And, um, then I'll also like let people know on social media, like if they want it, I'm happy to send it.
And so I sent an email and I, I listed out all the spots that I did treatment on. And I shared some simple like strategies for treatment and. Send it out. And then the feedback was like mind blowing because people were sending me messages Sending me pictures. They were getting the same results as we were, you know within a session within 24 hours And I was just like this is cool.
And so that's how it was born and then you know, eventually one of the athletic trainers Um, the head athletic trainer at Rhodes College he Andrew Gibson, I believe is his name he Reach out to me and was like, would you be interested in doing a webinar for my staff on your showing program call? And I was like, man, I never thought about it.
And I was like, yeah, let's do it. And so we did it and then that's what's turned into the online course. So it's really come a long way and it's still to this day, you know. It ends up being the spots that I work on to decrease swelling, and it's just as magical now as it is previously. And, um, and it works for many body parts.
I just, I just, um, helped one of my athletes who fractured ribs, um, recently. You know, we use the swelling protocol for him and it made such a huge difference With his pain and the amount of swelling that was there and and ideally we're hoping in the rate of his healing You know because that's the biggest thing too you improve blood flow to the area and you're gonna improve healing To the bones and I've seen that actually I've said I've had friends, um, clients who've had, um, non union fractures and I do this protocol on them and the fracture finally starts healing again and the doctors are just blown away by the improvements on their x rays.
So, it's really great. Um, so anyways, what I wanted to share was like, so what I, what have I changed over the time? The biggest I'd say none of the changes are huge. If anything, it's just like getting more specific on the techniques in the area. And then also, um, um, two key spots in the lower extremity that I actually talk about in the protocol and in the online course, but I didn't emphasize as much as I think they needed to be emphasized.
So we'll talk about that. And then, um, Also, how to use it within the context of the LTAT. And, um, because I think, too, like, that's where even more of the power of it and the magic of it comes from is, is when you can work with the body and figure out the sequencing. Because a lot of people ask me what the sequence is.
And the sequence is up to the body. If, if, if you don't have a tool to ask the body what the sequence is, then you're just going to have to use common sense, and we'll talk about that too. So, those key spots are going to be the retroclavicular space, a. k. a. the area where the thoracic duct is. The main thoracic duct is actually on the left side.
The left thoracic duct drains the majority of the body, so everything except the right half of the head, neck, and upper extremity. Everything else is left thoracic duct. On the right side, there is a drainage spot into the vein there. Um, there is, um, part of the thoracic ducts are there, but it's, like, not as big and it's not the main drain.
It does all drain back into the same, um, venous and lymphatic system. So, the other key spot is the liver. Um, the liver itself, but especially the vascular structures, um, the liver relate to. So the liver, it's axis of rotation is actually right around the vena cava and the, uh, cisterna chyle, which is like the, one of the main lymph nodes of the lymphatic system.
And then too, that relates to, um, The dynamics between the inferior vena cava and the iliac veins, the portal vein, and the mesenteric veins as well. So all of those venous structures from both the gut as well as the lower shremdes sort of, um, converging at this area around the liver. Not to mention that the liver is one of the main filters for the vascular system and the lymph.
And, um, In this area too, um, which is like Thoracolumbar Junction, I don't really talk about it as much in the course, nor do I come up and treat it very much on people, but the spleen is in this area too, and the spleen and the liver do have a connection. to each other. So, um, more than like, they're right next to each other.
So more than likely when you're doing these general treatments to the liver, you're also affecting the spleen as well. So I don't want to leave the spleen out. And then, um, the next spots are going to be the anterior hip. So the, um, retroinguinal space, right? So the space underneath the inguinal ligament where the neurovascular structures run through there.
It's a common area of entrapment. It's also the proximal end of the adductor canal. The adductor canal is the main space in the leg where all the neurovascular structures go from. The neurovascular structures to all sides of your legs run through this adductor canal. And so that is one of the key spots as well is the distal end of the adductor canal.
That's, um, I talk about it in the course, uh, the Swelling Reduction Protocol course, online course, but in the. First iteration of the downloadable protocol, I did not talk about that spot. That spot specifically is going to be called the adductor hiatus. It's four fingers superior to the medial knee joint line, and that's the distal end of the adductor canal.
So very related to the front of the hip piece. And then it's basically where the, um, femoral artery and vein where they go from being a little bit more intermedial and they dive posterior to the popliteal fossa. The popliteal fossa can be an area that you do treatment, though in my experience it doesn't come up as much.
That area tends to be a little A little bit, um, more open. Can it still get clogged there? Absolutely, because people feel that swelling in the back of their knee a lot. But in my experience, that swelling in the back of your knee, that clogging in the popliteal space, it drains pretty quickly when you open up the rest of the adductor canal.
And then in the lower leg, we talked, I talked about how the lower leg is the key spot, and I talked about how powerful deep tissue massage was in this area, along with freeing up this space around the proximal tib fib joint, and how it relates to the fibula. And this key spot. What really I would add to it is the emphasis on the function of the soleus as a peripheral heart.
So I did a whole podcast episode called the peripheral heart on the soleus and how it was a main player in our venus return, uh, from our lower extremity. It is, um, the tightest thing in the lower extremity on people, um, Attaches to the majority of the fibula, so really locks down our, um, fibular mobility, so It's no wonder then ankle sprains can be such a bugger to deal with when it comes to stagnant swelling and so Um, you know one addressing the soleus from a soft tissue standpoint, but simply adding in some simple soleus exercises to help out the pumping mechanism can be very supportive.
So, um, those are the additions. The soleus, the emphasis on the soleus and the adductor hiatus, those are probably the biggest additions. Now, the other Additions you could add in, but I don't typically, it's more of a case by case basis, is you could do, um, The intercostal spaces, intercostal spaces, because of, because, especially, especially intercostal spaces, anterior chest wall and the lateral chest wall, because there's not a whole lot of muscle or adipose tissue between those spaces.
They're great areas to do manual therapy in because it's like, you're so close in proximity to affecting those azygous veins and the azygous veins are, um, along with the intercostal veins are, are helping to dump into that mean drainage of the venous system and the lymphatics. And so, um, that area can be probably pretty powerful too.
I've often thought about. There's many reasons why working on thoracic mobility and rib mobility are powerful to the body and I just think that's another reason is because it's accessing the vascular network very dramatically. Um. So, in the, you know, when we have swelling in the upper extremity, there's some key spots in the upper extremity, but, um,
I have less resources around them because they don't come up very often. Um, I talk a little about it, about it in the LTAP when we learn how to use the neurovascular entrapment. Um, inhibition tests, but for general swelling protocol, people like I had my, one of my football players had sprained his hand, uh, two weeks ago.
His hand was really swollen. It was hard for him to make a fist. And I did the swelling protocol on him and his hand swelling drained before I even got to the upper extremity neurovascular entrapment spots. So just to reiterate, like oftentimes when it's in the upper extremity, it's not. You don't need to necessarily do much stuff or tremor to make a huge difference.
Um, so a little bit about using the LTAP. So, because I'm talking about the sequence, right? So, if we look at, let me backtrack. If we look at just the anatomy of everything, all those key spots I told you, if I base it on the anatomy, I would probably do clavicle, retroclavicular space first, so thoracic duct first.
I would do,
Liver, second, I would do anterior hip, third, adductor canal, fourth, lower leg, fifth, and then any specific to the area of injury, last. Which means, depending on the body part, depending on what you're working on, you might be doing seven different treatment locations, which, if it seems like a lot, it is. If I went through the whole protocol, Just on its own, depending on my skill level and what treatments I'm picking.
If I'm using the manual therapy or the exercises, it might take 30 minutes to an hour. Um, which, you know, after an acute injury, that's like your main plan for reha your rehab session anyways, is decreasing swelling, increasing range of motion, and decreasing pain, so it's like, whatever. Um, But if you're limited on time or just don't want to waste time, um, this is when blending it with the LTAP, the Locator Test Assessment Protocol, can be so helpful.
Because of those seven spots, You might not have to actually treat all of them because there might not be an entrapment at all those spots. Those are like the potential areas for things to go wrong, things that commonly go wrong, big drainage spots. But oftentimes it's just one specific spot that they need.
And, and this is the great part about the LTAP is typically that is where the body will direct you. That is where the protection pattern is. And so when I use the locator test assessment protocol. Even in an acute injury state, it's so powerful because then the body gets to tell me, should I treat the liver first or the thoracic duct first?
Or should I treat even the lower leg first? I've been surprised where a lot of the times I'm like, their limb, their joint or limb or wherever they're swelling is so swollen. I'm thinking, I'm going to have to do many parts of the swelling protocol. And sure enough, I do like one area and then it's like, swelling gone.
I was treating someone with a chronic ankle sprain. Swelling years ago. I mean, she, you know, once upon a time, she swole rolled her ankle. And ever since then she gets her ankle gets swollen, especially towards the end of the day, um, being on her feet and it's just really frustrating for her. She's also a manual therapist, and so she's trying a million things and nothing ever really sticks.
And so I evaluated her and her body directed me. to her liver and we looked at her ankle and took a quick circumference measurement and then, you know, checked her pulse and then I treated her liver and then I just went back to reassess to figure out where to go next. Her pulse was restored and her circumference was Now, equal to the other side and both of us were like, Oh my gosh, that's all it took was the liver.
So then I didn't have to do the other seven spots. So that's the beauty of the efficiency of listening to the body because it tells me the sequence. If I had been like staking the sand, like this is the protocol. We start, have to start at the thoracic duct and work our way out. I would have wasted her time and mine and maybe even not gotten as good of a result.
So the sequence of the protocol actually should be determined by the body. The body should be able to direct me to where the areas of entrapment is and the one that is dominant, because this is a thing. You could do an assessment at each of those areas and probably decide, okay, yes, this area, this space is limited.
It's probably entrapping the neurovascular structures. But, everything is connected, so like, in her case, let's say I did go to her retroclavicular space on the left, and it was like, really limited, her subclavius was real tight, clearly an entrapment spot of the thoracic duct. Here's the thing though. The nerve to the subclavius, which comes off of the brachial plexus, high up, upper brachial plexus, so shares the nerve roots with the phrenic nerve.
The phrenic nerve innervates the diaphragm and the area around the peritoneum, the area around the liver. So, me treating the liver first, actually, also, at the same time, Gave a message to the subclavius that it didn't need to be tight anymore. So the subclavius Let's go and then now there's all this space in the retroclavicular space.
So now by treating in one spot I've actually dealt with two of the key locations, right and that liver too. The liver has a relationship with especially the opposite, so the left side of the neurovascular structures. So perhaps I already changed the anterior hip part of the, um, protocols too, right? So this is why the LTAP is so powerful, is because it determines the sequence of treatment.
for me. I can gather all the evidence. It's a bunch of numbers, right? It's a bunch of, you know, codes. It's like I, this is the secret. This is the whole point of the sequence. I tell people it's like a combination lock, right? I need six numbers and it could be any number, you know, any two digit number, six of them, but it's the sequence that matters.
So same thing in the protocol. We have six or seven key spots in the swelling reduction protocol. If I treat all the spots, am I gonna have some sort of response? Yes. This is why everybody gets such great results with it, but could I get even better results if I learned what the combination was? Yes. Yes, I could.
So everyone who's, I've had a few people message me already for the free download, and they're like, oh, I'm in your in the ltap. I'm excited to learn more from you. I'm like, oh, I love that you're in the ltap too, because combining these things, this is gonna be. Like, very cool to see, because it's going to take this protocol that makes sense anatomically and you're just going to see all the connections and how it unwinds things, and so I can't wait.
Anyways, I think that's all I got for you, right? So I added the key spots, the peripheral heart, and the adductor hiatus. And, um, talk to you about the sequence because the sequence does matter and I think that's everything. So, if you haven't downloaded it already, check the link in the show notes, give it a download and try it out and let me know what you, what you notice.
It might not be a surprise to you, but it works for acute and chronic swelling. Stagnant swelling, persistent swelling, it works for just general bloating and congestion, and it also works for healing, right? Like I talked about with the nonunion fractures, improving blood flow also helps with healing, brain fog, headaches, like all the things.
So it has universal applications, not just an ankle sprain. I hope you play around with it and see how it works, and uh, we'll see you next week.
