Oncology Massage
Your body has been through a great deal. Oncology massage is soft, careful work that meets you where you are in treatment. It eases tension, supports rest, and with the right training helps with the swelling that treatment can bring.
4.8 · 1,000+ reviews across Google, Yelp & More
Concerns Oncology Massage Treats
Persistent swelling that can follow cancer treatment, surgery, or lymph node removal, when the lymphatic system can no longer drain on its own. When your therapist is trained in manual lymphatic drainage, gentle oncology massage can help move the fluid that pools.
View Concern →Eased tension
Gentle work loosens the tightness that builds across the neck, shoulders, and back from long treatment days
Deeper rest
Light, slow massage settles the nervous system and helps you rest between treatments
Less swelling
With an MLD-trained therapist, the work can help move fluid that pools after surgery or node removal
An hour of calm
Gentle, respectful care in a quiet room, at a time when so much feels out of your hands
Why patients choose NLC.
Founder Sharon M. Vogel has spent more than three decades devoted to lymphatic drainage. A Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Lymphedema Therapist and Board-Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (LMT, CLT, BCTMB), she developed the Vogel Method and founded National Lymphatic Centers in 1991. Today her team of certified therapists carries that same standard across three clinics in Chicago's western suburbs: Hinsdale, Downers Grove and Joliet.
When oncology massage belongs somewhere else
We work alongside your cancer care
We support your comfort alongside your cancer care, never replacing it.
- • Oncology massage is supportive comfort and wellness care
- • We are not treating your cancer and do not replace any part of your medical care
- • Your oncology team leads treatment; we coordinate timing with them before we begin
- • We keep our work to the comfort, tension, and swelling we are trained to help
Contraindications: we refer you on
Some conditions are outside our scope, and we will refer you.
- • We do not perform this work on AFib, COPD, emphysema, blood clots, or active infection
- • These are outside our scope of care
- • A severe issue or acute flare belongs with your medical team
- • Anything needing emergency-capable monitoring goes to a hospital lymphedema clinic with emergency care on site
Some days the answer is rest
Some days rest is the right answer, and we say so.
- • On some days gentle massage is a comfort; on others the answer is rest
- • Good oncology-sensitive care means knowing the difference and being honest
- • If something feels acute, new, or worrying, that goes to your treatment team
What a session looks like, adapted to you.
The room is quiet and the pressure is light, and you stay in control of what happens from the first minute to the last. Sessions follow your anatomy, your treatment stage, and your comfort, never a fixed routine.
This work sits close to your cancer care, so before we book you in we coordinate the timing with your oncology or care team. They know where you are in treatment, what your counts are doing, and what your body is ready for. If you are in active treatment, that conversation comes first, every time. Consent comes before the work does.
Details+
- • Timing coordinated with your oncology or care team before booking
- • Any guidance from your oncologist or surgeon brought to your first visit
- • Nothing happens without your say so, and consent comes first
- • Some days the right answer is rest and a call to your medical team
The work, explained by Sharon
The full team.
Hover to read each name. Certified care across all three Illinois clinics, every session to the Vogel Method standard.
Sharon M. Vogel
LMT · CLT · CDT · BCTMB · CVMLD™
All three clinics
Abdul Alagha
LMT · CLT · LANA
Downers Grove
Ludmila Lynch
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT
Joliet
Stephanie Kos
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT · LET
Hinsdale
Hana Echevarria
LMT · OMT · CDT
Downers Grove
Ricky Sharma
LMT · CVMLD™ · MLD
Downers Grove
Sharon M. Vogel
LMT · CLT · CDT · BCTMB · CVMLD™
All three clinics
Abdul Alagha
LMT · CLT · LANA
Downers Grove
Ludmila Lynch
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT
Joliet
Stephanie Kos
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT · LET
Hinsdale
Hana Echevarria
LMT · OMT · CDT
Downers Grove
Ricky Sharma
LMT · CVMLD™ · MLD
Downers Grove
What patients tell us
4.8★ across 1,000+ reviews on Google, Yelp & More
“The Vogel Method is the only manual lymphatic massage that has decreased my joint swelling and improved my quality of life. I am willing to drive over an hour to see Sharon and team. She keeps my vertigo and joint swelling at bay.”
Mary H.
Google · joint swelling & vertigo · May 2026
Three Illinois clinics.
Reserve your visit.
No referral needed.
Choose a therapist and a time that works for you, at any of our three Illinois clinics. Same-specialty care, whether it is your first visit or your tenth.
See pricingA self-pay clinic, with a superbill for your insurer.
We do not bill insurance directly. For medically necessary lymphatic therapy, we provide an itemized superbill you can submit to your insurer for possible reimbursement. Coverage varies by plan, so check with your provider.
Have questions about referrals or reimbursement? Our front desk is happy to help. 630-828-6582
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Not sure if oncology massage is a good fit right now?
That is a fair question, and we would rather answer it honestly than book you blindly. Call us, tell us where you are in treatment and what your body is asking for, and we will say honestly whether oncology massage is a good fit right now. If it is, we coordinate with your care team and get you in at the clinic nearest you: Hinsdale, Downers Grove, or Joliet.