Post-Surgical Lymphatic Massage
After an operation, fluid pools in the healing area and the tightness can linger far longer than anyone warned you. Gentle post surgical lymphatic massage helps that fluid move toward the nodes that clear it, so swelling eases and recovery feels more comfortable. We begin once your surgeon clears you, and we coordinate the work around their guidance. Delivered by therapists trained in manual lymphatic drainage across three clinics in Chicago's western suburbs.
4.8 · 1,000+ reviews across Google, Yelp & More
Concerns Post-Surgical Lymphatic Massage Treats
Broad puffiness and fullness that lingers after a procedure, long after the first few days you expected. Gentle drainage, timed to your recovery and your surgeon's clearance, helps move the fluid so healing has room to progress.
View Concern →Less swelling
Pooled fluid guided toward the nodes that clear it, so the area feels lighter
Softer tissue
Firm, lumpy areas after liposuction eased over a short series
Calmer recovery
A light, skin-level technique your sore, healing tissue can rest into
Coordinated care
Work timed to your surgeon's clearance and guidance throughout
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 post-surgical massage isn't the right first call
Contraindications: we refer you on
Some conditions are outside our scope, and we will refer you.
- • We do not treat AFib, COPD, emphysema, blood clots, or active infection
- • These are outside our scope of care
- • Some belong in a hospital setting where emergency care is on site
- • This is proper scope, not a hedge, and we point you the right direction
Red flags belong with your surgeon
Certain warning signs go straight to your surgeon.
- • Swelling that turns hot, red, sharply painful, or one-sided needs attention right away
- • Swelling with a fever needs medical attention; contact your surgeon, not us
- • A distinct pocket of fluid is a seroma, and it belongs to your surgeon first
We support recovery, we do not replace surgical care
We support recovery around your surgeon's guidance, never instead of it.
- • We begin only once your surgeon clears you, and coordinate around their guidance
- • Gentle drainage is supportive care that helps many recover more comfortably
- • For mastectomy and reconstructive recovery, we coordinate with your surgical and oncology team
- • No honest clinic promises a specific outcome or timeline
What a post-surgical session looks like.
The room is quiet and the pressure is light. Nothing happens without your say so, and sessions follow your anatomy and your stage of healing, so no two plans look the same.
The most common question we get is when it is safe to start, and the honest answer is that your surgeon decides. Different procedures heal on different timelines, so clear post-operative massage with the surgeon who performed your procedure before your first session, and bring us whatever guidance they give you. Once you have that clearance, gentle drainage can often begin sooner than patients expect, because it is so light.
Details+
- • Surgeon clearance before any hands-on work begins
- • Bring us your surgeon's post-operative guidance
- • Starting while swelling is active tends to help more than waiting
- • Red flags such as hot, red, one-sided, sharp pain or fever go to your surgeon first
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 post-surgical massage is right for you?
That is a fair question, and we would rather answer it honestly than book you blindly. Once your surgeon says you are healing the way you should, call us and tell us about your procedure. We will say plainly whether our care can help, and if it can, we will get you in at the clinic nearest you and build a plan around exactly where you are in healing: Hinsdale, Downers Grove, or Joliet.