Your brain detoxifies while sleeping through your “glymphatic” system. During deep sleep, your brain shrinks, allowing fluid to flow through and wash your brain, exiting down the neck, through the blood, to the liver, gall bladder, and intestines for elimination.
If any of those functions are impaired or congested, metabolic garbage builds up in the brain, presenting as degenerative diseases. For example, the build-up of beta-amyloid protein is believed to contribute to Alzheimer’s, as the excess beta-amyloid clumps together and forms plaques that collect between brain cells and disrupt cell function.
Supporting optimal brain detoxification is one of the most important things you can do for your health. This means both getting optimal sleep so the brain can shrink and get “washed” and ensuring that the exit route for the toxins—your neck—is not congested so toxins can leave the brain.
You might think of the body as a hydraulic system, where congested tissue downstream (like the neck or further down in the body, the liver or gut) prevents optimal flow upstream (from the brain flowing down). More specifically, congested lymphatic vessels in the neck will impede the drainage of toxins from the brain.
Your Neck is the Highway In and Out of Your Brain
Just as you would never yell “fire” in a crowded movie theater without first opening the exit doors, you want to ensure that your brain’s key exit route for draining toxins—the neck – is open and flowing freely before beginning any aggressive detoxification protocol that might mobilize toxins, like metals, from your brain.
The lack of proper drainage in the neck is often correlated with many adverse detoxification reactions, like headaches, fatigue, brain fog, depression, anxiety, and pain. You will feel worse if toxins are mobilized and don’t leave the body. Especially if you mobilize toxins in the brain and they recirculate in the brain, potentially relocating to a position where they cause more inflammation and damage.
Neck Congestion Impedes Toxin Drainage
Your neck is the critical intersection where your brain connects with your body. Oxygen, nutrients, and stimuli are carried between the brain and the body through the nerves, blood vessels, veins, and spinal cord that travel through your neck channel.
For example, your vagus nerve and lymphatic system run alongside the veins in the neck, particularly the carotid artery and internal jugular vein. Your sinuses also drain along the neck. Cranial nerves that travel through the neck activate several muscles, so any congestion in the neck area can be experienced as muscle fatigue or pain.
Congestion or inflammation of any part of the neck—including the veins, lymphatic tissue, or vagus nerve—can compromise the function of the other systems in the neck and impede brain function and detoxification. Fresh, oxygenated blood can only enter the brain if blood and lymph drain properly.
Chronic disease specialist Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt began taking ultrasounds of his patients’ necks and noticed a distinct correlation between inflammation in the vagus nerve, lymphatic tissue, and vasculature and chronic illness. He consequently prioritizes opening the drainage pathways in the neck channel with essential oils and other topical remedies and notices a dramatic reduction in inflammation in the drainage pathways, including the vagus nerve, which correlates with improved health.
Congestion = Symptoms
If lymph or blood flow in the neck is congested, fluid and pressure build up in the brain, resulting in various symptoms. The location of fluid build-up in the brain often dictates the symptoms. For example:
- Fluid accumulation in the space below the cerebellum (where the spinal cord meets the brain) may contribute to brainstem symptoms like blurred vision, vertigo, dizziness, numbness, or loss of sensation.
- Fluid accumulation in the subarachnoid space (the space between brain tissue and the skull) can place pressure on the brain and cranial nerves, resulting in symptoms like headaches and seizures. Moreover, pressure in the subarachnoid spaces inhibits oxygen flow to the brain, resulting in symptoms of brain fog, short-term memory deficits, and loss of executive function.
- Fluid accumulation that exerts pressure on the pituitary gland or blocks blood flow to or from the pituitary can compromise endocrine function, impacting hormone signals and mood.
- Fluid accumulation can contribute to brain pressure that, over time, may also cause hypothalamic dysfunction, resulting in symptoms like obsessive-compulsive tendencies, anxiety, and the tendency to overachieve.
How to Remove Stagnation in the Neck
In order to help your brain drain and detoxify better, and improve the delivery of oxygen, nutrients and stimuli to the brain, it’s important to help ensure optimal function in the following systems in the neck:
1. Improve Lymphatic Flow
Your lymphatic system carries toxins out of the brain down the neck channel. If there is congestion in the lymphatic system in the neck or downstream in the body, it will impair drainage from the brain. If you think of the body as a hydraulic system where congested tissue downstream prevents optimal flow upstream, congested lymphatic vessels in the neck will impede the drainage of toxins from the brain.
As you may know, your lymphatic system permeates every part of the body, serving as a complementary system to our circulatory system. It draws fluid from the cells and carries it through lymphatic ducts and nodes back to the circulatory system, establishing the link between the smallest blood vessels – the capillaries – and the cells. As such, it helps remove toxins, infections, and other waste from every cell in your body. It works as the body’s septic system, eliminating the by-products and wastes created from metabolizing our nutrients. Like the drains in your home, the lymphatic system can get congested and stagnant, and toxins can build up.
Unfortunately, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump, and lymphatic fluid can accumulate and stagnate (learn more about the Lymphatic System here). This stagnation can be due to an overload of acidity, animal protein, gluten, infection, toxins, or connective tissue adhesions, such as scars.
Did you ever start a healing protocol or a detox and feel terrible? Perhaps you noticed a headache. To enhance lymphatic flow and drainage, generously apply Lymph™ around the sides of the neck to relieve congestion, improve drainage, and reduce brain inflammation.
2. Enhance Circulation
Your lymphatic system flows along the veins of the neck. Your circulatory system also controls blood flow into and out of the brain. Slow or blocked blood flow through the veins or arteries can impede the ability of toxins to drain.
If the veins and arteries are narrow, lax, scarred, or malformed, or the blood cells are too large, adequate blood flow is restricted, which creates pressure and prevents toxins from draining the brain. Your veins can also be a target for infections. For example, many bugs hang out in the endothelium or the lining of the jugular veins and the venous system, causing congestion. Dr. Klinghardt likes to put himself in the mind of the bug, hypothesizing that “If I were a bug, I would want to be waiting downstream from the most nutrient-rich blood in the body, and that’s coming out of the brain.”
Essential oils, like Circulation™, can help improve circulation by relaxing and improving the health of the blood vessels. This helps more blood circulate through them, improving circulation in the process. Essential oils can also help the veins contract, stimulating blood flow.
Apply 2-3 drops of Circulation™ on the sides or back of the neck, over the left clavicle, to help support circulation. When blood circulation to the brain becomes sluggish, it can impact your physical and mental abilities, including your ability to focus and concentrate. Poor circulation in the brain can also contribute to fatigue, vertigo, dizziness, memory loss, and frequent and unexplained headaches.
Circulation™ works exceptionally well with Lymph™ to help flush out toxins and reduce inflammation of the blood vessels, further improving blood flow throughout the body. Read More about Circulation HERE.
3. Healthy Vagus Nerve
As you may know, your vagus nerve is one of the most critical channels for sending messages to and from the brain to the body. It starts at the base of the brain and travels down the neck on both sides of the body. The microbes in the mouth – like heavy metals, pathogens, infections, viruses, or environmental toxins – drain along your trigeminal nerve and intersect with the vagus nerve in the neck.
Nerves have a high affinity for toxins, especially metals, which can be absorbed by the vagus nerve, known as vagus nerve toxicity (Read More about Vagus Nerve Toxicity HERE), contributing to inflammation that further compromises the fluid flow in the neck channel.
The vagus nerve travels down both sides of the neck, and infections in that vicinity can enter the nerve and impede its ability to trigger the Parasympathetic® blend on the vagal nerve behind the neck can help manually override the infection and help reset the autonomic nervous system for optimal drainage from the brain.
4. Release Fascial Adhesions
Your lymphatic system flows through fascia tissue—the connective tissue network in the body—with the fascia acting as a pathway for drainage, channeling lymph fluid towards lymph nodes.
The fascial glide system forms a continuous web surrounding and connecting your body’s muscles, vessels, nerves, and organs. The lymphatic is designed to glide within the fascial system.
Since the lymphatic system does not have a heart like the circulatory system to pump the lymph, it relies on the movement of the muscles and fascia to squeeze the lymphatic vessels and push the lymph through the system like a low-pressure hose.
When the fascia is healthy, hydrated, flexible, supple, and unrestricted, your tissues can move freely, and the lymph can move more quickly through the lymphatic vessels toward the neck for removal.
If the fascia is bound and restricted, it can become more rigid and inflexible, creating adverse pressure and interfering with healthy lymph flow. When the fascia is restricted, lymphatic drainage slows down and is less effective, leaving harmful cells and oxidative waste products in the body for longer.
The Fascia Release™ blend helps support lymph drainage by helping to stimulate the lymphatic system, release adhesions and fascial restriction, increase circulation, and decrease swelling in the tissue. By supporting the fluid dynamics of the fascial system, this blend may help ease a congested lymphatic system and reduce swelling.
As you know, the fascia lies just below the skin, so topically applying essential oils to the skin allows for easy and immediate access to the fascia. The skin is your largest organ and is relatively permeable to fat-soluble substances like essential oils.
The essential oils in the Fascia Release™ blend are uniquely formulated to unravel deeply held tensions, constrictions, and energetic blockages in your tissues to reduce pain, improve blood and lymphatic circulation, and release fear, repressed emotions, and tension held in the body (organs, muscles, tendons, bones, and joints) or the mind.
5. Support Healthy Sinus and Tonsil Drainage
Infections in the neck area, including the sinus cavity or tonsils, can inflame the neck and impede toxins from properly draining from the brain.
The sinuses drain down the back of the throat when you swallow. If the sinus passages become blocked or fail to let the sinuses drain effectively, the resulting pressure can cause inflammation and congestion, often correlated with neck pain.
Similarly, all waste that leaves the brain passes through the tonsils, which is why Dr. Klinghardt refers to the tonsils as “the toilet of the brain.” If your tonsils are congested or infected, they can act like a dam on the lymphatic system, preventing the brain’s lymphatic system from properly draining. For example, lymph from the teeth drains into the tonsils, potentially compromising their health. The tonsils are also in close proximity to and can infect your vagus nerve.
Essential oils like Histamine Balance™ and Sinus Support™ may help modulate the immune response to sinus and tonsil infections. As you may know, Histamine is a chemical compound released by the cells in response to injury, allergic or inflammatory reactions, causing contraction of smooth muscle and dilation of capillaries. While the release of histamine is a standard defense mechanism, an exaggerated histamine response can bind to cell receptor sites, causing irritation and chronic inflammation. This inflammatory response can cause sneezing, runny nose, watery, red, itchy eyes, rashes, breathing troubles such as wheezing, severe coughs, asthma, or hiccups. The goal is to balance, not block, the histamine response as histamine performs critical functions in the body. The essential oils in the Histamine Balance™ blend are uniquely suited to help modulate excess histamine excretion, balancing histamine levels and helping to reset the immune response and reduce allergic reactions and infections in the sinus cavity and tonsils. To learn more about balancing the Histamine Reaction to mold, CLICK HERE.
As you may know, your sinuses are a connected system of hollow cavities in the skull that drain into your nose. When your sinuses are inflamed, thick mucus fills the nasal cavity, causing your tissue to swell and blocking drainage openings, including those into the neck and nose, so fluid can no longer escape. This then leads to the common symptoms of sinusitis: headaches, facial pressure, and even toothaches from surrounding nerve impingement.
Essential oils can easily travel into the small holes to loosen mucous and promote drainage. Sinus Support™ works as local decongestants that break up mucus, stimulate drainage of the nose and sinuses, and relieve head pressure. Essential oils are antimicrobial, and help resolve infectious organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the sinuses and nasal cavities. Sinus Support™ is designed for aromatic and topical use. If using topically, we recommend applying 2–3 drops to a cotton swab and swabbing the inside of the nasal passages 2–6 times daily. You can leave the cotton swab in the nasal passage for up to 20 minutes for optimal effectiveness. Try to relax and focus on breathing through the nose.
6. Reduce Toxicity in the Mouth
Oil pulling is a powerful tactic to help reduce bacteria, fungi, and parasite formations in the mouth. Oil pulling consists of swishing 1-2 teaspoons of edible oil (like coconut oil or sesame oil) in your mouth around your teeth and gums, similar to how you might swish mouthwash. The longer you push and pull the oil through your mouth, the more pathogens are pulled free, so be careful not to swallow any. spit out the oil after for 10-20 minutes. The oil is able to reach and attract harmful substances between teeth and in the gums, like bacteria and plaque, much the way a powerful magnet attracts metal bits.
You can optimize the benefits even more by adding essential oils like Clove (found in Parasympathetic®) and Peppermint™ to your oil-pulling routine. For example, Clove oil contains the active ingredient eugenol, which helps naturally numb and reduce pain and anti-inflame. A study found that eugenol reduces pain, inflammation, and infection more effectively than other analgesic toothpaste.
My friend Katie Wells at Wellness Mama created this easy recipe for oil-pulling chews, using essential oils to make the process even easier.
7. Structural Alignment
Ensuring that the cervical spine is aligned is essential to optimize the highway in and out of the brain. Injuries, including whiplash, concussions, or traumatic brain injury, can negatively affect lymph drainage and other health concerns, as the spinal cord is the main pathway for information connecting the brain and peripheral nervous system.
Essential oils, like Uplift™ and Nerve Repair™, can be topically applied after structural alignment sessions to help hold and maintain the correction. Topical application is especially effective as receptors in the skin send information to the spinal cord through the spinal nerves.
READ THIS NEXT: Fascia and the Lymphatic System
Resources:
Ready to get started? Click the links below to order today:
- Circulation™ available here
- Histamine Balance™ available here
- Lymph™ available here
- Nerve Repair™ available here
- Parasympathetic® available here
- Peppermint™ available here
- Sinus Support™ available here
- Uplift™ available here
