Manual lymphatic drainage is a form of physical therapy. It has many areas of application and is mainly used as decongestion and oedema therapy, i.e. to reduce swelling. The swelling of body regions can be the result of trauma, e.g. after accidents or operations, e.g. arthroscopy of the knee, ankle injuries or after tumour treatment or lymph node removal.
The effectiveness and lasting effect can be increased by the use of compression bandages and decongestive exercises. This is called complex physical decongestive therapy (CPD).