Usually, Emil Vodder is given credit for creating Manual Lymph Drainage in the 1930s. But it didn’t start then. The start of MLD dates back to the 1870s to Dr. Andrew Taylor Stills, a doctor practicing in the US.

Stills had a good knowledge of anatomy, and his hypothesis of the connection into the brain of lymphatic system was proven in 2015! He was indeed a forward thinker.

Stills in 1892 founded the American School of Osteopathy (ASO), now called the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine of A. T. Stills University of Health Sciences in Missouri.

Stills was one of the first, if not the first who recognized the importance of the lymphatic system. One of his graduates, Elmer D. Barber published his first book on osteopathic medicine, Osteopathy Complete, in 1898. It contained one of the first descriptions of MLD.

With research ongoing, including the impact of MLD on the spleen, the lymphatics were discussed and then debated if the spleen was part of the lymphatic system.

In the 1903s, a Danish massage practitioner working in France was also looking into the lymphatic system. This is a name which is still very familiar - Dr. Emil Vodder, PHD. It started with a patient with chronic sinusitis and acne. Vodder decided to try to drain the stagnant areas toward the neck. He realized that he was working on the lymphatic pathways.

In 1936, Vodder presented about MLD in Paris; but Vodder was not a doctor, physio therapist or a registered massage therapist and his work was met with skepticism.

In under a hundred years, Vodder has become a household name for his MLD training. Many of the therapists working in BC were trained in the Vodder method.

MLD started out from stuffed up sinuses. It is now used for relief of several diseases including lymphedema, lipedema fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.