Madison's Best Lymphatic Care Clinic
We are a patient-focused clinic specializing in Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) and have experience and expertise treating: post-surgical patients, cancer patients, post-mastectomy, DIEP flap reconstruction, post-plastic surgery patients, chronic lymphatic conditions such as lymphedema and lipedema, as well as those with generalized inflammation, chronic immune impaired conditions (Lyme disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, etc), long/post-COVID symptoms, and hypersensitivity.
Established in 2025, Lymphatic Specialists of Madison is owned and operated by Courtney
Rolnick, PT, DPT, CMLDT, who has been a practicing PT for 9 years and has specialized in
lymphatics for 7 years.
Courtney is deeply passionate about lymphatic work and building a team of compassionate
providers who are highly educated with specific skills to help you on your health
journey.
For more information on how Lymphatic Specialists of Madison can help you achieve your health goals, call us at (608) 358-2082.
Note: If you are having difficulty getting scheduled at the time/day you would like - please don't hesitate to call/text us to be added to our cancellation list as cancellations are common. Sometimes we are booking farther out - we use our cancellation list as a means to get patients in sooner. Thank you.
A gentle form of bodywork that stimulates the lymphatic system to reduce edema/excess inflammation, remove toxins and waste, and encourage a healthy immune system. This type of treatment is appropriate for most people (see contraindications). Very beneficial for patients: post-cancer, with lipidema/lymphedema, post-surgical, with autoimmune conditions, long COVID, with systemic inflammatory conditions such as Lyme, PCOS, endometriosis, and many more.
Post-surgical manual lymphatic drainage helps clear out excess lymph fluid caused by surgical trauma, which assists in faster healing and pain reduction. Scar tissue work is also performed when indicated to help increase mobility of scar and reduce adhesions after surgery which will help with overall appearance of surgical site and surrounding areas, increased lymphatic flow and help reduce future scar adhesion complications.
Scar tissue is fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin or other tissue after an injury, wound, or trauma.
Scar tissue is composed of collagen, the same as the tissue it replaces, but the fiber composition of the collagen protein is different — instead of a random basketweave formation found in normal tissue, the collagen fibers in scar tissue are cross-linked and form a pronounced alignment in a single direction. This difference causes a lack of elasticity, making scars more taut, which in turn can affect the movement and function of surrounding tissues. Normal scars appear as a thin white line and are flat.
In addition, scar tissue can form adhesions to tissues underneath, causing puckering, pain, tethering, and other more serious issues. Superficial or deep nerve entrapments can also occur, causing pain and dysfunction. Normal scars appear as a thin white line and are flat.
Other types of scar development that aren't considered normal and tend to cause issues are hypertrophic, keloid, adhered, and contracted scars. We use manual techniques along with cupping in practice at LSOM to help remodel scar tissue to help prevent issues from arising in newly formed scar tissue and to help already formed scars that are problematic, improving both appearance, mobility, and function.
A great analogy for how we remodel scar tissue is to think about kneading dough. When beginning the kneading process, the dough will bounce back to its original shape, and it takes continual molding to make the dough flatten out over time and then keep this flattened shape.
We are doing the same thing with scar tissue — just enabling increased elasticity and movement through constant hands-on reinforcement and remodeling.
At Lymphatic Specialists of Madison, we approach our sessions differently from other clinics that you may have been to before.
We always focus on the patient's individual needs, analyzing a number of different aspects of their health, to see how Manual Lymphatic Drainage would be most beneficial. We believe that educating our patients on the lymphatic system and looking at each individual holistically greatly improves one's understanding of their body and health, and in turn allows them to feel empowered and supported. Patient autonomy is a priority to us - we will work with your comfort level during each session and never push beyond that - building trust with you is our main priority, and so we believe you have the final say in all the treatments provided during a session.
Our practitioners hold master's and doctorate degrees, making them experts in their fields. Their education provided them with exceptional knowledge of the lymphatic system, anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and an understanding of how it all works together. This ensures that you, the patient, are getting the best treatment possible.
Before each treatment, we do an assessment with the patient, asking questions that will help formulate a treatment plan for the session that is designed for optimal results. All of our practitioners at Lymphatic Specialists of Madison use the Vodder Method in Manual Lymphatic Drainage sessions. In addition, we will use any of the “tools in our toolbox” to help in the treatment session if we feel that something is blocking or inhibiting our ability to drain the lymph system properly. That can look like doing soft tissue work, myofascial work, scar tissue work, deep breathing, or cupping.
"Courtney is so amazing at what she does. Regular sessions with her keep my lymphedema and tightness from scarring controlled. For anyone that has gone through breast cancer treatments I highly recommend Courtney to treat the Lymphedema and scar tissue that happens as a result and provide you relief."
60 Min Manual Lymphatic Drainage
"Courtney is amazing! I have lots of health issues and a sluggish lymph system. I have been seeing her regularly for a while now and her work is helping me tremendously. She is extremely knowledgeable, and in general a super fun and engaging person. Highly recommended seeing her!"
Returning Client 60 Min. MLD
"Warm, welcoming atmosphere. Courtney is kind and professional and thorough. I'd recommend her to anyone looking for a lymph massage."
60 Min Manual Lymphatic Drainage
A good analogy for the lymph system and how excess inflammation affects the lymph system:
Now imagine an acute injury or trauma like a sprained ankle (in the health field, acute means there is a beginning and an end, as opposed to chronic) — this looks like letting the shower water run, but also turning on the bathtub water at the same time. The amount of time and intensity at which the bathtub water turns on varies based on the acute trauma, but it is more than normal. Now there is standing water, but hopefully and usually eventually, your body's lymph nodes (the bathtub drains) can move this excess fluid through, leaving no standing water after a couple of days. Sometimes this doesn't happen, and that's where we step in - to help move along that excess fluid back into the drain!
Now imagine chronic excess inflammation, like in the case of an autoimmune disease.
This leaves a constant amount of standing water in the bathtub because this amount is always larger than the amount of shower water (the amount your body is programmed to manage), and your drains can only handle the amount of water produced from the shower water. Our job is to not let that standing water accumulate on the bottom of the bathtub, and to chip away at it each session to get your body in a more manageable, functional, and optimal place.
Now imagine lymphedema, which can be from lymph node removal, trauma, radiation, or scar tissue. This is like taking away some of the drains. There is no excess water, just not enough drains to allow the water to go down the drain without any issues.
Lymph is a by-product of blood flow. With inflammation, we have more blood flow and then more lymph. Therefore, inflammation affects the lymphatic system.
Possible causes of inflammation (although it is different for everyone)
We look at all of the above factors that could play a role in excess inflammation and then assign them as either a pebble, a rock, or a boulder, and decide which variables are contributing to your particular situation and which variables can be changed, and which cannot.
We imagine a cylindrical vase filled halfway with water, and start adding in your inflammatory factors into the vase. We begin to SEE/FEEL symptoms of excess inflammation when the vase overflows.
For example, if you have an autoimmune disease (this would be a boulder), have a sensitivity to gluten (pebble), and a close relative just passed away (rock), this could be enough to tip the water over the edge. This is where the interdisciplinary, holistic approach to patient care comes in. We often make referrals to other professionals who can help address your changeable pebbles, rocks, and boulders, so we can focus on what we specialize in, which is to treat the overflow of inflammation (i.e., lymphatic fluid) that we see.
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