The missing piece for high achieving women
Lymphatic health may be a missing piece in supporting the wellbeing, recovery and resilience of high-performing women, who face ever-growing professional and personal demands, according to Brisbane wellness practitioner Abby Mortimer.
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Female executives and business owners are navigating more demands than ever, often while experiencing fluctuating hormones, changing family dynamics and unseen health conditions.
Abby Mortimer, the owner of Brisbane-based wellness clinic NuVue, says the cumulative stresses of modern life, combined with the demands of demanding senior roles, can affect women’s health in a variety of ways, contributing to issues such as chronic inflammation, fluid retention, swelling, poor recovery, and fatigue.
She believes that addressing lymphatic health can play an important role in helping women feel, function and perform sustainably.
Mortimer is the creator of the NuVue Protocol, an advanced lymphatic drainage method designed to improve lymphatic flow, reduce fluid retention and swelling and support healing by releasing inflammation and congestion within the body.
The lymphatic system is often overlooked when considering a person’s overall health. It plays a vital role in the body by maintaining fluid balance, supporting immune function, and helping to transport waste products away from tissues. Mortimer developed the Advanced Lymphatic Drainage method by combining the surface-level lymphatic drainage traditionally offered in Australia with overseas practices that focus on the deeper lymphatic system, including in the abdomen.
She says the emerging field of lymphatic drainage therapy is on the cusp of exploding in Australia and internationally.
“The lymphatic system isn’t responsible for everything,” she says. “But when it’s not functioning properly, it can influence a lot more than people realise.”
Historically, women’s health has been understudied, with male bodies considered the norm and women significantly under-represented in clinical trials. The scientific community has yet to fully understand how hormones affect women’s metabolism throughout their lifetimes.
“We live in a world now where women are hitting perimenopause very early, and where women are experiencing modern-day health conditions like endometriosis and PMOS (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome), which are all hormone-related conditions,” Mortimer says.
“We also have a lot of microplastics in our bodies, which mimic estrogen.”
Mortimer likens the human body to a kitchen sink. “Once we let the plug out and the waste comes out, we have a much cleaner internal system.”
For Mortimer, studying lymphatic drainage helped her better understand her own body. She initially booked a series of wood therapy treatments for the cellulite that had bothered her since she was a young woman. At the time, she was working in a demanding role managing the busy service department of a European car manufacturer.
Mortimer noticed she felt more energised after each treatment. Her whole body felt better, not just the treated area.
She says she “fell down a rabbit hole” researching the lymphatic system and lymphatic drainage. “That’s when I decided I wanted to learn this and share this with other people.”
Her studies led to her realising she had lipedema, a chronic and under-recognised disorder characterised by a buildup of fat, usually in the legs.
Mortimer opened the NuVue clinic in Brisbane five years ago as a home studio. Since then, she has expanded into larger premises twice and started doing pop-up clinics in Sydney, with plans to do more in Melbourne and Adelaide.
She has also extended her reach internationally, training wellness professionals in Australia, New Zealand and Europe in her proprietary Advanced Lymphatic Drainage protocol under the auspices of the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT).
A significant part of NuVue’s business is post-operative care for patients recovering from cosmetic and medical procedures.
The treatments aim to reduce swelling, improve comfort and support the body’s natural recovery processes.
Some surgeons now refer patients to NuVue for post-surgery recovery, including Queensland-based Valley Plastic Surgery and AR Plastic Surgery.
“It’s taken a long time to build that relationship and trust with specific surgeons, so they now refer their clients to us after and before their procedures,” Mortimer says. “It’s not a traditional thing. Surgeons are educated not to touch the body after surgery, but now they’re seeing the benefits of these treatments speeding up the healing process and giving better outcomes.”
“You cannot regulate inflammation, hormones, digestion and lymphatic system function and emotional wellbeing properly when your system constantly feels under attack” – Abby Mortimer
Mortimer says NuVue treatments have assisted patients in healing from hysterectomies, caesareans, laparoscopies, and gynaecological procedures, as well as body-contouring surgeries, tummy tucks, and liposuction.
So why do high-performing women hit a health wall at the peak of their careers?
Mortimer looks back on her own career in a male-dominated industry and says that, in many cases, women still have to work harder to prove themselves, which leaves their nervous systems stuck in fight-or-flight mode.
“You become hypervigilant. You overthink every small step. You struggle to switch off. You push harder. You tolerate things that violate your morals.”
Operating this way year after year takes a toll. “Your body was never designed to operate under constant threat – not emotionally, not psychologically and definitely not physiologically,” she says.
“You cannot regulate inflammation, hormones, digestion and lymphatic system function and emotional wellbeing properly when your system constantly feels under attack.”
Mortimer says lymphatic drainage can help regulate a dysregulated nervous system. Every treatment at NuVue begins with a lymphatic assessment that includes a thorough consultation and a hands-on assessment to identify areas of lymphatic blockage or dysfunction and develop a personalised treatment plan.
Mortimer also recommends lymphatic drainage therapy for preventative health and performance optimisation.
“Prevention is always better than cure,” she says. “When people are really congested, we recommend a very intensive program to get them to a period of maintenance. It’s something people should be doing monthly, regardless of whether they have any health issues or not.”
Visit nuvuebodysculpting.com.au to book a NuVue treatment.
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