What's Draining Out of Your Skin?

Sometimes, when you scratch your skin too hard or there is a lot of abrasion on scar tissue, the skin will leak a clear or yellowish liquid. It seems to come out of the pores, and when it dries, it crusts over in gelled, yellow form. What is this substance? It could be one of two things: Plasma or lymph drainage.

Plasma is an important part of your blood. Sometimes, if you scratch yourself too hard, it does not bleed, but clear liquid comes out. This is plasma, a clear feature of the bloodstream. Plasma acts kind of like a glue and it seals wounds up pretty well. It also keeps infection from entering in. The blood cells "swim" in it when the bloodstream is moving through your system.

Though plasma is good and fine, it is important to not allow to continually leave your body. Scraping plasma off of your skin will produce wet, open ducts underneath which continue to drain out plasma. Keep the affected area covered and warm, and preferably wet, for long periods of time. This allows the plasma to set, the skin to return to normal composition, and the skin to stop leaking.

Lymph drainage is a second option. Your lymphatic system is set in place to carry heavy toxins from your tissues to your elimination system. Your lymph system has a kind of "gelled suspension" liquid which allows the toxins to travel without harming your body in the process. Sometimes, in the case of massage or leg waxing, a deep tunnel is temporarily made from the surface of the skin down to the lymphatic system. This can especially happen on your inner legs and sides of your torso about three or four inches below the arms. Lymph will drain out, ridding your body of the unwanted toxicity. This is, however, a rather unnatural method to achieve lymph drainage.

One of the best ways to drain your lymph is to get hot towels or washcloths which have been soaked in boiling hot water and then squeezed out almost dry, and to wrap your legs with them or to lie on your back on top of them. This creates a nice, wet vacuum between the towel and skin, which allows your tissues and lymph to drain into the wet towel. Do not move, and keep the towels on for about two hours. When you get up, shower in hot water, finishing with an icy cold rinse to close your pores.