Jeanette, Thanks for sharing the fun story of your learning about Japanese breast massage! It is still practiced from what my Japanese friends tell me. However, the newer version by hospital nurses is not the same as the more traditional method which I'm told is better. The lymph drainage idea fits here and I also wonder if increased circulation doesn't also result from the massage. Sort of like exercise for the breast. So, I wondered if it wouldn't respond better just like mothers with insulin resistance do better with body exercise overall. And we also have discussed how excessive upper body exercise has caused breast fullness the following day for some mothers.... I've wondered about adding arm exercises on a list of ways to build milk supply :) What spites me now is that even though I had 2 babies born in Japan with Japanese health care providers and a midwife for one, no one ever offered to massage my breasts to help my milk come in. If only I'd have known to ask! (Maybe they would have if I'd have had trouble breastfeeding.) Having experienced the massage would have probably been the best way to learn!. Enjoying the discussion, Natalie Shenk, BS, IBCLC in Findlay Ohio *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html