lighter touch -- being introduced to local massage therapists this week.

It's called Manual Lymphatic Drainage Technique and is used to treat Lymphoedema. According to visiting massage therapist Lesley Pearce, it has many benefits.

"I'm introducing it to the therapists on the Island, as to how it is and what it can do,'' said Mrs Pearce, whose visit is sponsored by the Bermuda Massage Therapy Association.

"It's a totally different concept to the ordinary massage. It works on fluids and helps to stimulate the lymphatic system, which is basically our immune system.'' The technique has proven to be of great benefit to cancer patients, who could develop Secondary Lymphoedema following surgery or radiotherapy. "It's been around since the 1930s and various therapists have honed it and added their own things to it,'' explained Mrs. Pearce.

"The system that I use is the Allan Hudson method. He's from Australia and the one I learned from. The technique is basically the same but there are different ways of going about it.'' Mrs Peace stressed that the technique she teaches is not a cure for cancer.

"No, it doesn't cure cancer, what it does is relieve the pressure of the limbs that are heavy with lymphoedema,'' she explained.

That condition causes excessive amounts of fluid to be retained in the body and that may result in swelling which, in turn, can lead to problems such as skin infections of the affected limb, depleted immune responses to viral and bacterial invasion and significant stress on the cardiovascular system.

"If somebody has surgery on the breast and some of the lymphatic nerves have been taken away, there isn't enough drainage for the arm to drain into so after awhile sometimes the arm becomes larger and larger and it's a breeding ground for bacteria,'' explained Mrs. Pearce further.

"But it is possible to reduce that down to virtually normal again.

Particularly for cancer patients, it is of great benefit because if you remove the pressure you get mobility back and they can then start things a little more for themselves.

"With cancer patients, very often they have had radiotherapy and it has damaged some of the lymphatic nodes and if you damage them they don't work. If they have been taken away they can't work, so you have to train the body to find new pathways to move fluid.'' Despite the light touch, which Mrs. Pearce demonstrated to therapists and nurses of PALS (Patients' Assistance League and Service), who paid for their participation at the workshops, the massage can be tiring for the person receiving it.

"It is incredibly light, moving skin on top of the muscle, you don't go into muscle massage at all,'' she stressed.

"That's the difficulty for regular massage therapists who are used to working in deeply. It is just an amazing therapy.

"It's keeping the secondary circulation system moving well. There is no pump or heart to this system. The more sedentary we are the less it works because we need the pumping of muscles to move it.'' Mrs. Pearce, who is from Surrey, England, has been involved in massage therapy since 1960, but this technique for only three or four years. "I'm really enthusiastic about it because I've seen such wonderful results, '' she stated.

"I think it would be useful if some of the therapists on the Island had a really good understanding (of the Manual Lymphatic Drainage Technique) because it's going to be so helpful and useful to their clients. It's so easy to incorporate into any massage system.'' She added: "They (those attending the workshops) will probably need further training but they will, I hope, have got an enthusiasm for it.'' A couple of massage therapists have been away on courses on this particular technique while two members of the Bermuda Massage Therapy Association have some knowledge of the procedure.

On the first night there were some 13 therapists in attendance and it is anticipated some 30 therapists and nurses will have attended before Mrs.

Pearce leaves Bermuda.

It's (Manual Lymphatic Drain age Technique) becoming much more widespread because of the increase of cancer, certainly in England,'' she disclosed.

Touch has proven beneficial, especially to those who are ill, Mrs. Pearce noted.

"Those who are ill fear that no one is going to touch them,'' said Mrs.

Pearce who trained as a paediatric nurse years ago but now has her own massage practice.

"It goes back to the animals who groom each other that way and bond that way.

The Africans and the Indians do this. Touch is important, it let's you know you are cared for, alive and worth something.'' Mrs. Pearce also practices Gerson Therapy, which is used for cancer and other degenerative diseases such as arthritis, diabetes and mutiple sclerosis. It got its name from Dr. Max Gerson who pioneered it in the 1930s.

"You have a number of people following this type of therapy in England and Europe,'' said Mrs. Pearce.

"It's a lifestyle of organic food, freshly made juices, detoxification of the body by using coffee enemas and some natural enzymes to help the body digest.

We've had some really good results.

"If you eat properly your body has a better chance of staying well.'' Skilled hands: Lesley Pearce's hands at work, demonstrating the light touch required for the Manual Lymphatic Drainage Massage.