Thump your thymus. Yep, you heard me right. Your thymus is a small gland located in front of your heart and behind your sternum. One of the functions of the thymus is to process and mature T cells, the immune system’s main warriors.
Thumping, or tapping, your thymus gland strengthens your immune system. To find your thymus, locate your collar bone and position your finger on its end, near the hollow at the center of your neck.
Keeping your finger just to the left of your sternum, slide your finger down to the spot just below your second upper rib. This is the area where you will tap. Bunch your fingertips together, or just use the flat of your hand.
Thump in this area for 30 – 60 seconds at least twice, or better yet, three times a day. I have been doing this for many years now and it really works! If I am around someone who is sick, or if I feel a cold coming on, I thump my thymus more frequently. I can almost always ward off that cold.
Give it a try, and let me know how it’s working for you.
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Thank you for visiting Learning And Yearning. May "the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Num 6:24-26
Jennifer Macaroni says
awesome! Thanks for the reminder and demo!
btw- didn’t know you had a blog…A W E S O M E!
learningandyearning says
We need all the help we can get to stay healthy, don’t we? Glad you visited because I always respect your input!
b says
I do still thump daily, but not sure how effective it is, since I have been told that the thymus mostly stops functioning after puberty.
L kidwell says
You are instigating some real possible problems! Your thymus gland dissolves after age 18! If it does not and it’s still there and you turn it on, it is a deadly situation called myasthenia gravis! You end up with your muscles all gummed up with that autoimmune stuff and you cannot get your brain commands. Our friend just died because his throat muscles quit working,….. my husband has it and struggles everyday. Do not do this procedure if your gland is still there see a doctor asap. From someone who cares!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Linda, thank you for commenting. I’m very sorry to hear of both your friend and husband. While the thymus gland is larger in children because of their rapid growth, it does not dissolve in adults. Neither does tapping it cause autoimmune disease. I have been tapping my thymus for at least 20 years on a regular basis, and I personally know several others who do the same. None of us have caused an autoimmune disease in this manner. On the contrary, we have helped our thymus gland to do just what it was designed to do – process and mature T cells. Keep in mind that we were told for many years that we don’t need our tonsils or appendixes which we now know is false. Blessings to you and your family, Linda.
Steve says
If you had a autoimmune disease, stimulating the immune system could cause problems. I think I would heal up there leaky gut first.
Jennifer Brock says
Made me smile because I can hear you thumping your thymus when I’m with you on the phone!
learningandyearning says
I’m an addict.
Kenn Anderson Sr. says
Maybe that’s why boxers rarely get sick – they have someone else thumping their thymus all the time?
learningandyearning says
Ha Ha! Good point!
Jeanmarie says
Thanks for the new information!
learningandyearning says
It’s my pleasure to share something that is so helpful, is free, and is always available.
tarynblake71 says
Just tried this while reading your post — is it normal for the spot to be slightly sore?
learningandyearning says
I will talk to my nutritionist about this and get back to you. But, my experience with pressure points is that a sore point is a spot that definitely needs work. Of course, be gentle at first until you get used to it.
learningandyearning says
tarynblake71, I saw my nutritionist today and discussed your question. She mentioned that if you had inflammation in the area, perhaps from an injury, that the area would be sore. But it is more likely that your immune system is compromised, or you are under a lot of stress. You may need to begin by just gently massaging the area until the soreness goes away, and then move on to gentle tapping.
tarynblake71 says
Thank you! That’s very helpful.
Jennifer Ward-Pelar says
Never heard of this. We’re standing here in the dining room, trying it right now! 🙂
learningandyearning says
Hi Jennifer. If you make it a daily habit, you will really reap the benefits!
greg says
Thump your thymus in the morning
Thump your thymus at noon
Thump your thymus in the evening
Thump your thymus with a spoon
learningandyearning says
BaHaHa!!!!! I love it!
Randy says
Thanks, never heard of that before. Saw this on Fat Tuesday.
learningandyearning says
Thanks for visiting! I can’t stress enough how helpful this has been to me.
Amanda says
How great! I was shown EFT a while ago, but never stuck with it. This i can do 🙂
learningandyearning says
I hope you develop this habit and do stick with it because it is really effective!
Sharon says
One of my old chiropractors always did this to his children, and recommended it to his patients 🙂 He said the same things you did in your article, so it was nice to see the reminder.
learningandyearning says
So glad to hear this since I don’t hear of too many practitioners who know about it.
Stephanie says
I have been an avid EFT follower for a couple years now, and I love the book Energy Medicine that has many other amazing thumps and cross-crawls to help your body work more effectively!
learningandyearning says
Thank you for visiting. I will have to look into that book.
Carol L says
There seem to be several editions of this book: to which are you referring?
Energy Medicine: Balancing Your Body’s Energies for Optimal Health, Joy, and Vitality
The Little Book of Energy Medicine: The Essential Guide to Balancing Your Body’s Energies
Energy Medicine 1999
The Little Book of Energy Medicine: The secrets of enhancing your health and energy
Energy Medicine for Women: Aligning Your Body’s Energies to Boost Your Health and Vitality
Energy Medicine (08) by Eden, Donna – Feinstein, David [Paperback (2008)]
eunice fraser says
My dear Suzy, I’ve been thymus thumping for many years, using and recommending this practice. Yesterday while in the deep jungle, far away from medical help etc. I chopped off the tip of my ring finger. Of course I lost it for a while, but was quickly guided by spirit to reattach the part and to apply energy. All I did is thump, thump, thump on my sternum. The pain ceased immediately, then one of my friends applied reiki energy while I continued to thump.. Walla it worked… The pain and bleeding stopped. It is now past 24 hours.. my night sleep was uneventful… At the first dressing, the finger tip has mended and in place….Thanks to the use of healing energies…Good Medicine
Lori Gearheart says
Maybe that’s why Tarzan thumped his chest!!?
Amy says
I actually felt something while I was doing it. I can’t describe it but it felt good.
Naomi says
I’m not able to feel my ribs, maybe because of my overweight. Can you help me?
Susan says
Hi Naomi, I suggest just keeping your hand flat and patting your chest in the general area of the thymus gland.
Tracy says
Thank you for posting this reminder. I first heard of Thymus Tapping about 10 years ago at a massage therapy conference. The speaker suggested that you spoke to your thymus while tapping it to encourage it to release healing cells to the areas that needed it as well as general health. It always worked for me in the past but haven’t practiced it recently. However, my four year old son and I just experienced serious burns on our legs and my first thought was to talk to my thymus as well as his to stimulate pain relief and healing. Wish us luck! 🙂
Susan says
Oh Tracy, I am so sorry to hear about you and your son. I wish you all the best in your healing.
Katy says
That area is super tender. I was recently diagnosed with arthritis, have had a cough for almost a month, and very stressed. Do those things correlate?
Susan says
Hi Katy, Just gently massage in the area rather than tap until the soreness subsides.
Peter Dammar says
Thanks great to know!
karuna reiki attunement says
Excellent article! We will be linking to this particularly
great article on our site. Keep up the great writing.
Phil says
I thinkyou are all nuts!
Nancy upson says
Thymus Essentials
The thymus gland, located behind your sternum and between your lungs, is only active until puberty.
After puberty, the thymus starts to slowly shrink and become replaced by fat.
Thymosin is the hormone of the thymus, and it stimulates the development of disease-fighting T cells.
The thymus gland will not function throughout a full lifetime, but it has a big responsibility when it’s active—helping the body protect itself against autoimmunity, which occurs when the immune system turns against itself. Therefore, the thymus plays a vital role in the lymphatic system (your body’s defense network) and endocrine system.
Before birth and throughout childhood, the thymus is instrumental in the production and maturation of T-lymphocytes or T cells, a specific type of white blood cell that protects the body from certain threats, including viruses and infections. The thymus produces and secretes thymosin, a hormone necessary for T cell development and production.
The thymus is special in that, unlike most organs, it is at its largest in children. Once you reach puberty, the thymus starts to slowly shrink and become replaced by fat. By age 75, the thymus is little more than fatty tissue. Fortunately, the thymus produces all of your T cells by the time you reach puberty.
Lynn says
PRESS RELEASEAUG | 2 | 2023
Study Reveals Unexpected Importance of the Thymus in Adults
Noah Brownnbrown9@mgb.org
Key Takeaways
The thymus gland is often thought of as nonfunctional in adults and is sometimes removed during cardiac surgery—a process known as thymectomy. Compared with adults who did not have their thymus removed, adults who underwent thymectomy had a nearly three-times higher risk of dying over five years and a two-times higher risk of developing cancer during that time
Thymectomy was also linked to a higher risk of autoimmune disease in adults without prior infection, cancer, or autoimmune disease
BOSTON – The thymus gland—which produces immune T cells before birth and during childhood— is often regarded as nonfunctional in adults, and it’s sometimes removed during cardiac surgery for easier access to the heart and major blood vessels.
New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine has uncovered evidence that the thymus is in fact critical for adult health generally and for preventing cancer and perhaps autoimmune disease.
To determine whether the thymus provides health benefits to adults, the team evaluated the risk of death, cancer, and autoimmune disease among 1,146 adults who had their thymus removed during surgery and among 1,146 demographically matched patients who underwent similar cardiothoracic surgery without thymectomy. The scientists also measured T cell production and blood levels of immune-related molecules in a subgroup of patients. ?
Five years after surgery, 8.1% of patients who had a thymectomy died compared with 2.8% of those who did not have their thymus removed, equating to a 2.9-times higher risk of death. Also during that time, 7.4% of patients in the thymectomy group developed cancer compared with 3.7% of patients in the control group, for a 2.0-times higher risk.
“By studying people who had their thymus removed, we discovered that the thymus is absolutely required for health. If it isn’t there, people’s risk of dying and risk of cancer is at least double,” says senior author David T. Scadden, MD, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at MGH and co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. “This indicates that the consequences of thymus removal should be carefully considered when contemplating thymectomy.”
In an additional analysis involving all patients in the thymectomy group with more than five years of follow-up, the overall mortality rate was higher in the thymectomy group than in the general U.S. population (9.0% vs. 5.2%), as was mortality due to cancer (2.3% vs. 1.5%).
Although Scadden and his colleagues found that the risk of autoimmune disease did not differ substantially between the thymectomy and control groups as a whole in their study, they observed a difference when patients who had infection, cancer, or autoimmune disease before surgery were excluded from the analysis. After excluding these individuals, 12.3% of patients in the thymectomy group developed autoimmune disease compared with 7.9% in the control group, for a 1.5-times higher risk.
In the subgroup of patients in whom T cell production and immune-related molecules were measured (22 in the thymectomy group and 19 in the control group, with an average follow-up of 14.2 postoperative years), those who had undergone thymectomy had consistently lower production of new T cells than controls and higher levels of pro-inflammatory molecules in the blood.
Scadden and his team now plan to assess how different levels of thymus function in adults affect individuals’ health. “We can test the relative vigor of the thymus and define whether the level of thymus activity, rather than just whether it is present, is associated with better health,” he says.
Additional co-authors include Kameron A. Kooshesh, MD, Brody H. Foy, DPhil, David B. Sykes, MD, PhD, and Karin Gustafsson, PhD.
This work was supported by the Tracey and Craig A. Huff Harvard Stem Cell Institute Research Support Fund, the Gerald and Darlene Jordan Professorship of Medicine, and a grant (U19AI149676, to Dr. Scadden) from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kooshesh received support from the American Society of Hematology. Dr. Gustafsson received support from the Swedish Research Council and the John S. Macdougall Jr. and Olive R. Macdougall Fund.
About the Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In July 2022, Mass General was named #8 in the U.S. News & World Report list of “America’s Best Hospitals.” MGH is a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.
Type
Press Release
Centers and Departments
Research Institute
Center for Regenerative Medicine
https://www.massgeneral.org/news/press-release/study-reveals-unexpected-importance-of-the-thymus-in-adults
Joani P says
I’m doing a Silva course {initially put together by a gentleman in 1966 and pretty amazing} and they suggest doing a “thymus thump” if you’re feeling fatigue while driving or, as a general pick me up. I came upon your article while doing a search to locate the thymus. Love your smile and the thoughtful comments. Thanks lots!!
Susan Vinskofski says
So glad you found me, Joani. That’s my sweet daughter in the photos in the post!
Greg says
Hi Susan, Is the thymus gland active in adults?
Susan Vinskofski says
While the thymus gland shrinks with age and becomes less active, it is not inactive, at least until we reach old age. This is an interesting article on why it shrinks and how the medical profession is attempting to rejuvenate the thymus. https://www.leafscience.org/understanding-why-the-thymus/.
And this scientific paper states “Despite significant thymic atrophy, thymopoiesis does not cease completely in advanced age.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3375084/