Lipedema, A Serious Illness You Should Know About

Lipedema (also known as “painful fat syndrome”) is a chronic disease that primarily affects women. It is characterized by the disproportionate accumulation of adipose tissue around the hips.

Unlike cellulite or “love handles”, it can even reach as far as calves and ankles. It comes with intense pain.

People suffering from this disease feel the impact of the aesthetic problem and the psychological consequences it causes. Suddenly and for no apparent reason, they see the size of their hips and legs increase so much that it limits their mobility.

Lipedema is not so common in men, but in the few known cases it causes violent swelling around the face.

It is worth pointing out that this is not a simple problem with obesity. With this disease, the patient’s diet and lifestyle habits have nothing to do with the excessive accumulation of fat.

This is a genetic disease that also causes physical ailment.

Today on our blog we want to talk about it to illuminate it for all those who suffer from it.

A life with lipedema is a daily challenge

Sara is 29 and her life was normal until she gave birth. After giving birth, while worrying about her baby, she began following a strict diet to lose the excess weight she had gained during pregnancy.

But as the months went by, her body began to experience something unusual.

Her waist, torso and arms became slimmer and restored their original shape. However, her hips and legs did not stop accumulating more and more fat.

After half a year, she could barely walk and even had to use a wheelchair.

The doctors did not take long to diagnose her with lipedema, a disease that Sara had never heard of.

Her life had taken a 180 degree turn.

Unfortunately, the options for treatment are limited and the only therapeutic approaches she had been offered were compression clothing and gentle exercise.

Another alternative she could turn to was liposuction. But she did not have the financial means to do so.

The doctors also indicated that the lipedema would return quickly : her legs would gain weight again.

Sara was aware that she would need help caring for her baby and that she might have to look for another job. Her mirror now reflects the image of a changed woman that she will have to accept and help.

What are the causes of lipedema?

Oddly enough, there are not many clear and objective studies of the causes of lipedema and this excessive accumulation of fat in the legs, arms (or face, in the case of men).

It is suspected that there is a genetic cause and that metabolic, inflammatory and hormonal factors may be influencing.

What are the symptoms?

The abnormal accumulation of fat can start in puberty, after pregnancy or even in menopause.

The first things that these patients notice are:

• Soft tissue pain when resting, walking or touching.

• Sudden accumulation of lipedema fat, from the waist to the knees or ankles. However, their feet are not affected.
• The fat accumulates in nodules or small pockets that put pressure on the joints to the point that it is not possible to walk normally.
• The skin loses its elasticity.
• Nodules and swelling appear.

A few months after experiencing this first phase, the person will notice the following:

• Constant cold.
• Fatigue.
• The skin gets a rubbery texture.
• Chronic pain and progressive impairment of mobility. In addition to the problems you have with the body’s self-image, these symptoms cause feelings of midlife, anger and sadness to the point that depression develops.

Is there treatment for lipedema?

As we mentioned before, lipedema has nothing to do with poor diet or unhealthy lifestyle habits.

It is a chronic, limiting and debilitating disease for those who suffer from it. The therapeutic approach must thus be broad and adapted to each individual without excluding the psychological aspect of course.

Diet and fasting cures do not solve the problem of lipedema. There is also no particular pharmaceutical treatment that can address this tendency to accumulate too much fat.

The most common treatments used are the following:

• Compression garments that work to “breathe” and eliminate fat.
• Massage focused on manual lymphatic drainage.
• Pressotherapy.
• Shock waves.
• Mesotherapy.
• Radio frequency.
• Liposuction. However, it is also worth mentioning that liposuction does not always help. This is not the solution and in many cases it can be very negative for the person because the fat will reappear over time.

• Many patients see good results with swimming.

Basically, it is about finding the strategy that works best for each patient, while facing each approach with optimism and accepting the change caused by this disease, for which there is still no effective solution.