Lipoedema

 In Lipoedema, the hips, buttocks, legs and sometimes upper arms, are out of proportion with the rest of the body. Many women describe their legs as being heavy, big, swollen and like ‘tree trunks’.

Unlike weight gain caused by over-eating or lack of exercise, Lipoedema fat can often be painful  and hurt when banged or scraped and can bruise easily. There doesn’t appear to be any correlation between size of areas effected and how painful it is.

Lipoedema looks and feels different to normal body fat or lymphoedema, feeling soft and dimpled, like cellulite. 

Common symptoms include:

• Excess weight on the legs
• Heaviness and discomfort of the legs
• The upper body and lower body are completely different sizes making clothes shopping very difficult
• There is a small waist, but large hips and thighs
• Excess weight does not include the feet or hands
• It is possible to lose weight from the upper body but not the lower
• The lower body bruises easily
• Some family members are or were a similar shape

Treatments for Lipoedema include:

There's currently no cure, but there are things that can improve your symptoms and stop it getting worse.

The main treatments are:

• Eating healthily, doing more exercise and trying to maintain a healthy weight
• Wearing compression to reduce pain and discomfort, and make it easier for you to walk, move and exercise
• Looking after your skin by regularly using moisturising cream to stop your skin drying out and reducing your risk of infections
• Counselling for the emotional impact of the condition
• Liposuction (a procedure to get rid of the fat) if your symptoms are particularly severe. More than one operation may be required and it may not be available on the NHS

Lipoedema and MLD

MLD is a specific type of gentle massage that is used to stimulate lymphatic flow and helping to reduce fluid build up, pain and discomfort.

It is most effective when combined with other treatments such as compression and is performed by specially trained therapists.

Adapted from Lipoedema UK  Lipoedema UK | Lipoedema Advice & Support and NHS Website Lipoedema - NHS (www.nhs.uk)