Lipedema symptoms in detail: What you need to know
Recognizing lipedema symptoms: The first step towards treatment
Especially in rural regions, which is true for southern Germany as well as Austria and Switzerland, lipedema is often not recognized by doctors and therefore not diagnosed. Lipedema is a chronic, progressive disease of the subcutaneous fat tissue, the cause of which is still largely unknown.
SYMPTOMS - OVERVIEW
Doctors and researchers assume that the hormone estrogen or changes in its concentration and interaction with other hormones lead to a proliferation and enlargement of fat cells. In 85% of affected women, the disease begins during puberty and progresses during pregnancy. Patients tend to get bruises, which are caused by increased fragility of the small and smallest blood vessels in the fatty tissue. The vessel walls become more permeable, causing lymph fluid to leak into the surrounding tissue. This partly explains the often described feeling of tension. If the transport capacity of the lymphatic system is permanently exceeded, edema forms. The uncontrolled proliferation of fat cells leads to a lack of oxygen in the tissue, which sets off an inflammatory process. These micro-inflammations result in further tissue damage and pain.
According to the current guidelines of the German Society for Phlebology, lipedema is currently only accepted to occur on the arms and legs. It is still not clear whether lipedema also occurs on the stomach or in other places. Almost all lipedema patients have their thighs affected, but it can also be visible and palpable on the buttocks and hips. About a third of women show signs of the disease on their arms, although the findings are often less severe there and/or develop later. Lipedema often occurs on the arms after leg surgery! We do not have a scientific explanation for this. With lipedema, the size of the affected extremities can usually not be influenced or can only be influenced to a small extent, even by excessive exercise and strict dietary measures. The medical history of every affected woman is therefore accompanied to varying degrees by pain, frustration, shame, helplessness and depression. The illness of the body often also brings with it an illness of the soul.
