What Is the Best Approach to Total Lipedema Care?
Total lipedema care requires a holistic approach to treating the condition. Treating the condition is paramount because no cure exists currently for lipedema. Even medical professionals often fail to diagnose it correctly in sufferers. Even when a medical professional diagnoses a patient correctly, the treatments they recommend are often not comprehensive enough. It’s vital to address not only the symptoms but also the causes of lipedema. The conservative treatments that doctors recommend only treat the symptoms of the disease. While conservative treatments can help in the short term, they are not a long-lasting solution. It’s crucial to tackle aspects of the condition to achieve the best outcomes for patients.
Treating Lipedema Conservatively
When a patient receives a lipedema diagnosis, their doctor usually suggests a conservative course of treatment first. The doctor will advise a patient to change their diet, try to exercise more, and wear compression garments. Their doctor will also recommend undergoing MLD treatments (manual lymphatic drainage). This form of massage helps to move lymph fluid around the body more effectively. In conjunction with these other conservative options, it helps relieve pain and swelling. Unfortunately, though, conservative treatments can’t address the cause of lipedema. The condition continues to progress over time. Patients must have MLD on an ongoing basis. They must also wear their compression garments constantly to get relief. For many patients, this approach is unsustainable in the long term. It restricts their lifestyles and doesn’t help to relieve the self-esteem and anxiety issues that sufferers experience.
Treating The Cause – The Diseased Fat
Surgery is a long-term solution for lipedema. It isn’t a cure, as experts have not yet identified a way to eliminate the condition entirely. Nevertheless, surgery addresses the cause of the problem. It removes the diseased fat that causes pain, swelling, and mobility problems. Patients undergoing surgery for lipedema also see significant improvements in their quality of life. Their body returns to a more proportionate shape. Therefore, patients often feel less anxious and self-conscious about their appearance.
Surgeons treat lipedema surgically with liposuction. Although most people view liposuction as a cosmetic procedure, in this case, it is medical. The diseased fat is suctioned out of the body permanently. The procedure restores the affected limbs to a more “normal” size and shape. The pain that the fat causes is also greatly reduced or eliminated entirely. As patients’ limbs are smaller, they can move more easily. As a result, they can exercise more easily to maintain the outcome of their surgery for longer.
Addressing All Aspects Of Lipedema
The best approach to treating lipedema is to remove the diseased fat in conjunction with lifestyle changes. Sufferers should adopt a healthier diet and exercise more. They usually find this much more manageable after having liposuction.
A skilled specialist in the field of lipedema liposuction is the best source of advice and treatment. Dr. Su at ArtLipo in Tampa, Florida, is a leading expert in the field. He can give you all the advice that you need about total lipedema care. If you are suffering from this poorly understood condition, don’t hesitate to get in touch today.
Dr. Thomas Su, is the owner and cosmetic surgeon of Artistic Lipo. He has led our full-time clinic specializing in awake-only liposuction since 2007. Dr. Su began his medical career in internal medicine, practicing that until 2005, when he began to provide a full spectrum of non-invasive cosmetic procedures.