What Is The New Treatment For Lipedema?
The latest and most effective treatment for lipedema is surgery. The surgical treatment for lipedema is liposuction of the affected areas. Surgery removes the diseased fat, reducing patients’ pain and improving their mobility. It is the most effective way to address lipedema at the present time.
What Are the Treatments for Lipedema?
There are both conservative and surgical treatments available for lipedema patients. Usually, doctors recommend the conservative approach. That involves patients having regular manual lymphatic drainage massages and wearing compression garments. Doctors also advise that patients switch to a healthy diet and try to take more gentle exercise.
Patients must continue to have conservative treatments in the long term to continue to see results. These treatments bring short-term relief, but the condition continues to progress. That is because conservative treatments address only the symptoms and not the cause. Surgery represents the best way to treat lipedema. Addressing the cause of the condition – the abnormal fat – surgery produces long-lasting results. Afterward, patients experience long-term relief and a better quality of life.
What Does Surgery for Lipedema Involve?
The surgical solution for lipedema involves the patient undergoing liposuction. The procedure surgeons use is exactly the same as the one they use to treat cosmetic surgery patients. It involves treating patients under local anesthetic. Surgeons make incisions in the patient’s affected limbs. They pass a narrow tube, or cannula through the incision. Using the cannula, they break the fat up, and then, using suction, they remove it permanently.
While the process is the same as the one that surgeons use on cosmetic surgery patients, the purpose is different. Cosmetic liposuction has the purpose of achieving a flawless silhouette. The purpose of lipedema liposuction is to improve a patient’s quality of life through reducing pain and improving mobility.
Also Read – What is Lipedema Surgery?
How Does Surgery Help Lipedema Patients?
Surgery is very beneficial for lipedema patients for several reasons. It addresses the cause of the condition, removing the abnormal fat that causes discomfort and pain. After surgery, patients find they can move more easily and have reduced pain. The disease’s progression is also slowed down significantly.
One of the top benefits of surgery is that it restores a better proportion to the patient’s limbs. That helps to restore the patient’s mental and emotional well-being, too. Their self-confidence and self-esteem improves, and they experience less anxiety and depression.
As an added advantage, surgery helps patients exercise more easily as their limbs are less heavy and painful. That means they can help to prevent the development of secondary obesity and other related health conditions.
Can All Lipedema Sufferers Have Surgery?
As long as patients meet the surgeon’s criteria, they can have lipedema surgery. Surgeons require patients to be in good overall health to undergo liposuction. Patients can be at any stage of lipedema to have surgery and experience the benefits. It is never too early or too late to undergo liposuction for lipedema.
Is Surgery Possible at Stage One?
It is possible to have surgery at stage one lipedema, and, in fact, it’s the best time to have liposuction. As the disease is in its early stages, only a small amount of diseased fat is present. A single surgery can, therefore, produce impressive results for patients. Surgeons can achieve the very best outcome for patients at stage one. Not only can they more easily restore a proportionate body shape, but they can also delay the disease’s progression.
The big problem with treating lipedema at stage one is receiving a diagnosis in the first place. Unfortunately, lipedema remains a poorly understood condition. Even doctors struggle to spot the symptoms in its early stages. The first signs of lipedema mimic those of other conditions like obesity. Therefore, patients often receive an incorrect diagnosis that delays their treatment. Most patients don’t get an accurate diagnosis until they are at a later stage of the disease. That means they don’t receive surgery until the symptoms have progressed significantly. Patients at stage three or four will probably require several surgeries to achieve the desired outcome.
Who Can Offer Lipedema Surgery?
Many surgeons today offer patients lipedema liposuction surgery, but it’s important to do your research well. Not all produce the same high-quality result and not all have the same level of expertise. To enjoy the best outcomes, you need to find a specialist in the field.
Dr. Su at ArtLipo is a leading liposuction specialist who pioneers treatments and achieves impressive outcomes. If you look at the ArtLipo before and after image gallery, you can see the impressive results he achieves. Thanks to his extensive experience and outstanding artistic skills he can help patients at even late stages of lipedema. To find out more about surgery for lipedema, get in touch with the team at ArtLipo. You can arrange a consultation with Dr. Su to discuss your condition and suitable treatment.

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.