Healthier and beautiful legs: new comprehensive treatment for women with lipoedema
Created by: Top Doctors editorial
Lipoedema, also known as "painful fat syndrome", is distinguished by the increase in volume of fat cells on the arms and legs, with fat that is distributed irregularly and deposited especially in the buttocks and legs. The fatty build-up doesn’t affect the hands and feet, so a band of fat can often be seen around the ankles and wrist. It mainly affects women, but in some rare cases, men are affected too.
What are the symptoms of lipoedema?
Patients, present oedema or swelling that gets worse at night, in the heat or after many hours of standing. Sensitivity to pain increases in the extremities and spontaneous bruising is frequent or with minimal pressure.
Women with lipoedema often try to decrease the fat build-up with diet and exercise, but the weight is usually only lost from unaffected areas, and not from the arms and legs. Medication is also ineffective in the treatment of lipoedema. For that very reason, it is important to address the problem with the following treatments.
- Mesotherapy to remove fluids and reduce local fat. An anti-lipodystrophic agent is injected into the fatty tissue, specially developed for the prevention and treatment of lipodystrophy (meaning ‘alteration of fat tissue’) and cellulitis.
- Compressive therapy to increase the result of treatments performed, and to maintain the results over time. Compression therapy consists of the use of compression stockings, that helps to reduce the pain and swelling.
- Lymphatic drainage to facilitate the elimination of retained fluids in the lymphatic network.
- Physical exercise with soft aerobic activities to promote lymphatic circulation.
- A special diet that helps eliminate fluids while reducing the amount of fat and inflammation.
If you are concerned about lipoedema and would like to make an appointment with a dermatologist, click here.