June is Lipedema Awareness Month!
Lipedema is a painful fat condition which presents as disproportionate fat accumulations in the hips, thighs and lower legs. Typically the lower body is larger than the upper body. Weight loss from the lower body is hard to achieve and the fat is not affected by exercise or diet.Other noticeable signs are pain, hypersensitivity to touch and bruising easily. Lipoedema mainly goes undiagnosed. MLD allow with lifestyle changes, compression and liposuction are used to treat Lipoedema.
Do you suffer from the following?
– Excess weight on your legs
– Heaviness and discomfort of the legs
– Your upper body and lower body are completely different sizes making clothes shopping very difficult
– You have a small waist, but large hips and thighs
– Your excess weight does not include your feet or hands
– You can lose weight from your upper body but not your lower
– Your lower body bruises easily
-Some members of your family are or were a similar shape
Then you may be suffering from Lipoedema
Lipoedema is is a condition that makes you accumulate fat below the waist, often giving you hips, buttocks and legs that are out of proportion with your upper body. It can also affect your arms.
78% of Lipoedema sufferers questioned in Lipoedema UK Big Survey 2014 stated that they developed symptoms between the ages of 18-25 but only 7% received a diagnosis at that time. Many people take decades to realise that they have Lipoedema and are constantly dismissed by the medical profession over the years and told that the excess fat ‘Is their own fault’.
It is believed that 11% of the female population may suffer from some degree of Lipoedema. (Foldi F, Foldi M 2006 ‘ Lipoedema’)
One of the most frustrating things about lipoedema is that the vast majority of doctors and nurses aren’t trained to recognise lipoedema, and so many women go their whole lives without obtaining a diagnosis.
What do I do if I think I have lipoedema?
Obtaining a diagnosis and realising that the adipose tissue that causes lipoedema’ is not your fault’ can be the first step to keeping lipoedema under control. Make an appointment to discuss your symptoms and the affect they have on your life with your GP, most GPs refer patients with lipoedema to the local Lymphoedema clinic where specialist nurses and allied healthcare professionals are trained to advise patients on appropriate treatments and lifestyles.
Many women live with lipoedema all their lives and lead full and active lives, and evidence is gathering of diet and exercise programmes that can help control and reduce symptoms. Reducing the number of calories you consume will not reduce areas affected by lipoedema although it will reduce areas where you have normal fat, eating a very low calorie diet is not advised at any time.
Keeping fit is essential and choosing low impact exercises such as swimming or cycling will tone and strenghten muscles without putting excess pressure on your knees and legs.
