Lipedema

Lipedema Treatment in San Diego

Women with lipedema are often misdiagnosed as obese, when in fact, they have a distinct medical condition characterized by symmetrical swelling of the legs and sometimes arms due to painful fat deposits. Lipedema surgery can improve your mobility and overall quality of life.

What Is Lipedema?  

Lipedema is a condition that causes abnormal fat buildup in the lower part of your body, most often involving the butt, thighs, and calves. Some people have it on their hips or upper arms, but it doesn’t affect their hands or feet. It occurs almost exclusively in women and often develops during puberty, pregnancy, or other times when hormones fluctuate. The fat is painful and tender, distinguishing it from typical obesity. Over time, lipedema can lead to mobility issues, pain, and lymphatic dysfunction.  

How Is Lipedema Diagnosed? 

There isn’t a single test that can confirm a lipedema diagnosis. Instead, your doctor can diagnose it after taking your medical history and conducting a physical examination, which may include assessing the texture and tenderness of the affected areas. Advanced imaging technology can also help diagnose lipedema by excluding other causes of swelling in the limbs, such as lymphedema.  

How Is Lipedema Treated? 

We recommend treating lipedema nonsurgically before progressing to surgery. Nonsurgical treatment options include manual lymphatic drainage, compression therapy, and nutritional changes to manage symptoms. These treatments do not reduce fat deposits caused by lipedema 

Lipedema Surgery 

Reducing fat deposits in the affected areas can help manage lipedema symptoms more effectively than non-surgical treatments alone. We use various liposuction techniques for patients with lipedema.

Tumescent Liposuction 

During tumescent liposuction, the surgeon saturates the treatment area with a solution that includes a local anesthetic and epinephrine, causing the fat to become firm and swollen (tumescent). This reduces bleeding and makes it easier for the surgeon to break up and manually remove the fat cells.  

Power-Assisted Liposuction (PAL) 

This option is useful for patients with advanced stages of lipedema when the fatty tissue is more fibrous. After injecting the tumescent solution, the surgeon inserts a thin, vibrating cannula that breaks up the fat without the vigorous movement required in manual liposuction. This vibration enables the surgeon to target tough, dense fat deposits, loosening them so they can be suctioned from the body more effectively.  

The gentler nature of PAL reduces bruising and often leads to faster recovery and better outcomes.  

Recovery After Lipedema Surgery 

Postsurgical care is key and includes compression therapy, continuing nutrition counseling, and physical therapy to ensure successful outcomes and minimize complications. Patients typically notice an improvement in symptoms and a reduction in pain and swelling after surgery.  

Skin Tightening Treatment  

The stretched skin often doesn’t shrink to fit the treatment area’s new contours after liposuction. Renuvion is a minimally invasive, FDA-cleared treatment to tighten loose skin after liposuction. Renuvion’s advanced technology uses radiofrequency (RF) energy combined with helium plasma to stimulate skin contraction. Because it’s minimally invasive, the recovery is relatively quick.