It is important to diagnose yourself early. This disease affects people regardless of their BMI (Body Mass Index). It is therefore difficult, in the case of obesity, to diagnose lipedema just by the appearance of the lower and/or upper limbs alone.
Below you will find the signs of lipedema that can be seen in your body:
Self-diagnosis of lipedema is a first step towards recovery.
The diagnosis of lipedema can be made by different health professionals (angiologists, general practitioners, plastic surgeons, etc.). This professional will rely on a set of clinical signs specific to lipedema, by questioning and physical examination.
First, the doctor will ask you a series of questions to learn more about the appearance of your lipedema.
He will ask you about your history and how you feel. He will ask you what symptoms of lipedema you are experiencing.
During the physical examination, the first thing that will be looked at is the visual appearance of your body. In people with lipedema, there is a disproportionality between the upper and lower limbs and the rest of the body: in particular, the waist will remain thin compared to the limbs.
In the lower limbs, joints such as the knees and ankles disappear. In the upper limbs, the elbows and wrists are not very marked and are filled with fat.
However, the feet and hands are unaffected and have a normal appearance.
A key sign of lipedema is the symmetrical and bilateral damage observed on the patient’s body.
The professional will then study the vascular system, he/she will be able to note with the naked eye the appearance of varicosities, a sign of vascular fragility, ideally assisted by an echo-doppler of the affected areas in order to have a complete visual of the possible vascular damage.
Lipedema does not manifest itself in the same way in all sufferers, we can classify it into different stages (evolution) and different types (zones).
The different evolutions of lipedema can be defined in four phases.
If the condition is not managed, lipedema will progressively worsen: