While these two conditions may appear similar on the surface, they're completely different from one another. For example, lipedema can cause symptoms like pain and decreased mobility, while cellulite is purely cosmetic and poses no health concerns.
Fat is painful with pressure.
Fat deposits caused by lipedema will often feel painful if pressure is applied, unlike for healthy women with fatter legs or women with lymphedema, neither of whom would typically find a similar pressure to be painful.
The tissue tenderness that is characteristic of lipedema can be checked with the pinch test, which is often felt as very unpleasant in the affected areas but causes no pain elsewhere. Increased capillary fragility manifests itself in spontaneous hematoma formation.
Stage 1. In this early stage, it may be difficult to distinguish lipedema from excess fat on the lower body. Instead, providers look for certain characteristics, including: Extra fat in the buttocks, thighs, and calves, but not in the ankles or feet.
Lipedema is often confused with lymphedema, a similar disease that also causes swelling in the limbs. But under the microscope, the two disorders look different, and the causes, while similar, involve different effects on the vasculature. Both are often confused with obesity.
A healthcare provider can diagnose you by doing a physical exam and collecting your medical history. Painful fat deposits make lipedema different from ordinary body fat, which doesn't hurt.
The lipedema fat itself is not smooth but feels like gelatin with small pea-sized nodules like foam balls in a bag. The excess fat growth on the buttocks, hips and legs gives a distorted pear shape to the body where the lower body is clearly out of proportion to the upper body (Figure 2).
Lipedema does not respond well to restrictive diets, contrary to usual forms of obesity. Thus, lipedema leads to a disproportionate increase in lower body tissue that stubbornly retains its shape (waist to ankles) after diets or bariatric surgery.
A simple pinch test can often tell you whether you have lipedema. To do this, pinch the skin lightly in the areas of the body that may be affected. If you experience disproportionate pain, you may suspect lipedema.
Lipedema requires a clinical diagnosis, meaning that there is no standardized test such as bloodwork or imaging that can confirm the presence of Lipedema.
The main symptom of lipedema is a buildup of fat in the arms and legs. Other symptoms include pain, swelling, loose skin, and easy bruising. The texture of fat beneath the skin can feel like peas, rice, or walnuts. Symptoms often begin at times of hormonal change, such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.
Causes of Lipedema
The cause is not known, but doctors suspect female hormones play a role. That's because the condition affects mostly women, and it often begins or worsens at puberty, during pregnancy, following gynecologic surgery, and around the time of menopause.
Lipedema exercise programs include a mixture of building muscle strength and aerobic exercises. Good examples for aerobic exercises are Yoga, Pilates, Nordic Walking, cycling, or exercise in water. Swimming or water aerobics reduces the strain on your joints and muscles and also improves lymphatic flow.
If they have lipedema, they might receive a recommendation for the RAD diet, or rare adipose disorders diet, which involves low consumption of pasteurized dairy, animal protein, fats, simple sugars, carbohydrates, and salt.
Dr Faerber, are there also slim lipoedema patients? “Lipoedema is a fat distribution disorder with a tendency towards disproportion. Lipoedema patients are not always overweight. There are also patients with a dress size of 38 [UK 10] who have thickened fat tissue under the skin.
The symptoms of cellulite are fairly similar to lipedema. However, cellulite doesn't cause any pain or excessive swelling. Some common symptoms of cellulite include: Dimpled skin.
At present liposuction is the only proven method to remove lipoedema fat. It should be noted that liposuction will provide a form of control and slowing the disease progression but is not a definitive cure.
Poor diet and lack of exercise are the main reasons for a build-up of subcutaneous fat. Compared to men, women are more likely to store soft fat in their bellies. Luckily, soft fat is considerably easy to lose. With regular exercise and a healthy diet, soft belly fat may melt on its own.
Lipedema: The affected limbs are often tender, sensitive, or painful. The affected area feels different from normal body fat: it feels cooler, softer, and can appear dimpled like orange-peel. Obesity: No specific signs, especially no pain.
It can be difficult to distinguish early lipedema from weight gain in otherwise healthy people. The likelihood of lipedema not getting worse if the individual's health and weight remain stable is high. It is common for an individual to lose weight and become obese over their lifetime.
Yes, lipedema can be mild. Mild lipedema is most often associated with the early stages of lipedema when symptoms are just beginning to appear.