Summary
Lipedema as a disease is associated with numerous myths. In this small overview of
the myths surrounding lipedema, we throw a critical eye on popular statements regarding
the disease; We have found that statements made in scientific publications decades
ago have been repeated over and over again without criticism. These statements have
become part of the general knowledge for lipedema patients and lipedema self-help
groups. In the first part of our presentation we focussed on critically reviewing
two popular myths about lipedema. We found that there were no scientific evidence
for the following statements: “Lipedema is a progressive disease”, and “Lipedema negatively
affects mental health”. In this our second contribution on the myths surrounding lipedema,
we focussed on the edema aspect; i.e. on the so-called “edema in lipedema” and the
subsequently recommended therapy – manual lymph drainage. Myth #3: Lipedema is primarily
an “edema problem”, and manual lymph drainage is thus an essential standard form of
therapy, which must be conducted regularly! This statement also contradicts our daily
experiences with this specific subset of patients to a high degree. Simultaneously
we also established through extensive literature research, that there is no evidence
for this concept. There is actually no indication that any form of relevant edema
is present in lipedema patients, i.e. edema in the sense of fluid retention. There
is also no scientific evidence that this barely measureable (in most cases entirely
absent) edema is reponsible for the complaints of lipedema patients. There is thus
no basis for the prescription of long-term and regular manual lymph drainage for treating
this “edema”. Lipedema is much more than just fat and painful legs! We must thus leave
behind some of the old therapeutic methods, for which there is no scientific evidence
and which furthermore directly contradict our clinical experiences. The comprehensive
treatment of lipedema should thus consider all aspects of the disease, not only the
immediately obvious such as observable changes and reported symptoms. Lipedema therapy
must focus on the treatment of somatic complaints as well as on the psychosocial and
sociological aspects of this complex disease, as outlined in our first contribution.
The presentation of a comprehensive therapeutic concept for lipedema patients will
be the subject of the last part of our short series on lipedema. We find new paths
when we have the courage to walk down them – this is also true for the treatment of
lipedema!
Keywords
Lipedema - edema - manual lymph drainage - scientific evidence
