Recognising lipoedema

Do you suffer from lipoedema? How can you recognise it and what happens after the diagnosis?

HOW TO RECOGNISE WHETHER YOU HAVE LIPOEDEMA - 7 SIMPLE SIGNS YOU CAN CHECK YOURSELF AT HOME.
Patients often wonder whether or not their own symptoms are those of lipoedema. This is because if lipoedema is diagnosed, the pain can be effectively alleviated or even eliminated. But how do you recognise whether you have lipoedema or not? There are signs that can help you better understand the condition and recognise the symptoms in yourself that make a diagnosis of lipoedema likely.

Lipoedema sign 1: the symptoms do not occur on one side, but on both sides.

Lipoedema sign 2: The increased fatty tissue extends at most to the wrists (affecting the arms) or the ankles (affecting the legs), but leaves out the backs of the hands and feet. Stemmer's sign is negative (i.e. the skin on the back of the second toe can be easily lifted with the thumb and index finger and pulled up between the doctor's fingers).

Lipoedema sign 3: the affected areas often hurt spontaneously in the form of burning, dull pain. This often intensifies over the course of the day and is therefore more intense in the evening than in the morning.

Lipoedema sign 4: Bruises (haematomas) form even with minor bruises.

Lipoedema sign 5: Fluid retention leads to so-called oedema in the fatty tissue of the lipoedema. The feet are not affected. The second half of the day is particularly stressful at high temperatures. Standing or sitting for long periods also exacerbates the painful swelling.

Lipoedema sign 6: The mass of affected fatty tissue can only be reduced to a limited extent by exercise and dieting. This is also known as diet resistance. Although affected patients can lose weight, their arms and legs appear too voluminous in relation to their torso.

Lipoedema sign 7- Painful pinch test: When pinching with two fingers (pintch test), the legs hurt more than the abdomen, for example, which cannot be affected by lipoedema (according to current doctrine).

Do you have several signs? Then you should have the diagnosis confirmed by a phlebologist or vascular surgeon. Only with a confirmed diagnosis are you entitled to compression treatment and manual lymphatic drainage (MLD). Compression treatment and MLD are also an absolute prerequisite for surgical treatment of lipoedema - namely liposuction for lipoedema.

Would you like to have your photos assessed by the team of doctors at Praxisklinik am Rosengarten? No problem. Please take photos of your legs from the navel to the foot from the front, side and back and send them to our email address ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). We will be happy to give you an initial assessment and suggest a joint procedure.