Liposuction For Lipedema: Is it a Cure and How Does it Help?

Lipedema is a chronic disorder that can affect the quality of life and health of the person with it. Symptoms that relate to lipedema are enlarged lower limbs, pain, and secondary swelling, which can be alleviated by conservative treatments that utilize compression, drainage, or medication.

Nonetheless, there are severe limitations to these treatments and how effective they can be.

Conservative treatments are helpful to create temporary relief, but how long this effect always lasts varies. Individuals can experience significant relief, while others only experience limited relief.

In addition, these treatments cannot treat all symptoms, especially those that stifle mobility from abnormal fat accumulation around the knees or thighs. 

Most importantly, conservative treatments have little to no effect on addressing psychological or emotional issues arising from an enlarged body shape.

Liposuction Treatment for Lipedema

Does liposuction cure lipedema? Unfortunately, there's no permanent cure for lipedema. For women, one of the most comprehensive ways to treat lipedema is via lymph-sparing liposuction.

Liposuction is a surgical option designed to remove fat produced from lipedema, but much care should spare the lymphatic networks.

Two liposuction techniques have been demonstrated in studies to be beneficial for treating lipedema: water-assisted and tumescent liposuction.

Tumescent and Water-Assisted Liposuction 

Tumescent Liposuction has been shown to avoid lymph vessels while improving the individual's main mobility and leg size. 

The fat tissue is made "tumescent" within this procedure by being injected with a tumescent solution to swell the fat cells and constrict the blood vessels. This process makes the fat easier to extract.

Once the fat has been prepared for extraction, a microcannula removes the lipedema fat by suction.

Water-Assisted liposuction has also been shown to improve mobility and other symptoms of individuals with lipedema. 

The procedure is similar to tumescent liposuction, but in this case, the tumescent solution is pressurized to dislodge and loosen the fat from the connective tissues and vessels.

Are These Procedures Right For You?

Liposuction cannot cure lipedema; it can only provide substantial changes by reducing the existing fat and helping with symptom relief.

While it's a generally safe procedure, it can have risks such as infection, bleeding, and trauma, common with any surgery. Additionally, the full benefit of the results isn't instant; it can take up to six months to a year.

Patients generally opt for one specific area to treat, while other patients might undergo multiple procedures to address different areas that have been affected by lipedema.

Elite Body Sculpture Has A Proper Solution

Elite Body Sculpture provides patients with a minimally invasive solution to lipedema, allowing for significant relief via fat removal without surgical techniques.

Liposuction for lipedema uses scalpels, stitches, needles, and general anesthesia, while our AirSculpt® Lipedema Treatment does not.

 Our advanced, patented technology ensures that the fat removal is done safely and comfortably, serving as the next generation of body sculpting within Toronto. Instead of large openings, all we need is a 2 mm wide entryway to remove fat cells with a robotic, plucking motion. 

These elements allow AirSculpt surgeons to deliver more accurate results with targeted fat removal that spares lymph nodes, making recovery far quicker than traditional liposuction. 

For more information on how we can help you, call our Toronto office to get started with your free consultation