Diagnosis

The diagnosis of lipedema is very difficult especially in the early stages. Since symptoms such as pain or tenderness are usually still very low, many patients do not always realise that they suffer from a disease. This occurs, due to patients’ environment that  may often misunderstand the existence of the disease and also because some doctors wrongly advise a weight loss through sports or diet change.

Early diagnosis is an advantage for rapid treatment. Diagnosis of lipedema is usually carried out in three stages:

1. Anamnesis: During the consultation with the patient, the history of the disease as well as the hormonal changes may usually give a first clue. The patient describes a limited load capacity, heaviness in the legs, pressure and/ or sensitivity to touch.
2. Clinical examination: A visual inspection may quickly substantiate the suspicion of progressive lipedema disease. Pain already develops when pressing or pinching into the skin and the subcutaneous fatty tissue feels hardened. This is a clear sign of lipedema.
3. Sonography: Sonographic control is used to determine the distribution disorder of the body. In the affected areas, there are clearly disproportionate fat layer thicknesses. Furthermore, there is a significantly increased echogenicity of the septa in the adipose tissue.