The Role of Diet and Exercise in Managing Lipedema: Insights from Our Clinic
Most lipedema sufferers find managing lipedema a significant challenge in their lives. Finding ways to reduce the symptoms associated with the condition is difficult. Many doctors recommend diet and exercise as an effective solution for this medical problem. Unfortunately, this isn’t the answer that many patients are looking for. While diet and exercise can offer some benefits, they are very limited. A healthy lifestyle has a part to play in managing lipedema in the long term. However, patients must understand that making these changes alone cannot cure their condition.
Can Diet and Exercise Cure Lipedema?
There is a common misconception that diet and exercise can cure lipedema. Unfortunately, that is not the case at all. In fact, there is no cure for lipedema. Only treatments themselves help improve the condition. Furthermore, diet and exercise don’t help lipedema sufferers at all.
Lipedema remains a poorly understood condition. Few people know it exists, and even medical professionals often fail to spot its symptoms. Many doctors, therefore, confuse it with obesity, which has some similarities. Since the best treatment for obesity is diet and exercise, many lipedema sufferers receive the same advice. The problem with this is that lipedema fat isn’t the same as regular fat, and isn’t affected by diet and exercise. Someone with lipedema fat can severely limit their food intake and exercise excessively and see minimal difference. Lifestyle changes only have an impact on regular fat so sufferers only lose regular fat and not lipedema fat. Even people with eating disorders will still have noticeable symptoms of lipedema including large legs.
Many sufferers become anxious and depressed and suffer from low self-esteem after trying to resolve lipedema with diet and exercise. Their efforts inevitably fail. That leaves them feeling like a failure.
Learn More – Can I Cure Lipedema with Diet and Exercise?
Are There Benefits to Dieting and Exercising for Lipedema Sufferers?
Even though eating healthily and exercising cannot eradicate lipedema fat, these lifestyle changes remain important. You should strive to live a healthy lifestyle, including lipedema patients. Eating healthy food and taking exercise is important to keep the heart healthy and avoid issues like type 2 diabetes. Many lipedema sufferers also suffer from secondary obesity which complicates matters. Eating healthily and exercising can help to prevent obesity from developing as a secondary condition to lipedema.
Can Lifestyle Changes Slow the Progression of Lipedema?
Lipedema is a progressive, chronic condition. That means that it continues to develop and get worse over time. There are no lifestyle changes that you can make that will stop lipedema from progressing. There are also no lifestyle changes that can slow its progression down. In fact, the only way to slow the progression of lipedema is to have surgery.
What Is the Best Way to Manage Lipedema?
As lipedema currently has no cure, sufferers must find the best way to manage their condition. Many doctors recommend that patients try conservative options as their first form of treatment. These treatments include wearing compression garments and having MLD massages. These treatments do offer some benefits. They can help to relieve symptoms like pain and swelling. Unfortunately, though, any relief is only short-term. That’s because conservative methods address only the symptoms and not the cause of the disease. Therefore, lipedema continues to progress despite having these treatments. Also, patients must continue having these treatments on an ongoing basis to experience any ongoing relief.
The best way to manage lipedema is to have surgery. Liposuction surgery is the gold standard treatment for lipedema at the present time because it addresses the cause of the disease—the lipedema fat—rather than only treating the symptoms, as conservative methods do.
Liposuction surgery removes fat, including abnormal lipedema fat. For lipedema sufferers, the fat itself causes symptoms like bruising and pain. Therefore, when the fat is gone, the pain and discomfort reduce, too. That’s why liposuction is the best option for managing this condition.
Furthermore, liposuction removes fat from the affected areas, reducing their bulk and weight. After surgery, patients have smaller and lighter limbs. As a result, they can be more active and enjoy improved mobility. Liposuction allows sufferers to enjoy a healthier lifestyle and to begin working out again, which helps them avoid the development of other health problems like diabetes and heart issues.
By removing fat, liposuction also improves the patient’s body shape. It restores a more proportionate aesthetic, helps to improve patients’ self-esteem and boosts their confidence. They usually enjoy a significantly better quality of life for many years post-surgery. The relief from symptoms is very long-lasting, often giving as much as a decade or more of relief. Choosing the right surgeon is vital to achieve the best possible outcome from lipedema liposuction. Dr. Su at ArtLipo in Tampa, Florida, is an excellent choice. He is a specialist in the field of liposuction and has an in-depth understanding of lipedema. Get in touch today to find out more.
