Lipidema, Lymphodema and Body Swelling

Lipodema, Lymphoedema And Body Swelling

Lymphoedema and lipodema are chronic conditions involving abnormal tissue swelling, often misdiagnosed or mistaken for simple weight gain or obesity. Despite some overlap in appearance, they are fundamentally different disorders with distinct causes, disease mechanisms, and treatment approaches. Early recognition is critical, as delayed diagnosis can lead to progression, pain, reduced mobility, and secondary complications.

Lipodema is a chronic condition of  symmetrical buildup of adipose tissue(fat tissue) in legs, buttocks and thighs.  For some, it can also be the arms, and in many cases, it is painful. Often, the feet and hands are not affected. The lipodema can appear in patches,  and  does vary for each  individual.  Liposuction is not always the answer. This condition does not seem to respond to diet and exercise; however, if possible, it is still important to exercise and move the body. It is a strange condition that may come from a familial or genetic origin with hormonal involvement. It can come on at puberty, pregnancy or menopause. And in time, it can put pressure on the lymphatics, causing secondary lymphoedema. One other thing to note with lipodema is the involvement of inflammation and vascular integrity. There is a proneness with Lipodema to have reduced blood circulation, yet also prone to bruising.  This shows the vascular system needs help with the integrity of blood vessels to be considered as well as the circulation. 

Lymphoedema is also a chronic condition.  Lymphoedema is a condition caused by impaired lymphatic drainage, resulting in the accumulation of protein-rich lymphatic fluid in tissues. There are 2 different types. Primary - which is a genetic abnormality that can present itself at birth (Milroy disease), puberty,  or adulthood. Secondary - (which is more common) - caused by obstruction to the lymphatic system. e.g., lymph removal, infection, radiation trauma or other trauma to the lymphatic system.  Lymphoedema can affect hands and feet, and your skin can feel so swollen that it can feel like the skin will burst. One test they do for this symptom is a stemmer test.  Lymphatics play a role in fluid balance, immune function and removal of toxins and metabolic wastes. If you have Lymphoedema, there is an issue as the body cannot get rid of these wastes in the affected areas.  There can be a long-term risk of fibrosis and cellulitis.

In both conditions, inflammation is a problem, be it a contributing factor or a resulting condition. Inflammation needs to be treated.

Both these conditions can be beyond distressing, so please do not ignore symptoms and seek medical advice and do an array of tests to try and help from every direction. The more you can help in every direction surely it can make a difference. These conditions can affect energy and self-esteem, and quality of movement. 

From a natural perspective, hormones, the liver, and kidneys can be involved. Two of the hormones effecting  these conditions,  can be higher estrogen  and cortisol .

Therfore talk to your practitioner and please do not give up and look into your individual  causal chain and best program moving forward.

Key Differences Between Lymphoedema and Lipodema

Talk to your practitioners to look at the primary focus and the causal chains to help lead you in the right direction be it hormones, liver, kidneys, immune or genetic profiles. 

Get your practitioner to help with lifestyle guidance, movement, and inflammation and detox. 

Some of the integrative tests that are worth looking at are:

1. A full blood test - LFT, Cholesterol, Iron studies , FBE, zinc, copper, B12, Vit D, Cortisol, Glucose and HBA1C, Fasting Insulin, CRP, CK, Homocysteine, Folic Acid, TSH , T3, T4, Thyroid antibodies, Reverse T3, Uric acid. I would suggest doing this with your GP but bring in results to your Naturopath or Nutritional  Consultant
2. Endomapping for hormones and common hormone-disrupting chemicals, and heavy metals
3. Cytokine test to check specific inflammatory markers 
4. Microbiome mapping of the gut – for the Liver to work well, you need the gut to work
5. Hair analysis to look at mineral and toxins levels and ratios
6. Genetic Wellness Test

The more information you can find out the more targeted and more accurate the treatment approach can be. 

To date the medical evidence-based management  for these conditions are:

Lymphoedema Management

There is no cure, but progression can be controlled.

Gold standard: Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT)

1. Manual lymphatic drainage (MLD)

2. Compression therapy (bandaging/garments)

3. Exercise (low-impact, lymph-stimulating)

4. Skin care to prevent infection

Adjunct approaches

• Weight management

• Pneumatic compression devices

• Surgical options (select cases): lymphovenous bypass, lymph node transfer

Lipedema Management

Management focuses on symptom control and slowing progression.

Conservative management

• Compression garments (reduce pain, support lymph flow)

• Low-impact exercise (walking, swimming, Pilates)

• Anti-inflammatory nutrition

• Psychological support (high rates of misdiagnosis and body image distress)

Surgical intervention

• Tumescent liposuction (lymph-sparing techniques) - Standard weight-loss liposuction is not appropriate for lipedema

As long as you do not do activities that cause inflammation you have nothing to lose and all to gain by being proactive. 

Get Active

To cleanse the liver, kidneys  – move it or lose it. Just start even in the slightest way . Find an exercise you can do, and build on this. Walk, skip, dance, run even if you can do the tiniest bit each day, and build on this. Maybe get an exercise physiologist or personal trainer to start you off if you need guidance and have injuries. Make sure your heart is okay with this, and do not do things that could cause injury or further inflammation. It needs to be a daily habit, and if you don't exercise, it will become harder to start.

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Detoxification

LIVER, LUNG, BOWEL, SKIN, KIDNEY – these are our 5 beautiful elimination organs. 

Detoxification pathways  are slightly different with these type of conditions. 

1.  First job, is to protect the body from oxidative stress  and to help the inflammation. Well functioning lymphatics help inflammation, and fat tissues are metabolically active so cause oxiditive stress.  If you mobilize toxins without antioxidants you will find the patient could have more pain. 

2.   Liver  - First step to helping the liver is removing the obvious offenders by  completely avoiding alcohol, additives and caffeine. Be aware of the effects of painkillers and some medicines and please discuss the requirement with your medical practitioner. If you need medicines, supplements  bring them to your consult so the naturopaths can help make sure your liver is supported as best it can be. Hormones can also affect the liver,  therefor once you have the results of the endomapping and blood tests, the hormonal affect on the liver can be discussed. To help the liver detox you need to look at both the phase 1 and phase 2 pathway of the liver and take into account proneness to estrogen dominance.  Lipodema can have estrogen dominance involved and lymphodema can have a sluggish phase 2 pathway.

3. Bile/ Bowel - If the bile is not flowing, toxins coming out of the cells can stop in the extracellular areas and maybe  go to other organs. Hydration is so important at this point.  Looking after the bile and then bowel  comes down to clean eating, organic choices, healthy protein, and fibre. Are you moving your bowels everyday? By having a microbiome mapping  test,  as practitioners, we can be more specific in helping your bowel function and your eating plan. We can discuss intolerances,  probiotics, microbiome, allergies and foods that are more likely to be acidic, or cause inflammation.  I  like  people doing detox  to have lots of resistant starch, and the right fibre, or agents to clear out the toxins trying to get them out via the bowel  and kidneys hence taking the pressure off the liver.  Supporting the bile is the start of this.  It is really important that you go to the toilet with  good bowel motions daily.

4. Kidneys - Diuretics can be used but often it is better to use herbal ones when fluid builds up and yet  still monitor the electrolytes especially in hot weather or if doing sauna therapy. Hydration is so important  and the type of drinks you consume . Drink mostly  filtered water and  NOT from  bisphenal A found in some plastic bottles. Another thing to remember, is to only drink drinks that are room temperature not refrigerated or iced. Reverse Osmosis water is what I have at home. With Lymoderma the lymph struggles, and fluid builds up in the cells. Helping the kidney is critical. There are fabulous herbs that can help take the pressure off the kidneys and herbal teas but please discuss with your practitioner which ones are right for you. 

5. In these 2 conditions some would put Lymphatics before the kidney or maybe they are to be helped in parallel. If lymph do not flow there needs to be body movement . Be it walking , rebounding, deep breathing and perhaps Dr. Vodder lymphatic drainage. However -  It is not an answer to rely on  continual lymphatic drainage-  as like a mother breast feeding the more you do it the more you need it. A good idea is to regularly wear the  right compression garments. Compression garments are especially good whilst exercise. Do not wear compression garments in saunas though. 

6. Skin and Lungs are equally important at this point. The skin can be helped with skin brushing, hydration non-toxic creams and products. Sweating helps skin, but if doing saunas, start slow and build up the time length and the heat. Please do not overdo it to start. Do a warm shower before the sauna and a warm one after. Drink electrolytes whilst in there. Do not use electrolytes containing food colouring, artificial sugars or preservatives. Monitor the swelling afterwards. If swelling is worse after saunas  stop or back off. Even just doing sauna once a week could be enough. Less can be more with these conditions.  Breathing -Fresh air and breathing exercise. Are you snoring or a mouth breather? Please do not smoke or vape. Be aware of the chemicals you breathe in your environment, be it perfumes, cleaning agents, paints, Roundup, pesticides and aromatherapy.  Breathe in fresh air and check that you do not have sleep apnoea.  If you do have sleep apnoea,  use a CPAT machine whilst sleeping. 

In conclusion

In conclusion, although often confused, lymphoedema and lipedema are different medical conditions with diverse underlying causes and management strategies. Lymphoedema is primarily a disorder of lymphatic drainage, while lipodema is a disease of abnormal fat tissue influenced by genetics and hormones.

Sadly, there is said to be no cure at this point in time, but as time goes on, hopefully with more research and knowledge, there will be more answers, slowed progression and hopefully some success stories for patients moving forward. It is worth investigating and working with your practitioners, asking the questions and coming at it from every direction. The earlier the diagnosis, the better. Never give up hope.

Early recognition, appropriate diagnosis and action on the body physically, dietary, and with detoxifying on all levels, aim to make a difference with these types of serious conditions.