Lipedema treatment in Zug

 Lipedema patients are often under a massive amount of psychological stress. First and foremost, their enlarged and often painful legs affect their appearance. The fact that they do not respond to diet or exercise often causes frustration, as prior to their diagnosis, the women have no way of knowing why their efforts are having no effect. Secondly, other people tend to assume that patients are merely obese due to an unhealthy lifestyle, which leaves the patients feeling unjustly accused, yet ashamed. Many end up progressively withdrawing from social life.

Moreover, obtaining the correct diagnosis often proves a real odyssey. By the time their lipedema is finally discovered, many women have already suffered through numerous medical appointments. Luckily, more and more physicians have begun specializing in the condition, so women have a better chance of getting proper treatment more quickly.

Non-surgical therapies are used as a way of actively preventing lipedema from worsening. I work in close cooperation with specialist physiotherapists in the region to determine the correct course of action in this regard. Special compression stockings and manual lymphatic drainage can be particularly effective in helping release the excess fluid and reduce pain or other symptoms. However, these therapies cannot cure the condition itself. Surgical intervention in the form of liposuction is necessary in order to remove the excess fatty tissue.

On the day of your liposuction procedure, I will start by marking the affected areas on your legs and/or arms. Once the anesthesia has taken effect, I will make tiny incisions into your skin and guide a thin cannula into the tissue, which I will then use to suction the pathological fatty tissue out. 

There are several methods of liposuction. The one considered “standard” is known as tumescent liposuction, in which a large quantity of tumescent fluid (consisting of water and a local anesthetic, among other things) is fed into the tissue being removed. The fluid causes the tissue to expand and firm up, which makes it easier to suction out. 

In water-assisted liposuction (WAL), instead infiltrating the tissue with a large amount of fluid, we loosen it with the help of a special computer-controlled water jet on the end of the cannula. WAL is considered a gentler alternative to conventional liposuction, and studies have shown that it provides significantly better results. This aligns with my own clinical experiences as well—water-assisted liposuction is the technique I prefer to use in treating lipedema.

After surgery, patients usually stay overnight at the clinic for monitoring. After returning home, the most important thing you can do is rest and recover. Special compression clothing will help reduce your swelling and accelerate the healing process. Lymphatic drainage should be done as well. Liposuction smooths the skin and decreases the overall volume of the legs, which in turn reduces pain and other symptoms. Most patients are able to return to work after one to two weeks. Strenuous exercise should be avoided for the first four to six weeks, but low-impact walking can resume sooner, and will even support the healing process.