Your Guide to Early Lipoedema Diagnosis & Treatment

Welcome!
Do you feel like something isn’t right with your legs, but can’t find answers?

Or perhaps you’ve been diagnosed with early stage lipoedema but having challenges with understanding how to manage it?

You’ve landed in the right place.

Navigate Lipoedema is a resource dedicated to helping women with suspected early stage lipoedema reach earlier diagnosis and treatment earlier.

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Understanding Lipoedema

Lipoedema is a disease of the loose connective tissues (LCT), and is a complex chronic condition characterised by abnormal distribution and buildup of painful fat and connective tissue in the extremities. It’s a genetic condition that almost exclusively affects women.

The abnormal fat distribution often causes a distinctive ‘column-like’ shape to the legs, and the tissue is usually painful, bruises easily and characteristically full of ‘nodules’ that may feel like grains of rice, or walnuts. Legs often feel heavy and experience swelling. Leaky vessels cause a buildup of fluid in the tissue, causing the lymphatics to struggle with fluid clearance. This fluid causes chronic inflammation, which leads to the formation of fibrosis throughout the tissue.

Despite being first described in the 1940’s, few physicians in Australia are aware of it and self-diagnosis if often the starting point for many women who have lipoedema.