Hi friends!
Could the most overlooked conservative treatment for lipedema be… muscle?
For years, lipedema conversations have focused on diagnosis, compression, surgery, pain management, lymphatics, and symptom control. All important. But what if we’ve been missing one of the most important pieces for preserving mobility?
A brand-new study found that *sarcopenia, loss of muscle mass and strength, is prevalent in women with lower-extremity lipedema and increases with disease stage.*
That means as lipedema progresses, many patients may be losing the very muscle they need to stabilize joints, climb stairs, protect their knees, and stay independent.
I’ve done a new podcast for you talking a lot more about the research, and about how I have implemented basic strength training and the massive impact on my life. In this episode of *Legs Like Mine*, we break down the research in plain language and connect it to a second emerging framework explaining why so many women with lipedema develop knee pain, altered gait, valgus collapse, and cartilage damage that may be misattributed or undertreated.
I’m also sharing my own story with images/video in this podcast. As a woman with stage 3 lipedema, I was headed toward knee replacement. After just two months of progressive resistance training three times a week, I can do stairs again and cancelled my surgery.
This episode is for:
- Lipedema patients struggling with mobility
- Physical therapists treating unexplained knee pain
- Physicians managing lipedema care
- Anyone asking whether conservative care has been too narrowly defined If preserving mobility matters, this may be one of the most important conversations happening in lipedema right now.
As promised during the video, here are a few links: Study: Ozbek IC, Kuculmez O, Dundar Ahi E. Prevalence of sarcopenia and its functional correlates in women with lower-extremity lipedema: A cross-sectional observational study. Phlebology. 2026 May 8:2683555261451570. doi: 10.1177/02683555261451570. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42102393.: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42102…
Paper: Amato AC. Chondromalacia in Lipedema: The Sarcopenic-Valgus Cascade That Keeps Getting Missed. Cureus. 2025 Oct 24;17(10):e95299. doi: 10.7759/cureus.95299. PMID: 41287673; PMCID: PMC12640552: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41287…
FREE copies of my Aqua Therapy for Lipedema and Lymphedema Book, along with others: https://legslikemine.com/books-and-do…
Dr. Amato’s book – The Essential Guide to Living with Lipedema: Discovering the Truth and Transforming Treatment of a Misunderstood Condition: https://amzn.to/4u8X2v9 Theraband Resistance Bands (Open): https://amzn.to/4eIXxHf
Unti next time, stay well friends!
Susan
