A stressed-out 20-something woman who was forced to go on a diet because of her thickened legs has been diagnosed with lipedema.
The story of Alyssa Van der Kruysen, 28, from Michigan, U.S., was revealed by the U.K.’s Daily Mail on Nov. 6 (local time). When she was a teenager, she noticed that she started to gain weight on her arms, legs, and abdomen for no apparent reason.
She went to personal training (PT) to lose weight and switched to a “low-carb, high-fat” diet, but instead of losing weight, she gained weight. He went to the doctor to find out what was wrong, but was told that “there was nothing wrong with me other than obesity스포츠토토“. She was prescribed diet pills and took them for six months, but they didn’t work.
“I tried exercising and watching my diet for a few months, but I felt worse than before,” he says, adding, “As I continued to gain weight, I felt pressure and pain in my knees.”
After her legs continued to thicken, Alyssa watched a medical video on YouTube and realized that her symptoms were consistent with “lipedema,” which is an abnormal buildup of subcutaneous fat. It’s caused by female hormones and usually occurs between the pelvis and ankles. The swelling is caused by an overgrowth of fat cells in the subcutaneous area, which changes the structure of the small blood vessels.
According to experts, people with lipedema feel heavy and painful in their legs, thighs, and pelvis, starting within a year or two after puberty. It’s characterized by an equal accumulation of subcutaneous fat at both ends of the ankle. In the early stages of lipedema, the surface of the skin can be palpated as indistinct lumps, but later they appear as reddish-red fatty deposits.
In order to get an accurate diagnosis, Alyssa visited a hospital that specializes in lipedema late last year, where doctors gave her an accurate diagnosis of the condition. The doctors determined that the only way to get rid of lipedema was through surgery, and she would have to undergo a total of six surgeries.
In the first surgery, Alyssa underwent liposuction to break up and remove the nodules in her subcutaneous tissue and drain about 6.5 liters of fluid from her body. “I felt a sense of relief after the surgery,” she says, “and I’m excited to see the changes and the muscles I’ve been building.”
Meanwhile, Alyssa is currently awaiting a second surgery for lipedema, and will reportedly have to undergo five more surgeries, including this one.