What is Compartment Syndrome and How Does It Relate to Lipedema
What it is, how to identify, and what you can do about it.
Hi Everyone,
Have your lipedema legs ever felt tight and painful, especially in the calves? I’ve been recently reading about this phenomenom.
Compartment Syndrome is caused by pressure buildup from internal bleeding or swelling of tissues. The pressure decreases blood flow, depriving muscles and nerves of needed nourishment.
You can get compartment syndrome in any muscle, but it most often affects the muscles in the lower legs and forearms. It can happen suddenly (acute), from a “crush injury” or insect bite, or gradually (chronic) after trauma from high-energy exercise.
Streptococcal cellulitis can also cause compartment syndrome.
For severe cases of compartment syndrome, emergency surgery is needed to save blood flow to the extremities.
Believe me, you don’t want to get to that point.
Recently, more and more theories are being discussed about our leaking lymphatic system leading to subclinical Compartment Syndrome.
Last year, Dr. Karen Herbst presented on the Lymphapress platform “A New Theory: Lipedema is Caused by Subclinical Compartment Syndrome.”
In this video, Dr. Herbst talks about the medical reasons why lipedema may cause compartment syndrome. It is a longer video, but it’s the first 48 minutes where all of the information that Dr. Herbst presents.
Another article through lipedema.net, proposes the theory from Dr. Simarro that “the lipedema changes of the adipocytes inside the saphenous compartment cause the disease. These changes (hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the adipocyte in the saphenous compartments) only occur in women with lipedema.” slow and progressive process is what researchers are calling a “Subchronic Compartment Syndrome (SCS) of the saphenous compartment.”
If you’re interested in getting sciency, you can read about it here.
With the swelling that Lipedema women experience, pressure against the muscles and nerves is a legitimate concern.
A subclinical Compartment Syndrome is a serious condition and the possibility of Lipedema women suffering from this condition needs to be addressed by the larger medical community.
Also consider this when submitting for preauthorization for liposuction surgery. If you can show through your specialist assessments that you may be experiencing chronic Compartment Syndrome, it may be another piece you can add to your request for surgery.
I’ve only touched on this topic, since it’s so new. As more research is done, we are going to learn more and more about many considerations for our disease and why treatment, conservative and surgical, is so necessary.
Have a wonderful rest of your week!
Michelle