Esmer M, Schingale FJ. Can Physical Therapy Techniques Slow Down the Progression of Lipedema? Lymphat Res Biol. 2024 Dec;22(6):267-270. doi: 10.1089/lrb.2024.0065. Epub 2024 Oct 9. PMID: 39381855. This study found that complex decongestive therapy combined with Lympha Press Optimal Plus® pneumatic compression reduced both extracellular and intracellular fluid in women with lipedema, suggesting it helps manage swelling and may slow disease progression by reducing the fluid burden.

This study looked at 22 women diagnosed with lipedema, a chronic condition involving abnormal fat buildup and increased fluid in the tissues. The researchers wanted to know whether physical therapy could reduce the amount of fluid in the body, especially extracellular fluid, which is fluid outside the cells and may contribute to swelling and progression of lipedema. All patients received complex decongestive therapy 6 days per week for 1 month. Treatment included manual lymphatic drainage, pneumatic compression therapy, skin care, multilayer compression bandaging from toes to groin, and exercise/walking guidance. After treatment, both extracellular fluid and intracellular fluid decreased. The researchers suggest that reducing extracellular fluid may help reduce edema and could potentially slow lipedema progression or delay the development of lipo-lymphedema. This was a small study with no control group and no long-term follow-up, so it cannot prove definitively that physical therapy slows lipedema progression over time. Still, the findings support the use of CDT and pneumatic compression as part of conservative lipedema management. For a similar controlled study utilizing Lympha Press® and compression leggings vs compression leggings alone, and which also found that Lympha Press® treatment decreased both extracellular and intracellular fluid, see Herbst et al, 2024. Quote from study: “In patients with more advanced stages of lipedema, there was a higher amount of extracellular water in the legs compared to those with less severe stages. In light of this information, reducing extracellular fluid may help slow the progression of the disease in these patients and delay the onset of lipo-lymphedema.”

Link to the study: Can Physical Therapy Techniques Slow Down the Progression of Lipedema? - PubMed