Removed 3 Lipoma's at home yesterday.

[lippohippo]

pain is feedback. something you want. the incision gets desensitized without the ice after a while.
i imagine it doesn't penetrate much if you are just preapplying it topically -- though i would only apply it in the small area where you make the incision.

i can see the value of numbing only the sides of the incision once it's open. maybe numbing toothpaste would tone it down. then again, i'd rathar take the pain as a signal to stop.

meditate/guidedimagery/breathingtechniqes. chew on something hot/spicy to distract. music. go slow. there really isn't that much pain involved -- if there is and it is longer than a spike, i'd stop. try to associate pain as a good thing and that much of the pain is just psychological.

if you do use it, do a few without it first to get the hang of it.

[Guest]

Yes, I agree that pain as feedback is a good thing. Even after injections of lidocaine, it is still common practice for the doctor to ask the patient if they feel any pain, so i doubt that a topical cream would put me at risk of complete desensitization. I only bring it up as a potential way to numb the skin for the incision (which i imagine would be the most painful part of the procedure.) I recall reading once that icing too much may damage the tissue and impair it's ability to heal... I may be wrong about that though, so don't quote me. It seems that inflammation is the enemy with these things... The leading researcher on fat disorders, Karen Herbst recommends that lipomas should be removed with as small an incision as possible to reduce agitating the surrounding tissue, (which stimulates regrowth). Who knows, maybe ice is the way to go if it helps reduce inflammation? May be worth some study..

[Drav]

third lipoma on my right arm: I did the cut in the direction elbow-hand (while on the left arm I did trasversal) because the lipoma were longer in that direction. The problem is, please Drav confirm, you can angle the scalpell just parallel to the cut, so you spear the lipoma on the left and on the right side of the cut but not in front or on the back. If I try to move the scalpell on the front or on the back of the cut, the sharped edge of the scalpell will hurt the skin and, even worse, can make the cut longer.

fifth lipoma on the upper side of my right leg: and here the problems started...
It wasn't so moveable as the first 4. I spear the lipoma a lot and the lipoma came all out but not with the "stalk", so I didn't have a good feeling with that.
The first 4 went out at last with the "stalk" and I knew for sure that they were all out but with this..., I checked and there was nothing to squeeze out anymore but still...was different.
Well, after cutting and spearing and squeezing, looking forthe last pieceof lipoma attached to the tissue below with the stalk, my leg didn't look nice and also the cut was longer than usual (7mm).

sixth lipoma on the upper front of the right leg: the lipoma was even less moveable than the fifth.
An other problem: the glue
Drav, I don't know how you close your glue holder, but my liquidband optima can not be closed, and it dried in one hour! Basically I had to use one applicator for each lipoma, which is quite expensive. Do you have any suggestions? In the meanwhile I bought stripes...

Sorry for late reply, been doing my kitchen....

Anyway, what I do to NOT make the cut longer is if i need to apply pressure to the side of a cut, I will push against the blunt side or the scalpel, if you push against the sharp edge the cut will open.

OK will the liquiband, using a small drill bit into a piece of plastic or a solid raw plug, disinfect, then you have a lid. Make sure you then keep the liquiband upright, I then enclose in cling film to make air tight, should be good for 20+ lipoma's

A lot of my lipoma's were rigid and they are more difficult to get out but slicing under the skin has always released them and squeezing removed them, the last tool that I showed, theoretically you could pull out anything that is left.

[Drav]

Everyone seems to talk about icing the area to numb the skin, but I want to throw this one out there.. so i'm surprised nobody has brought it up before when describing self-surgery for lipomas. Anyone tried this before?

OK, firstly the ice is not used to numb the pain. Its used to disinfect the area before the incision.

Secondly I can assure you that if you have a descent blade as listed above, it will go through your skin like a knife through butter and you will feel a slight tingle at most. I've done near on 50 and never experience any pain whatsoever.

I think the pain part is more mental then physical. Hope this helps!

[darkdark]

Thanks Drav, I really appreciate your input. You have some great experience to share with us newbies. I have to disagree with you on the ice though. As far as I can tell, most people ARE using ice to numb the area, and ice alone is NOT an adequate disinfectant. There are some methods of cold sterilization used for heat sensitive instruments in surgery such as hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, and peracetic acid, http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/pdf/guideline ... v_2008.pdf (see page 58 and table 6 on page 111) but these methods are cooling to around <55-50 degrees C. for up to half an hour or more. Ice forms at just below 0 degrees C, and as far as i know, ice is not used as a disinfectant. In fact, with a quick google search you can find state health disinfection guidelines for ice machines. When Ice gets cloudy, it can be from microbes in the water, which do not always die from cold (in fact they sometimes like it!) That being said, ice can be used to slow blood flow, which along with pressure, is a good thing to encourage clotting (and consequently healing). Its probably in your best interest to use an alcohol based solution like CHG or an idophor like povidone-iodine and swab the area of incision before hand. Better safe than sorry... Thanks again!

[Drav]

Did you ice to disinfect the area you are cutting?

Ive not had any infections. However, I take your point.

[Guest]

ah yes, i see. People reading who are thinking about doing this should probably be taking sterilization precautions. I understand that the risk of infection, though very real is somewhat blown out of proportion as the human body is pretty resilient. That being said, people should be sterilizing the area before and after, wearing gloves, and using sterile blades/bandages. Actually, my father (a physician) and I both agree that the risk of infection is greater in a hospital environment because of exposure. If you think about it, would you rather expose yourself to the pathogens of, say 50 people that have been in your room or the pathogens of 50,000 people that have been in an operating room at a hospital? Still, it's stupid not to take every precaution you can. If you do get infected, the medical bills alone will make you wish you had a doctor remove them in the first place. Be safe people.

[marcod]

other 3 lipomas removed, all 3 on my right arms.
Nothing to add for the first 2 Lipomas, the third was more fibrous and it took longer to get it out.

Thanks to Drav and Lippohippo for the additional informations about toolings and methodic.
I will buy needle, twizzer and toenail scrapper before I start the battle with the lipomas in my legs.
Question: do you sterilize your toolings before using them? If yes how?
Do you use them more the one time?

One sad remark: I have the feeling that some new lipomas are growing in my arms since I started to cut the old ones. Did it also happen to you?

I have to say that since I started to cut:
- I sleep less ( some surgery last until 1 or 2 am...)
- I quit my regurarly sport activities (in order to let the scars heal properly)
- I quit my Omega 3 oil intake (I'm afraid it would liquefy the blood)
- I don't do intermittent cold/warm shower anymore (less showers due to the scars; intermittent showers seems to help the lymphatic system)
- I started to eat more Christmas sweets

[lippohippo]

@marcod
sterilize with boiling soap/water, betatine, borax and rubbing alcohol.
i freeze water and betatine for the icecubes.
i reuse all the tools except the scalpels.

new lipo in new locations? or new lipo underneath the ones you removed?
for me, no new ones. however, there are 2 lumps each under 2 of the ones i removed. one kinda feels like a lipoma of the same consistency of the one removed and showed up 3 days later. the other feels unlike any of the other lipomas i have (soft). it feels like too soon to develop a lipoma in 3 days of that consistency, leading me to believe that it's just likely scar tissue.
if you aren't sure, wait a month+ and let us know.

butterfly bandaids might not be enough given that some have healed with a 1mm gash/scar while others have nicely healed flush against eachother.

get on tumeric/curcumin, vita-c, vita-d and magnesium. cut the sugars. do some form of intermittent fasting. don't do any HIT. i wouldn't remove any without doing all of the above. ideally i would have liked to have fasted for 21 days+(with those supple) before removing them as there is alot of anecdotes to suggest it softens them up.

might try doxycycline( as a mmpi) and metformin for a few months to see if it makes any difference. if so, i might then try to remove a bigger lipo. i suspect that it won't. much of the anecdotes of reduction has to do with ppl with lipomas that are painful; mine aren't.

[Drav]

One sad remark: I have the feeling that some new lipomas are growing in my arms since I started to cut the old ones. Did it also happen to you?

When I first started removing, I thought I had about 10, by then end I had located around 50, probably had 10 big noticeable ones and the rest small. Are they all new? most likely not, I think you concentrate on the bigger ones as these bother you more, and now you are removing, your probably going into areas in fine detail, hence your finding more. You probably would not look in detail, because as you know it can be depressing, that's my experience anyway, nothing I could do about it at the time, so just tried to block it all out.

Your doing well, try and rest and take a break. Your in no rush, I removed all mine over a period of a year and half, with gaps in between. Not planned but just how it was for me.

I personally think that lipoma's are caused by stress and too much refined sugar, not based on anything, but just the feeling I have.

[darkdark]

Agreed with Lippohippo and Drav's comments, although i haven't tried intermittent fasting, doxycycline or metformin, (any links guys?). High Glycemic index foods (i.e. refined sugar, gluten, wheat, flour, white rice, potatoes, some high sugar fruits like bananas, etc..) are gobbled up by the "lipe" type fat that these lipomas consist of. Sugar will make all fat grow, but the fat in these lipomas can't be burned off, and will continue to grow until they reach some critical stage of expansion that isn't quite understood yet. Most of these fat disorders involve a disfunctional lymph/vascular component, which is in essence a "leaky" syndrome. Because the vasculature and lymph cells break down, nasty toxins from food, excessive exercise (lactic acid) can leak and get stuck in the tissue, causing lymphocytes to crowd around these chemicals to try and repair it. The vasculature then grows to feed the lymphocytes, and ta-da!!.. you have a lipoma. For this reason, its best to try and eat healthy whole food, not processed with lots of chemicals.. All of these chemicals could leak into the body and cause inflammation, which could lead to more symptoms. Also, because so much of this leakiness is a result of inflammation, you should try to get your gut as healthy as possible (probiotics, no wheat/gluten, lots of green leafy veggies to push stale protein out, and colorful vegetables (more colors the better) for their anti-inflammatory polyphenols). Despite high intensity exercise being bad, i think that movement/exercise is MORE important for us because of our dysfunctional lymph systems (movement is the only thing that will help move that lymph around). You might look into alternative exercise like swimming, stationary bike, whole body vibration, rebounders, yoga, stretching ect, just make sure to not exercise too far into the burn. Back off and rest, then start up again. I recommend everybody check out Dr. Karen Herbst's information/lectures... She knows more that anybody about this stuff and is writing a book about dietary recommendations for what she calls the RAD (rare adipose disorder) Diet. Good news is that she just received a 1.5 million dollar research grant. I feel like the understanding of these diseases will be exponential once the public takes notice.. There are so many obese people now, and the key to solving obesity could lie in understanding rare adipose disorders. Check out all of the following videos, good stuff at the ends with the q&a sessions.

[lippohippo]

update: getting the hang of things now. removed over 20 so far and no new lipo have formed. have another 20-30 visible ones that i will remove. i use a led projector flush against the skin to look for vessels. any high lumen light would probably help.
initial cut is easier now: i just scrape away until i break the skin with a fine needle, then use the scalpel to slightly go deeper at which point i stab all along the incision with the needle (32 gauge or w/e the insulin needles are) all the way into the lipo.(makes it psychologically easier to stab with a scalpel when you know you have already stabbed the area) finally, stab with the scalpel. i find pinching harddddd(and focusing on the pinching) to prop up the lipo will distract from the pain.

the drill set didn't pan out as expected, however, it does work effectively by just stabbing and scraping (not by a twisting motion) while squeezing the lipoma. with that technique, i was able to remove a ~2.5-3" lipo with a ~5mm incision in under 30min! i still use needleeye of the sewingneedle to feel around initially but most of it is using the drill piece (i used the largest one of the set) and fine-watchmaker's needle nosed tweezers. that lipo was comprised of 4-5 smaller lipos.

i tried using bactine (antiseptic with lidocaine 2.5%) on the incision. not sure if it helped much. had someone assist me for one on my arm and they kept on scraping the side and it still hurt.

i don't think i will remove all of my lipo, only ones that are visibly pronounced.

i got off the fence. and while there's no lasting elation -- the absence of their former vying is quieting, as if it's a slow reproach to something safe.

[lippohippo]

*approach. not reproach. eh, that's what i get for trying to be poetic

[Guest]

guys I need your help again

i use a toenail scrapper to seperate the skin from the outside of fibrous sac -- it helps with mobility and removal.

...

i use butterfly bandages and topical 'new skin' liquid bandages over the wound

can you tell me exactely which kind of toenail scrapper do you use? I have a serious problem with the lipomas in my legs...they are so attached to the skin that I have to get them piece by piece and tonight like to the last time I didn't see the "stalk" at the end of the surgery which make me worry that I didn't get everything out...

How do you use bandage and new skin together? do you apply first the butterfly bandage and then the "new skin" on it???or the other way round

Thank you
Marcod

[lippohippo]

the toenail scraper is just a typical one. any generic blunt object i find works, like the end of a spoon. squishing it down repeatedly also helped. however, that was pre-using-the-drillbit. now i just mainly use that drillbit.

i've only had about 2 where it came out easily. all others were by pieces/scraping.
i've had about 2 where it didn't have/couldn't find the stalk. it happens. and if you watch all the lipo videos excised by docs on youtube, it happens there too. of the one that i remember removing that didn't have a stalk, ...it seemed like it was growing back again, but as drav mentions and as months passed, there isn't anything there now.

butteryfly/medical adhesive around it but not over it. then, new skin on it. the new skin/butterfly isn't ideal and in retrospect i would have liked to have tried the stuff drav used. ideally, however, stitches may be best. and ideally a stitch that yields the incision to be puckered would result in less scarring. while the scars are small (<= 5mm) the ones on my legs still bugs me more than i thought. in the future i would only try stiches or that other medglue that drav mentions.
thing is, while it healed decently on my arms.. the scars on my legs are more noticeable. i suspect that it's just correlated to the thickness of the skin.

2 things that went wrong:
1) in removing one, i suspect i hit a vein. the area had no major vessels. i removed it and then applied pressure until it stopped bleeding.
2) i pulled hard on the stock of the biggest lipo removed and it started to bleed from somewhre (below i suspect). pressure eventually again stopped it.
on the aforementioned videos, herbst said that the stock is from the muscle, which i found interesting as i haven't found that information before. i've always correlated intense exercise to lipos growing.
at no point in did i feel in danger when bleeding. also i live right near to a hospital

[steelem]

hi Drav - i have a couple on my Abs - as im cutting down at present they are getting quite prominent - just wondering how are the scars on your abs now ? also fancy making a couple of ££ if i come over to colechester - i was born there by the way a very long time ago.

[Jaynana]

hi Drav - i have a couple on my Abs - as im cutting down at present they are getting quite prominent - just wondering how are the scars on your abs now ? also fancy making a couple of ££ if i come over to colechester - i was born there by the way a very long time ago.

I recently removed a lipoma on my abs, it was just below my rib cage. The scar is minimal, just a small red line now, and actually healed better than the one I removed from my forearm.

[Drav]

Currently lowering my body fat percentage with intermittent fasting going from around 20% to 8%. So I do not eat anything after 3pm, work out twice a day and run. I'm also eating completely clean, so barely have any sugar or fat, high protein, high carbs! I used myfitnesspal app and recorded a few days eating/drinking and found my sugar intake was way to high mainly through milk and starbucks coffee's I was getting from ASDA 2/3 a day!

For an occasional treat I get the protein cookie's from MyProtein they are mint / white chocolate chip flavour and absolutely gorgeous and I use their toffee flavdrops in my porridge. Might get some protein crisps form them to!

[Drav]

OK so ive been intermittent fasting for a few weeks and have been having a low fat/sugar diet for a few months, now some odd things are happening. Most of the fat I have is in my lower belly and my sides, as the fat is going where I would have said there were no lipoma's before, all of sudden there feels like chains of them stretching from below my belly button to my side. I was reading that some people get pea sized lumps in their abdominals which is fat being broken down that eventually will go on a diet. I had a bit of a session a few nights ago and removed 7 pea sized masses from my abs. But it's kind of got me stumped, im thinking that it might just be a natural break down process but unsure.

[251152]

maybe there were under the normal fat all this time and since they're too small you were unable to identify them, and now that the fat layer is thinning, it's easier to feel them?