Lipoma Removal
A lipoma is a lump in the fat layer under the skin that occurs due to an overgrowth of fat cells. Lipomas are benign tumours, which means that they are non-cancerous growths. Often, they are genetic and they can be multiple.
Lipomas can occur anywhere in the body where fat cells are present, but they tend to appear on the shoulders, chest, trunk, neck, thighs, and armpits.
There are two common ways of removing lipomas, one is medical and the other is surgical. Medical removal is by dissolving the fat cells with a treatment called Lipolysis (literally translated means “fat dissolving”). Lipolysis is carried out by injecting a solution of fat-digesting enzymes directly into the lipoma, these enzymes will then do what they are designed to do and that is to digest (dissolve) the fat cells over a period of time, usually 8-10 weeks. These enzymes are specific for fat cells and will not affect other tissue. We have used this treatment safely at GMC Clinics since 2004.
Smaller lipomas usually only require a single treatment, larger ones may require more. It is a comfortable procedure and no anaesthetic is required. The lipoma dissolves progressively without any signs of scarring. It is particularly useful when there are many lipomas needing to be removed as you can avoid having multiple excision scars.
Benefits
Sometimes lipomas can cause pain, complications, or other symptoms but mostly lipomas are removed because of concerns about their cosmetic appearance.
Treatment guide
Surgical excision can be carried out comfortably with just local anaesthetic. With liposuction, the fat cells are progressively suctioned out through a fine cannula (tube) which is inserted through the skin via a small 3 mm incision. The advantage of this is that the lipoma is removed on the day and there is only a tiny 3 mm cannula mark left behind. Liposuction is only appropriate for larger lipomas.
With surgical excision there is a cut through the skin to get to the lipoma which is then removed neatly in its entirety through the incision, leaving behind an incision scar which is usually much smaller than the dimension of the lipoma itself. Excision can be used for lipomas of all sizes.
Pricing guide
Price will vary greatly according to the size, number and location of the lipomas.
Costs start at $400 for lipolysis of a single small lipoma in a readily accessible area, a large Lipoma will start at $1600 for excision removal. This cost reduces when treating multiple lipomas.
Considerations
Although lipomas are benign It is important not to self-diagnose, a consultation is important to exclude other more serious lesions.
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