Do I have lipedema?
Lipedema, spelled lipoedema in the UK, Ireland and Australia, is an abnormal build-up of fat, usually in the legs and often the arms, that is painful to the touch and whose pain and disproportion persist through weight loss. The checklist below covers the signs clinicians look for. It takes about a minute.
This is an educational self-check, not a diagnosis. No checklist can tell you whether you have lipedema; only a clinician who examines you can. Nothing you check here is stored or sent anywhere. The counting happens in your browser, and no data leaves this page.
Check each statement that describes you
Where these signs come from
The items above reflect the clinical criteria physicians have used to recognize lipedema since it was first described at the Mayo Clinic in 1940: disproportionate, symmetrical fat of the legs or arms, tenderness to pressure, easy bruising, sparing of the feet, and pain that persists through weight loss, commonly beginning or worsening at puberty, pregnancy, or menopause, and often running in families. Fewer than half of the US women who fit this picture have ever received a physician diagnosis.
Common questions
What are the common signs of lipedema?
The recognized signs include disproportionate fat in the legs or arms compared with the torso, tissue that is painful or tender to pressure, easy bruising, symmetrical involvement of both legs, feet that are typically spared with a cuff at the ankle, pain and disproportion that persist through diet or weight loss, a family history, and worsening around puberty, pregnancy, or menopause.
Can lipedema be diagnosed with a blood test or a scan?
No. There is no blood test and no imaging study that confirms lipedema. The diagnosis is made clinically, by a clinician who takes your history and examines you. Checklists like this one can help you decide whether to seek that examination, but they cannot make or exclude the diagnosis.
Whatever your result, it is a starting point for a conversation with a clinician. This page is educational, it is not medical advice, and it does not diagnose any condition.
The full symptom picture and how to get diagnosed are the natural next pages. How to tell lipedema apart from weight gain goes deeper on the four signs that separate them.