Symptoms, signs, diagnosis of lipoma
Before you remove a wen, you need to make sure that it is exactly that. The shape of the wen formed under the skin is round or oval. It is mobile and soft to the touch; as a rule, no pain is felt when pressing on it.
Fatty deposits located under the skin of the face, neck, back, arms and other parts of the body usually do not cause any symptoms. A lipoma formed on internal organs causes the following symptoms:
- When a lipoma appears in the esophagus, coughing, nausea, and a feeling that there is a foreign body in the throat may occur;
- Chest pain may be the cause of lipoma formation in the mammary gland;
- Symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and vomiting may occur with a lipoma in the brain.
A lipoma is diagnosed visually during a clinical examination; if this is not enough, using ultrasound, x-rays, and computed tomography.
Symptoms and classification
Lipomas are distinguished by anatomical location into lipomas of the head, face and neck, lipomas of the trunk, extremities, chest (mediastinum), mammary gland, gastrointestinal tract, internal organs, retroperitoneal tissue, spermatic cord. There are also rare localizations in the myocardium, lungs, and meninges.
Another classification of adipose tissue tumors involves a clinical division:
- Lipoma surrounding nerve structures is called perineural . Due to compression of the nerves it can cause severe pain. Removal of perineural lipomas differs from subcutaneous lipomas and requires a highly qualified surgeon;
- A tumor growing in the spinal canal (usually in the lumbar region) is called lumbosacral lipoma; Mostly occurs in children and is combined with underdevelopment of spinal structures;
- Lipoma of the joint and its structures (synovium, vagina, tendons);
- Intermuscular lipomas are formed from areas of adipose tissue between muscle fibers;
- Angiomyolipoma is a tumor of fatty and muscle tissue, which in most cases grows in the kidneys and pancreas. Middle-aged and mature men are more predisposed to its formation;
- Subcutaneous lipoma is a formation of varying sizes in the subcutaneous fat tissue. In everyday life it is usually called wen.
Lipomas usually occur alone. However, some patients discover several tumors at once. Such cases are most often associated with hereditary diseases and require careful study by specialists. The most common places for lipomas to form are the neck, back and limbs.
A subcutaneous lipoma is a mobile, elastic seal in the form of a lump or ball, which does not cause pain when pressed. A neoplasm can cause pain if it grows beyond its capsule into healthy tissue or due to compression of adjacent nerves.
For example, a wen located on the head can cause headaches, and the same formation on the neck can cause hoarseness and difficulty swallowing.
Gastrointestinal lipomas differ from their subcutaneous counterparts. Small formations in the intestine do not cause symptoms and are often discovered incidentally during an instrumental examination of the gastrointestinal tract. However, if it increases in size, this happens when the tumor reaches 2 or more centimeters in diameter, the lipoma can block part of the intestinal lumen and cause intestinal obstruction, intussusception, stool problems, abdominal pain and even bleeding.
Treatment of wen
Despite the fact that a wen under the skin usually does not cause any inconvenience, many people are interested in how to remove a lipoma . First of all, you should consult a doctor, especially in cases where inflammation of the wen has occurred. Those who are wondering how to squeeze out a wen should know that you should never do this yourself.
Removing wen at home can not only provoke infection into the wound, but also leave unsightly atrophic scars. However, in addition to the medical procedures that a doctor can offer, there are also traditional medicine and pharmaceutical preparations that will help cope with this problem.
Treatment methods
The treatment method is selected based on the location of the tumor, size and medical history of the patient. First of all, the doctor must make sure that the patient’s neoplasm is benign. To do this, the doctor carefully examines the patient, collects anamnesis and, if necessary, refers him to the necessary tests. For the differential diagnosis of lipomas, ultrasound examination of soft tissues, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging are used and, if a malignant tumor is suspected, a tumor biopsy is taken.
The most common type of tumor from adipose tissue is a subcutaneous lipoma, which does not cause dysfunction of organs, systems and does not threaten the patient’s life, and removal is performed only for cosmetic purposes.
Also, indications for surgical treatment of lipoma are large tumor sizes, 5 cm or more, and the presence of symptoms caused by the tumor.
There is no effective conservative treatment for lipomas. It is also worth noting that traditional methods such as heating and applying ice do not affect tumors from adipose tissue. However, they can cause serious complications if the neoplasm is of a different nature. For example, when atheroma is heated (atheroma is an accumulation of sebaceous secretion that clogs the duct of the sebaceous gland and causes inflammation), inflammation may spread and infect healthy tissues that are nearby.
Among the surgical methods for treating lipomas are:
- lipoma excision
- liposuction
- laser removal
- endoscopic method (for gastrointestinal lipomas)
How to remove wen using traditional methods
If it is not possible to visit a doctor’s office, you can try to remove the lipoma yourself. But this applies only to those formations that have appeared recently. If the lipoma is old, it needs to be treated only surgically.
Baked onion
Onions are considered one of the most effective means for removing wen. Do the procedure at least 2 times a day.
- Take one medium onion and bake in the oven.
- Grind the cooled onion using a meat grinder.
- Grate baby soap, add to onion and mix thoroughly.
- Apply the resulting mass as a compress to the wen.
Sour cream with honey
Before the procedure, you need to take a hot bath to steam the wen. Then the components of the prepared remedy for wen will better penetrate the adipose tissue of the tumor. Carry out the procedure every other day.
- Mix equal amounts of sour cream, honey and sea salt.
- Apply the resulting mixture to the problem area.
- After 20 minutes, rinse with warm water.
Further treatment
Most often, if the lipoma has burst, the doctor thoroughly treats the wound with an antiseptic and drains the cavity (to ensure the outflow of discharge from the wound into the external environment). If the rupture occurs as a result of inflammation, the capsule is not removed, because in such a situation doctors simply do not have the opportunity to fully examine the cavity and eliminate all elements of the structure, which is why such manipulation can subsequently lead to relapses of the wen.
Already when a patient with a burst lipoma first seeks medical care, the doctor usually takes samples for laboratory testing. This allows us to exclude the malignant nature of the tumor.
After the inflammatory process has completely subsided, the lipoma capsule is completely removed. This manipulation is usually performed under local anesthesia using:
- Scalpel. In such a situation, the surgeon makes a complete incision of the previously burst tumor, and then scrapes out all pathologically altered tissues and removes the capsule. Stitches are placed on the wound.
- Endoscopic instruments. In some cases, direct surgery is not the best option. Endoscopic surgery may be performed to ensure that there are no obvious scars left on the skin. In this case, the wen is approached from a distance, under the skin, through small incisions. Removal of pathologically changed tissues and capsules is carried out with tiny instruments under control on a computer monitor. After the operation, only tiny dots-scars remain on the patient’s skin.
- Laser exposure. This method of modern surgery allows you to accurately, bloodlessly and painlessly evaporate the lipoma and capsule with a laser beam. After the intervention, the skin heals without scar formation, which allows this method of therapy to be used even on the face.
If you do not remove the lipoma capsule after it ruptures, even in the absence of inflammation there is a risk of complications. In particular, the tumor may recur (appear again) and become larger.
Treatment of lipomas with pharmaceutical products
Those who prefer to use pharmaceutical drugs should purchase Vishnevsky ointment. This product should be applied to an adhesive plaster and attached to the affected area, after 2 days the plaster should be replaced with a new one.
You can also use hydrogen peroxide. This drug should be regularly lubricated. After a few days, the skin on the affected area will burst and the contents of the wen will leak out.
lipoma treatment
How a doctor can help you remove a wen
It is highly advisable that lipoma removal be performed by an experienced specialist. After a thorough examination, a dermatologist may prescribe the following procedures to remove wen:
- Mechanical cleaning. This method is considered the simplest. The procedure is carried out by piercing the wen with a needle, after which all its contents are removed. Sometimes the procedure is performed under local anesthesia.
- Removal of lipoma with laser . Laser therapy is considered the most progressive method for removing fatty tissue. The procedure is very quick and does not leave scars. In addition, the possibility of the wen reappearing in the same place is excluded.
Prevention of lipoma
After lipoma removal, the following preventive measures must be observed:
- reduce the consumption of fatty meats and high-fat dairy products;
- introduce vegetable oil and fish into the daily menu;
- refuse late dinners;
- move as much as possible.
You need to follow these recommendations not only if a lipoma has already appeared, but also if there is a hereditary predisposition. Doctors say that the risk group for the formation of wen includes middle-aged and elderly people.
Reasons for appearance
There are many factors that influence the formation of lipomas. Among the reasons are hereditary predisposition, impaired metabolism of fatty acids in the body, liver disease, pancreatic disease, non-compliance or violation of hygiene rules.
For a long time it was believed that soft tissue injury predisposes to the development of lipomas, but this fact was subsequently refuted in research. Thus, doctors agree that one reason that would explain all the processes has not yet been found. However, predisposition to gastrointestinal lipomas has a proven connection with a gene mutation on chromosome 12. In other cases, the reasons remain unknown.
