My gynecologist in Augsburg is great. Not only because she has accompanied me confidently through times of crisis, but also because she is well informed about lipedema. But that's rarely the case with gynecologists, isn't it? Time to change that!
Why then, gynecologists?
Every time we visit, we give ourselves a little update and of course come quickly to talk about lipedema. I learn from her, she learns from me - try it out, it's really fun! But much more important last time was her statement that gynecologists should urgently become lipedema and lymphedema experts.
Why? Because they are the doctors who most often see the bare legs of every single patient.
Awesome, isn't it? Imagine a world full of enlightened gynecologists who could at least ask the visually conspicuous cases whether the most common symptoms sound familiar to them. A whole new movement of prevention would be possible as early as the teenage years.
Put an end to unnecessary hormone fluctuations
If we look a little further into the future and the suspicion that lipedema is promoted by female sex hormones is proven, it is all the more important to have the gynecologist on board. How many contraceptive and, worse still, no contraceptive hormones could be prevented? No unnecessary hormone fluctuations, which in the worst case could affect the course of the lipedema.
Off to the gynecologist - we have a mission
Each and every one of us now has a mission. When everyone who reads this article tells their gynecologist about their disease, a very special movement will be started! Take flyers, information material or magazines with you into the treatment room and show the possibilities of how to draw attention to lipedema and lymphedema even in the waiting area. Of course, my doctor has z. B. the Lipedema Awareness Cards already out.
Share the message and the idea and together we can really get something going. Höhö, ... legs.
Here we go!
Dear Caroline,
your reasoning does not convince me. Why this reduction to gynecologists - as if our legs and we patients had not been seen by many doctors of various specialties since childhood. General practitioners, orthopedic surgeons, etc. Who have to be just as familiar with hormones. I expect all of my doctors to know about lipedema and if you don't they should learn. Quite simply - we patients should actively demand this and not allow ourselves to be instrumentalized for providing information to the doctor. Your appeal has a taste for self-interest ... or to put it another way: a doctor has repeatedly said this to the gynecologist in his interviews - perhaps because his sister also operates on lipedema - and we patients are supposed to parrot it. I appeal to all doctors to be more self-confident about lipedema and lymphedema!
Hello Katja,
Do I understand you correctly, that you would rather wait for the doctors to find their interest in the disease on their own than for them to be actively sensitized to it?
Unfortunately, I also do not understand your argument regarding self-interest. Which one should I pursue? Incidentally, I have nothing to do with the doctor you are talking to, if you could have thought so.
You can start somewhere and get some attention. When you are dissatisfied, you don't wait in silence for the world or politics to change, but take to the streets and make you visible. In any case, it is never wrong to ask your doctor about it and just because all doctors should be informed there is no reason not to start with the gynecologist.
Hello dear Caroline; my gynecologist said if I had liplymphedema I would look very different. That wouldn't be true! When I asked several times, I asked for a blood test to determine the estrogen level, which I have to pay for myself anyway. And oh wonder, the mirror was way too high !! But I didn't get any further help!
Incredibly, unfortunately, many doctors don't seem to know that an optical expression is not always so extreme.
Hello dear Caroline,
you mentioned in your post that you found a great gynecologist in Augsburg who knows about lipoedema and is informed about it.
Could you perhaps give me a tip on how I can find this gynecologist, as I also come from the Augsburg area and am desperately looking for a gynecologist who is familiar with this area and has an open ear for my problems.
Best regards,
Kristina
Hello dear Kristina,
Miss Dr. Cornelius is a fabulous gynecologist who I highly recommend. I don't want to miss them anymore and I'm always very happy to see them. 🙂
https://www.jameda.de/augsburg/aerzte/frauenaerzte-gynaekologen/wibke-cornelius/uebersicht/81400693_1/
Best regards,
Caroline