Anon, welcome to EmpowHer, and thank you for your question! I was also very interested in the answer, since I too have had limpomas in the past.
For those who don't know, limpomas are small, fatty pockets beneath the skin that are soft and movable when touched or pushed. They are the most common kind of soft-tissue tumor. They are benign growths that don't turn cancerous, so nothing has to be done about them. But if they grow in an area where they are a nuisance -- mine, for instance, grew right beneath a bra strap -- or if they are causing pain, they are easily removed with local anesthesia and outpatient surgery.
Anon, I found that yes, they can recur in the same place.
Was yours done with an incision, or with through liposuction? Apparently the latter does have a higher rate of recurrence, though they can come back regardless of procedure. Also, it's apparently very important to get all the "globules" of the limpoma out intact to help prevent its regrowth. The one number I saw was that recurrence rate is about 5% for most limpomas. (Happily, the one under my strap did not come back). And as you probably know, if we get one, we are more likely to get others later.
What does your doctor say about this limpoma? Is it very close to a muscle? Locations like that apparently cause more pain than do locations where movement isn't quite as demanding, and are more apt to recur. Still benign, of course, but intramuscular and more difficult to remove; the recurrence rate of that kind can be as high as 62%, according to the Baylor College of Medicine.
Here are a couple of resources I found about lipomas:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lipoma/DS00634
http://www.bcm.edu/oto/grand/81791.html
http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/jkl/lipoma.htm
Are you thinking of having your lipoma removed again? I'm sure that's discouraging, but it sounds like the pain involved may make it necessary.
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Anon, welcome to EmpowHer, and thank you for your question! I was also very interested in the answer, since I too have had limpomas in the past.
For those who don't know, limpomas are small, fatty pockets beneath the skin that are soft and movable when touched or pushed. They are the most common kind of soft-tissue tumor. They are benign growths that don't turn cancerous, so nothing has to be done about them. But if they grow in an area where they are a nuisance -- mine, for instance, grew right beneath a bra strap -- or if they are causing pain, they are easily removed with local anesthesia and outpatient surgery.
Anon, I found that yes, they can recur in the same place.
Was yours done with an incision, or with through liposuction? Apparently the latter does have a higher rate of recurrence, though they can come back regardless of procedure. Also, it's apparently very important to get all the "globules" of the limpoma out intact to help prevent its regrowth. The one number I saw was that recurrence rate is about 5% for most limpomas. (Happily, the one under my strap did not come back). And as you probably know, if we get one, we are more likely to get others later.
What does your doctor say about this limpoma? Is it very close to a muscle? Locations like that apparently cause more pain than do locations where movement isn't quite as demanding, and are more apt to recur. Still benign, of course, but intramuscular and more difficult to remove; the recurrence rate of that kind can be as high as 62%, according to the Baylor College of Medicine.
Here are a couple of resources I found about lipomas:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lipoma/DS00634
http://www.bcm.edu/oto/grand/81791.html
http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/jkl/lipoma.htm
Are you thinking of having your lipoma removed again? I'm sure that's discouraging, but it sounds like the pain involved may make it necessary.
June 11, 2009 - 9:56amThis Comment
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