About The Institute
The Lipedema Institute is a dedicated lipedema-treatment practice in Scottsdale, Arizona. Lipedema and only lipedema. We are not a general plastic-surgery clinic that does occasional liposuction. We are a women’s-health practice built around one chronic, under-recognized disease — and the patients who have it.
What we mean by “Institute”
Most women with lipedema spend a decade being told to lose more weight. You may have seen internists, dermatologists, vascular surgeons, plastic surgeons, and dietitians. You may have left most of those visits without the right name for what is happening to your body.
We named ourselves an Institute on purpose. It signals what we are: a practice that has organized its entire clinical workflow — diagnosis, conservative care, surgical staging, recovery, long-term follow-up — around one disease. Every protocol, every garment vendor relationship, every nutrition handout, every CLT coordination is purpose-built for lipedema. Nothing here is adapted from a cosmetic practice.
Our mission
To give women with lipedema a place that starts with believing you. To get you an accurate diagnosis years earlier than is typical. To slow your disease with consistent conservative care. To offer lymph-sparing surgical treatment when — and only when — it is the right call for you. And to follow you for as long as you want us to.
What makes a dedicated practice different
- Pattern recognition. A clinician who sees hundreds of lipedema patients a year recognizes Stage-1 disease that a generalist misses. That single difference saves women years.
- Lymph-sparing surgical discipline. Cosmetic liposuction technique can convert lipedema into lipo-lymphedema. Our entire surgical practice is built around preserving the lymphatic system in tissue that’s full of it.
- Coordinated care, not a referral chain. Conservative therapy, surgery, recovery, and lifelong follow-up are all designed together. Patients aren’t bounced between practices that don’t speak to each other.
- Honesty about who isn’t a candidate. We tell patients “not now,” “not us,” or “the right answer for you is conservative care” — and we mean it. Surgery is medical, not cosmetic, and the wrong surgery at the wrong time helps no one.
Who we serve
Women, primarily. Patients from across the United States — we routinely care for out-of-state women who fly into Scottsdale; we coordinate travel and lodging for qualified patients. From newly-symptomatic teens being supported by their mothers, to women in their 60s and 70s seeking pain reduction and renewed mobility.
How to engage with us
Everything starts with a free 30-minute video consultation. We review your symptoms, photos, and history. We tell you honestly whether what you’re describing is lipedema, whether it’s something else, and what the right next step is — including telling you that you don’t need our care if you don’t. Most patients leave that first call with a clear plan for the first time in years.
Not sure where to start?
A free 30-minute video consultation gives you an honest read on your situation — your likely stage, your options, and a clear next step. No cost, no pressure.