Wildheart Wellness for Lipedema

12/28/2025

New research shows promise for lipedema. It's not often that an all-natural treatment is studied, so this is exciting. Initial studies that point to positive possibilities means researchers are thinking outside the box to help people with a condition that is misunderstood, doubted, not often studied in trials like this one.

Aim Lipedema is a chronic, progressive disease that predominantly affects women and is strongly influenced by estrogen. Its onset or worsening is associated with hormonal periods such as puberty, pregnancy, pregnancy induction, and menopause. It is characterized by abnormal, bilateral fat deposition...

12/28/2025

Did you know that when you have a traumatic experience it cause the body to reflexively hold the breath, freezing your body in time and space, creating a place in your very tissues, the fascia, that cements and intertwines the physical, mental, and emotional experiences with the cells of the fascia. Your fascia has its own communication network and from that moment on your body changes how it grows and communicates to accomodate that trauma. Every scar, whether physical or emotional, contains all that went on in that moment. Once we understand this, the research makes sense. Once we understand this, we can also begin to understand how learning to breathe, to exhale fully, to find the pain and unwind the fascia, can also release the trauma as it releases the tissue. Isn't the body fascinating!?

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KPCVZ1Bib/

Women now account for nearly 80% of all autoimmune disorders. But what’s fueling this disproportionate rise? Scientists have uncovered a compelling link between chronic emotional suppression and immune system dysfunction.

When stress is held in and not released, especially over long periods, it creates a hormonal storm inside the body. This continuous stress response overstimulates the immune system, making it more likely to misfire and attack healthy tissues. That’s what autoimmune diseases are the body’s defense system turning on itself.

Women are often taught to stay composed, avoid confrontation, and internalize emotions. Over time, this emotional bottling can wreak havoc on both the nervous and immune systems. What looks like resilience on the outside may be hiding deep physiological stress that silently breaks down the body from within.

Recent findings point to a powerful mind-body connection. Addressing emotional trauma, learning to express feelings openly, and adopting stress-reduction habits like journaling, therapy, breathwork, or even dance and movement can protect long-term health.

Autoimmune conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis aren’t just physical in origin. They may be triggered or worsened by long-term psychological strain. The solution may begin not just with medication but with healing what's unspoken.

True strength lies not in silence, but in release, connection, and reclaiming emotional balance.

12/27/2025

For a long time I've tried to get the word out that for many of us with lipedema, those infographics that show the differences between lipedema and lymphedema are confusing at best and completely innaccurate at worst. Why? Because they always indicate that lymphedema means one limb of your body is drastically, obviously, hugely different in size and that is absolutely not always the case. Yes, a very swollen arm or leg often is lympedema, but you can also have lipedema and lymphedema together and your body can look relatively symmetrical. For me, lipedema did NOT "cause" lymphedema at a later stage, as experts indicate. For me, both have always been present and I have never progressed with either past Stage 2. This is true for many lipedema warriors I work with and speak to. They often feel like something is wrong with them, but it seems obvious from all they hear and see that it CAN'T BE lymphedema. They even tell you that a diagnosis of lipedema means your hands and feet are not at all affected, but sometimes they are, just not like those late-stage lipedema pictures reflect. Try this easy, quick test and see if just maybe you actually do have lymphedema. Puffy hands, puffy face, puffy feet, but not in an extreme way. Your lymph system and your fascia need attention! https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AzNCLvJWr/

The Stemmer sign is a simple bedside test used to evaluate lymphedema. A clinician tries to pinch and lift a fold of skin at the top of the second toe (or finger). If the skin cannot be lifted (a positive Stemmer sign), it suggests thickened, fibrotic tissue from chronic lymph fluid buildup and supports a diagnosis of lymphedema. If the skin can be easily lifted (a negative sign), lymphedema is less likely and the finding may help differentiate it from conditions such as lipedema. However, the test is not perfect—early lymphedema can sometimes still show a negative sign, and diagnosis should consider other clinical findings.

Key points to remember
- Positive = skin can’t be pinched → supports lymphedema.
- Negative = skin lifts easily → argues against lymphedema.
- Lipedema usually has a negative Stemmer sign unless lymphedema is also present.
- It’s a helpful clue, but not a standalone diagnosis.

12/26/2025

As you think about the upcoming new year and day of setting impossible goals, I'm here to challenge your mindset about the most common sentiment behind our lipedema goal-setting.

For years, this was what I thought. Years of my life hoping. Years of my life dedicated to extreme exercise, extreme food restriction, extreme supplement intake, extreme everything. Years of thinking ahead to the next occasion and setting another goal of what I might weigh if I work hard enough. Yea...

12/26/2025

Need something quick to do during this busy time of year?My friend and colleague DebsVibe has you covered! She is a whole body vibration expert and also runs Vibration for Fat Disorders. If you have a chronic condition like lipedema, lymphedema, EDS, or dercum's, or you're just looking for a speedy way to keep going she's your girl! She also has some great discounts that can pair with end of year sales for fitness and wellness products. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AR671LigA/

12/23/2025

Just a reminder!

12/19/2025

It's the holiday season. There's so much stress and emotional baggage surrounding what to eat at this time of year. How can we have multiple food reactions and still survive without eating ourselves into invalid mode or losing our tempers with those around us who refuse to understand? The question for many of us as we're in this season where food matters to us, to our traditions, to our loved ones, to our friends, and food is EVERYWHERE, is...To Cheat or Not to Cheat? I address this in my latest blog. Link below (because FB is dumb and doesn't like me to post it here!).

12/17/2025

Such a good reminder! https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1A9F9iHWNN/

12/17/2025

Are you thinking about how you can help yourself in the new year? Thinking about how drained you'll feel after the holiday season or looking for a way to make it through? What you think is making you feel run down, tense, tight, achy, stiff, older than you should...it might be your fascia! Link below to learn more.

12/12/2025

I've followed Dr. Simarro's work for a few years now and here's a new study with a larger sample size than we usually find with lipedema research. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ANDK5TVPL/

12/11/2025

Don't let the stress and overwhelm of the season get you down. Learn more and do simple things to settle your nervous system and your fascia so you can be your best for whatever the holiday season brings!

12/09/2025

Ask me. I won't recommend something that I haven't put my own lipedema, lymphedema, hypermobile body through. I also don't have time to waste. My latest blog answers the important question.

The question always comes when someone brings up another "thing" for a chronic condition. We already do so much each day. We already invest more effort into just keeping our pain and other symptoms at a low enough level to get through each day than anyone else we know. We already have tried and disc...