Lipomas, although generally painless and harmless can come in various sizes and at times become problematic. Located under the skins surface, a lipoma is a soft moveable lump composed of fat cells generally thought to be the result of a genetic or hereditary factor.

Lipomas can grow but generally they do not develop beyond one to two centimetres in size. In the instance where lipomas are on the large size or present themselves in an unsightly cluster formation underneath the skin, surgery can be considered to remove them. Reoccurrence is not usual but has been known to happen, particularly if the patient has a family history of lipomas making them higher risk or in the case where not all of the fatty tumour has been removed during surgery.

Following initial removal, if there is a small segment of lipoma remaining it is likely to grow back in size over time and further treatment or surgery may be required in order to fully remove it. Sometimes when the person has several lipomas in and around their body they will experience more developing. Although removal is not always necessary, the appearance of clusters or small bumps in more obvious locations can become somewhat overwhelming and stressful to bear.

In order to prevent lipomas from reoccurring it is usually recommended that dietary habits are revised and certain foods, known to have a high fat content, are either cut down or cut out of one’s daily intake. The liver is the vital organ which breaks down foods and helps the body to absorb certain compounds but when overworked, the levels of fat in the body build up and deposits can be left around the body. These are known as lipomas.