RESOLVED:
Wondering if any docs on the site have experience treating lipohypotrophy in T1 diabetic patients. I have bumps of fatty and scar tissue from decades of insulin use despite rotation of sites for injection. This is goes back to the days of beef and pork insulin. I’m 53. I’ve seen clinical studies that show good results from liposuction. The sites are unusable for my pump.
To be clear the bumps are from long ago, the newer insulin’s doesn’t have this sort of issue.
Hello. If you currently present long term bumps or lumps of fat, it is lipohyperplasia and not hypotrophy (which would be dimples or lack of fat in certain areas). Selective and precise Liposuction can be very effective on these bumps, using short canulas. Cost would depend on how many lumps, size and their location. Liposuction is a treatment indicated for your condition.
Areas of proliferation of fat can be successfully treated with selective liposuction. Depressed and scar areas can be treated with fat cell transfer with variable results
Dear Paul,
More correctly, the condition is known as lipohypertrophy. It was indeed more common before the necessity for rotation of injection sites was recognized. An alternative to multiple postprandial injection is an inhalable form of insulin known as Afrezza, produced by a company called Mannkind. This inhalation insulin avoids the prandial need for injections.
To treat the lipohypertrophy liposuction is very effective. Good luck!