Lipedema Self-Assessment Calculator

Guide: understanding your lipedema assessment

Lipedema (ICD-11 EF02.2) is a chronic disease of adipose tissue that almost exclusively affects women; it has been estimated to affect up to 11% of them, although reliable prevalence data are still lacking. It is characterized by symmetric, disproportionate fat deposition in the limbs with sparing of hands and feet. This calculator combines guideline criteria and screening questions to estimate how likely it is that your symptoms are compatible with lipedema.

Methodology

The symptom block adapts the 9-question lipedema screening questionnaire developed and validated by Amato et al. (2020), condensed into 7 items, and combines it with the diagnostic criteria of the S2k 2024 guideline and the clinical criteria of Dr. Ibáñez. The weights are our own, so the 0-100 score is indicative and has not been validated as a diagnostic test. A score of 60 or more is classed as high, 30-59 as moderate and under 30 as low; if none of the three core criteria is met, the score is capped at 29.

Scoring Criteria

• Core criteria (32%): Bilateral symmetry, hands/feet spared, pain on palpation.
• Screening questionnaire (30%): 7 items adapted from the Amato et al. (2020) questionnaire: feeling something is wrong with your legs, lower-body disproportion, difficulty losing weight from the legs, weight gain at puberty, pregnancy or menopause, leg pain, swelling and easy bruising.
• Clinical signs (12%): Leg heaviness, persistent swelling, edema that does not pit on pressure, negative Stemmer sign, nodular texture.
• Associated conditions (26%): Family history, PCOS, endometriosis, hypothyroidism, joint hypermobility, SIBO or intestinal hyperpermeability, heightened sense of smell, trochanteritis.

Lipedema staging

The S2k 2024 guideline classifies lipedema into three stages based on tissue texture: Stage I — normal skin surface with small nodules in the subcutaneous tissue. Stage II — irregular surface with larger nodules, visible indentations. Stage III — large masses of fatty tissue causing deformity. In all stages, lipedema is distinguished from lymphedema by the sparing of hands and feet (negative Stemmer sign), bilateral symmetry, and the presence of spontaneous or pressure pain.