A note on chronic illnesses (like lymphedema and lipedema) and bodies
As healthcare providers, we have a special position of authority in our patients' and clients' lives.
What we say and do has the power to affect both their physical and mental health.
Those of us who treat lymphedema and lipedema have an additional responsibility: balancing our knowledge of and opinions about bodies with what's best for our patients.
Lymphedema and lipedema treatment can change someone's body size, sometimes drastically. It's perfectly reasonable for our clients to not only want to feel better, but to gain a smaller body that also gives them more mobility, cultural power and acceptability.
However, a smaller body isn't necessarily a "better" or healthier body.
In fact, we now know that body size doesn't always correlate with health status. That means that it's important for us to meet patients where they're at, but also to not place undue emphasis on weight loss for its own sake.
It's a challenge to talk about a medical condition that does make the body larger than it might be otherwise -- and for which treatment does often involve making parts of the body smaller -- but we should always do that in a way that refrains from stigmatizing any body size or shape.
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