Ice Treatment for Lipoma

| Modified on Sep 20, 2024

1 User Review


Posted by Victor Romero (Macon, Ga, Usa) on 07/10/2013
★★★★★

If you have only one small lipoma, try ice. Has anyone tried applying an ice pack (like you would for a sprain) directly over the lipoma for about an hour, then waiting for a couple of months to see if it slowly goes away or diminishes? Using an ice pack may sound overly simple, but it has worked for one person that I know who had a lipoma on his elbow that was the size of a lemon. But as a word of caution, do not apply ice to a large part of your body because it can lower your body temperature and cause death or other serious medical conditions and injuries. So take whatever precautions you need to take to prevent skin burns caused by ice or other injuries that may result from applying ice.

This ice remedy to remove subcutaneous fat is based loosely on the same mechanism that is believed to cause "popsicle panniculitis" in young todlers. That is a condition where a todler eats a frozen popsickle, then develops red cheeks followed by localized fat destruction and dimpling of the cheek. Baby fat in the face is saturated fat (it will harden easily when cooled) and the ice cools the fat enough in that area to make it as hard as pad of butter. As I understand it, it is believed by some that the fat cells that were cooled undergo programmed cell death (similarly to what is reported to happen when a plastic surgeon/cosmetic surgeon uses a Zeltiq skin cooling machine to remove fat underneath the skin).

Please note: I am making no claims of safety of applying ice to lipomas to reduce their size or appearance. I am also making no claims that the lipomas will stay away forever. I am also making no claims that the fat doesn't simply move to another area of the body. Finally, I have no idea how this process affects your blood lipid level, your blood cholestrol levels, or your liver functions. So if you try ice on your lipoma, you do so at your own risk.