You may have heard about lipomas. A lipoma is a harmless tumor that grows under your skin. Can lipomas cause pain? In general, lipomas are painless, but there are a few types that may not be. One of the lipoma types that may sometimes cause pain for some is angiolipoma. You need to know what is an angiolipoma and its sub-types.
Growing under the skin, an angiolipoma is a kind of lipoma that is made of blood vessels and fat. It is one of the rare types of lipoma. A 2016 report published that only about 5 to 17% of lipoma types are angiolipomas.
Do lipomas hurt? Lipomas are benign, and so is angiolipoma. This type is also known as vascular lipoma or lipoma cavernosum.
Angiolipoma can occur anywhere on your body. You can mostly find them on your arms, legs, trunk, and neck. For some reason, they are most detected on forearms.
Angiolipomas are small, ranging between 1 and 4 centimeters in diameter. Most cases show that they normally grow less than 2 centimeters. It’s possible to just have one angiolipoma on your body. But what’s very common is having multiple angiolipomas at once.
Types of Angiolipomas
There are two types of angiolipomas. Non-infiltrating angiolipoma and infiltrating angiolipoma. Let's look into some differences below.
- Non-infiltrating Angiolipoma
The most common type is the non-infiltrating angiolipoma that grows near the skin surface. Can lipomas cause pain? Sometimes, especially if it’s a non-infiltrating angiolipoma.
- Infiltrating Angiolipoma
As their name suggests, infiltrating angiolipomas penetrate deep into the soft tissue. Since they run deep, you can almost feel no pain. They often appear on the neck, shoulders, and lower extremities and can be difficult to remove.
Classification of Angiolipomas
Angiolipomas can be further classified into two, based on their location on the body.
- Gastric Angiolipoma
Gastric angiolipoma can be found on your abdomen because they grow in the stomach. Having this angiolipoma can make you suffer from anemia and gastrointestinal bleeding.
- Spinal Angiolipoma
Spinal angiolipomas occur on the back. You can find them in the spine’s thoracic epidural space. This space is located outside the lining of the spinal cord that runs vertically across the back. Having this type of angiolipoma will result in balance issues or tingling sensations.
The exact causes of angiolipoma are unknown. Since genetics plays a role, they can be passed along to family members. Cases are often observed in adults who are about 20 to 30 years old. Angiolipoma is commonly observed in men and rarely in children or older adults.
Medical conditions like familial multiple angiolipomatosis are inherited. This can influence the development of angiolipoma.
Some medications, such as indinavir sulfate and corticosteroids, are linked to the growth of angiolipoma. You can avoid using such medications by using natural medications like the immortality herb.
Diagnosis and Treatment
A doctor performs a physical exam to diagnose angiolipoma. The lump feels soft but can be harder than the usual types of lipomas. Methods to confirm the diagnosis are biopsy, MRI, and CT scans.
Do lipomas hurt? Well, some lipomas hurt. Treatment is unnecessary unless your painful lipoma is causing you discomfort. Unlike honey eczema treatment, undergoing surgery is the only means to remove angiolipoma. Surgery can be complicated when removing multiple growths of a painful lipoma. Still, surgery complications are very rare.
There are times that you may feel insecure about how you look. You may think you need to lose weight, and seeing a bunch of angiolipomas on your body makes things worse. Still, any type of lipoma is common, so you just need to consult a medical professional who knows what is an angiolipoma. See your doctor and ease your doubts.