Josie Gibson discusses ‘last resort’ surgery to treat lipoedema

TV presenter Josie Gibson has spoken of having surgery to treat lipoedema, a condition which causes an abnormal build-up of fat in the legs and sometimes arms.

Gibson told ITV’s This Morning she paid around £7,000 for liposuction on her calves.

Lipoedema mainly affects women and can make the bottom, thighs, lower legs and sometimes the arms look out of proportion with the rest of the body.

It can cause pain, tenderness or heaviness in the affected limbs.

Gibson’s doctor, Dennis Wolf, also appeared on Thursday’s programme and he explained the treatment is not available on the NHS as there is not a test to formally diagnose it.

Gibson said: “The last thing I want to do is put myself through surgery, but it was my last resort.

“They do this lipo treatment, and then they Vaser it after. So they burn your skin on the inside, your skin tightens together again.

“I’ve only done my calves and it is split up into sections. You can’t do it all at once.”

Gibson said she is very happy with the results and the change in her appearance, adding: “All my life I have wanted to have ankles. I’ve finally got them.”

She admitted the anaesthetic used in the procedure made her flirt with her surgeons and howl at them.

Gibson, who regularly appears as a presenter on This Morning, said: “I was on the anaesthetic and they turn you around to do, obviously, the backs of your legs, and I was going to Dr Wolf, ‘you two are a catch’. I’m so sorry.”

Lipoedema specialist Dr Wolf said it is thought some people have a genetic predisposition to the condition.

He said: “We’re limited by doing this in the private sector because there isn’t a diagnostic test. There’s a lack of research and funding in this condition.

“At the moment we rely heavily on symptomatology, patient experience, patient presentation, because if everyone with slightly larger legs would queue up in the NHS to try and have liposuction, the NHS would collapse.

“As Josie has described, it’s often painful, and the other characteristic is that it’s very resistant to weight loss.

“So you’ll find that women are exercising, they’re running, they’re trying to diet, but their shape just never changes.”