Who We Are (and Are Not)

This page explains how AwakeLiposuction.us works. AwakeLiposuction.us is an independent editorial publication focused on lipedema — a chronic fat-tissue disorder — and on awake/tumescent liposuction, the anesthesia technique most often discussed alongside lipedema surgery. Learn more about our mission on our about us page. We publish reader-facing guides on how lipedema is recognized, how it's differentiated from similar-looking conditions, conservative and surgical treatment options, and how awake/tumescent anesthesia works.

To be explicit about what we are not:

  • We are not a clinic, and we do not diagnose lipedema or perform surgery.
  • We do not rank, rate, or recommend specific clinics or surgeons — see our transparency page for how we keep it that way.
  • We are not owned by or affiliated with any clinic, hospital, or medical-tourism operator.
  • We are not medical advice — see the disclaimer on our about page.

Clinical Review: Where Things Stand

Until a named reviewer has signed and is listed on our editorial review policy page, no page on this site carries a "medically reviewed" label. Every clinical statement is sourced to the primary literature listed on the page.

Lipedema and awake liposuction span three distinct areas of clinical expertise: condition and diagnosis, conservative care, and surgery and anesthesia. Those are the areas where we would look for independent clinical reviewers, and the credentials and conflict-of-interest standards we would require are set out on the policy page. We do not display an unnamed "reviewed" badge, and our structured data does not name a reviewer.

Written By vs. Clinically Reviewed

These are two different roles, and we keep them separate:

  • Written by — our editorial team drafts and structures the content from primary sources. This is the only role currently filled on this site.
  • Clinically reviewed by — a named clinician in the relevant area who has read the page. No page currently has one. If that changes, the reviewer and the exact pages they read will be listed on the policy page.

Our editorial team does not claim clinical review authority it does not have. Structured data credits the editorial team as an organization and does not name a reviewer.

How Articles Are Written

  1. Topic scoping. We choose topics based on real reader questions — particularly the diagnostic-differentiation questions ("is this lipedema or cellulite?", "lipedema or just fat legs?") that are the most common reason people land on this site.
  2. Primary-source research. Our editorial team gathers evidence directly from peer-reviewed publications on PubMed/NCBI, standard-of-care consensus documents, and government health resources. We do not summarize from other patient-facing websites.
  3. Drafting. Each substantive claim is anchored to a specific source at the point the claim is made.
  4. Structured editorial pass. Headings, comparison tables, and FAQ are standardized against a published template so every page has a consistent, scannable shape.
  5. Final QA. Sources are verified live and structured data is validated before the page goes out.

Source Policy & Hierarchy

We use a strict source hierarchy. Peer-reviewed research and standard-of-care consensus guidelines come first for any clinical claim — these are the only sources we consider adequate to support a statement about diagnosis, treatment, or safety.1, 2

Sources we cite

  • Peer-reviewed studies indexed on PubMed / NCBI (including PMC and NCBI Bookshelf / StatPearls) — our primary source layer for clinical claims.
  • Standard-of-care consensus documents, such as published Delphi-method consensus guidance on lipedema management.
  • MedlinePlus and NIH resources, including NCBI Bookshelf clinical references.
  • American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) — for procedure-volume context, used sparingly since this is a condition-focused site rather than a procedure-marketing one.
  • US government (.gov) and academic (.edu) resources, and the Cochrane Library.

Patient advocacy organizations — such as lipedema-focused nonprofits — are, per our own policy, only ever eligible to appear in a patient-support context (for example, pointing a reader toward peer-support resources), never as the source for a medical claim. In practice, no such organization currently appears anywhere on this site; we have not needed to cite one to support any claim we've published to date.

Sources we do not cite

  • Consumer health portals: Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, WebMD, Healthline, Verywell, RealSelf. These are secondary sources — downstream summaries of the same primary evidence we cite directly ourselves.
  • Individual clinic or surgeon websites — inherently marketing, never primary sources.
  • User-generated content platforms and social media, with the narrow exception of official statements from named authoritative bodies.
  • Wikipedia and AI-generated "content mill" sites.

Each of our articles cites a maximum of six sources, and every source that appears in a source list is cited at least once inline in the article body.

Updates & "Last Updated"

  • "Last updated" is an editing date. It shows when our editorial team last made a substantive change to the page. It is not a clinical review date.
  • Substantive updates such as adding a section, changing a risk statement, or revising a source change the date.
  • Minor updates (broken-link fixes, typo corrections) don't change the date.
  • New evidence that changes a patient-relevant conclusion prompts a revision.

Corrections Policy

  • Substantive errors are corrected as soon as the correction itself is confirmed accurate, and the "Last updated" date changes.
  • Significant corrections — the kind that would materially change a reader's understanding — are noted, dated, at the end of the affected page.
  • Typos and minor stylistic fixes are made without a note.
  • If you think something is wrong, email us at the address below with the specific claim, your concern, and any source supporting the correction.

What We Don't Do

Because lipedema patients have a well-documented history of being dismissed, mismanaged, or sold false hope, we hold ourselves to an explicit list of things we will not do:

  • We do not diagnose. Symptom and self-check content is always framed as "signs worth raising with a clinician," never as a diagnosis.
  • We do not promise a cure. Lipedema currently has no cure; treatment manages symptoms and slows progression, and we say so plainly.
  • We do not rank or recommend clinics or surgeons.
  • We do not speculate about any named individual's health. We never claim or discuss whether a real, named person has lipedema.
  • We do not publish calorie targets, meal plans, or numeric weight-loss goals.
  • We do not use fabricated patient photos or body-shaming language ("deformity," "flaw," "correction"). Illustrations are schematic, not real patient images.

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions — what we cover and how we cover it — are made by our editorial team. No advertiser, sponsor, or clinic has editorial input, and no clinic or surgeon can pay for coverage, favorable framing, or omission of information. Full detail on how the site is (and currently is not) funded is on our How We Make Money page.

Contact & Responsible Editor

Editorial & corrections: if you believe a page contains an inaccuracy, or you have a source that would improve one, email info@awakeliposuction.us with the specific concern and, where possible, a supporting source.

Reviewer inquiries: qualified phlebologists, vascular specialists, lipedema-experienced plastic surgeons, Certified Lymphedema Therapists, and anesthesia-experienced physicians interested in reviewing pages can reach us at the same address, or through our contact form.