Introduction
A lipoma is a fatty tissue proliferation that grows like a tumor under the skin and is considered a benign tumor. Starting from fat cells (adipocytes), the fat continues to grow uncontrolled and thus forms a lipoma. In addition to the head and neck area, a lipoma most frequently occurs on the shoulder.
Cause
The exact mechanisms of formation of lipomas are still relatively unexplained and poorly understood. The fact that lipoma often occurs on the shoulder is still a mystery. Many scientists assume a genetic cause, as lipomas often occur within a family.
In addition, associations with other diseases have been discovered in the development of a lipoma, especially metabolic diseases and alcoholism. A widely accepted theory assumes that the lipoma originates from pluripotent stem cells that are still growing incorrectly and are no longer under the control of the body. A lipoma on the shoulder is often also the expression of a rare disease, lipomatosis, in which several lipomas occur side by side.
Symptoms
As a rule, a lipoma on the shoulder causes few symptoms. When the shoulder is palpated, the lipoma is noticed as a lump under the skin, which can vary greatly in size. Usually they are pea-sized, in some cases a lipoma on the shoulder can grow to the size of a fist.
If this is the case, the lipoma may restrict mobility in the shoulder, cause pain or make itself felt by making certain items of clothing no longer fit. The nodes are movable under the skin and are elastic. A lipoma usually grows very slowly, so it can take some time before you notice a lump on the shoulder.
In most cases, a lipoma on the shoulder is painless. In some cases, however, pain may develop, especially when pressure is applied from outside. However, the pain disappears again and can only be triggered by touching the lipoma with your finger with pressure.
The special feature of the shoulder is that the lipoma can be stretched considerably during certain movements, depending on its size and location, so that pain is also perceived here. For example, pain can occur when the arm is raised strongly or during sports such as tennis. As a rule, lipomas of the shoulder are not painful.
They can be felt as painless, soft nodules under the skin and occur both sporadically and in groups. Occasionally, a lipoma of the shoulder can also cause pain, but the extent of this pain is subjectively assessed very differently. In rare cases, many painful lipomas can occur in different parts of the body.
This syndrome is also called lipomatosis dolorosa. The lipomas are also found primarily on the shoulders, arms and legs, but also on other parts of the body. The cause of the disease, which predominantly affects overweight women in the menopause, is not known.
