Man has 23 bizarre shaped lipomas removed on The Bad Skin Clinic

Man who suffered years of anxiety over 23 ‘gooey’ blackberry and shamrock-shaped lipomas all over his body finally has them removed on The Bad Skin Clinic

  • Dave, from the UK, has 23 ‘blackberry’ shaped lipomas all over his body
  • Says lumps are constant source of anxiety and that he ‘worries about the future’
  • Finally has them removed in tonight’s episode of Quest Red’s The Bad Skin Clinic

A man has over 23 bizarre ‘blackberry’ and ‘shamrocked’ shaped lipomas removed from his skin on The Bad Skin Clinic. 

While we all worry about developing the odd lumps and bumps, that concern is a constant, daily burden for father-of-one Dave, from the UK, who is covered in multiple lipomas, clustered all over his body. 

In tonight’s episode of the Quest Red show, he admits his lipomas are a constant source of anxiety. 

‘I worry about the future a lot with this condition, but we’re at a point now where there’s 23 of them,’ he says. ‘Every day I wake up and think “what if this one is sinister?”

In tonight’s episode of Quest Red show The Bad Skin Clinic, Dave (pictured), from the UK, has 23 ‘blackberry’ shaped lipomas removed from all over his body

The lumps are located all over Dave’s body (pictured), and particularly prominent on his torso, forearms and back, the lumps range in size, bulging underneath his skin

Dr Emma reassures Dave that, unfortunately for him, the lipomas are due to the way his body makes certain collections of fat (pictured)

Located all over his body, and particularly prominent on his torso, forearms and back, the lumps range in size, bulging underneath his skin. 

‘They range in size from maybe pea-sized to grape,’ Dave says, admitting that the lumps constantly raise questions about his overall health. 

‘I want to live as long as I can, but there’s that fear that I’m not going to because of something like this,’ he adds. ‘I was told by the GP that it’s a benign fatty tumour, there’s no need to worry about them.’ 

While remaining extra vigilant, Dave can’t shift the thought that the lumps might turn into something more menacing if left untreated. 

‘With certain lumps, you’re always told to make sure you keep an eye on it every few weeks, but I feel like it’s a daily task for me because there’s so many,’ he reveals. ‘You know, have they grown, have they changed consistency, have I got any new ones?’ 

Dave’s loving wife Sarah even admits that she’s seen a change in her husband’s behaviour as a result of the lipomas getting bigger. 

Dave admits he can’t shift the thought that the lumps (pictured) might turn into something more menacing if left untreated

After a bit of squeezing, one of Dave’s lipomas rears its gooey, orange head as it pops out of his skin (pictured)

‘Dave’s certainly changed in the last few years. Since his lipomas have become worse, he’s definitely gone a bit more within his shell,’ she says. 

‘It’s only recently that he’s started to talk to me about how they make him feel. I never realised at all what impact it had on him psychologically.’

WHAT IS A LIPOMA?

Lipomas are non-cancerous lumps caused by an overgrowth of fat cells.

They can form anywhere on the body, but are most common on the neck, shoulders, abdomen and back.

They are usually just under the skin, shaped like a dome and soft to touch.

They occur in about one in every 1,000 people in the US. and about one in 100 people in the UK.

Doctors are unsure of what causes lipomas, but believe it may be due to an inherited faulty gene or physical trauma

Most do not cause any pain unless they are deep in the body and press on nerves or organs.

If a lipoma affects the bowels, it may cause constipation and nausea.

Most lipomas do not need removing, but surgery may be necessary if the growth is large, causing symptoms or unsightly.

Source: Cleveland Clinic

Eager to look after his wellbeing – both physically and mentally – Dave books in an appointment with Dr Emma Craythorne’s at her Harley Street clinic to see if she can give him the reassurances he’s been craving.

‘I feel exciting about meeting Dr Emma; I feel my ultimate goal is to get to a point where I feel it’s under control,’ he says. ‘I hope it’s going to give me the clarity I need, the reassurance that I need, and send me on the right path.’ 

During his consultation with the expert, Dave describes the impact his lipomas have had on his life. 

‘When I was younger and I started having them, I brushed it off quite easily,’ he starts. ‘When my son came along, it’s more the health and the anxiety of “well, what if this is sinister?”‘

It’s kind of almost the point now where every day that I’m with my son I have this horrible, overwhelming feeling; because there’s 23 of them, it’s only the one I’m going to miss that’s going to be the issue.’ 

After reassuring Dave that, unfortunately for him, this is just the way his body makes certain collections of fat, Dr Emma inspects the lipomas for herself. 

‘I just want to have a look to see where these are and have a good squidge of them as well,’ Dr Emma says, running her thumb over Dave’s lipomas. 

Counting them off, it becomes clear to the expert just how many lipomas Dave is covered in, almost like she’s playing dot to dot! 

Happily for Dave, there is something Dr Emma can do to at least alleviate the physical and mental burden that the lumps cause him. 

‘So, I think removing these cosmetically unsatisfactory ones is a good step,’ she says.  

Dr Emma gets scrubbed up and prepares to remove Dave’s 23 lipomas. Pictured, during the removal process

Dr Emma begins the procedure by injecting Dave with local anaesthetic, before punching a small incision hole into the first lipoma (pictured)

With Dave placed on her operating table, Dr Emma begins the procedure by injecting him with local anaesthetic, before punching a small incision hole into the first lipoma. 

‘I thought that was just going to pop right out of that little hole,’ Dr Emma says, trying to tease the lipoma out of the tiny incision wound. After a bit of squeezing, the lipoma rears its gooey, orange head as it pops out of Dave’s skin. 

‘Did you feel that, did you feel the delivery?’ Dr Emma jokes, easing Dave’s nerves. ‘I was breathing heavily throughout,’ he quips back. ‘Yep, that’s pretty gross,’ Dave adds, as Dr Emma shows him the first of his excised lipomas. 

Moving onto the next lipoma, Dr Emma keeps the birthing narrative going, as she squeezes out another lipoma. 

‘The heads through, the shoulders are through, will this big thing come out through four millimetres?’ Dr Emma says. 

Dave’s lipoma pops out revealing a fitting surprise for Northern Irish born Dr Emma. Pictured, the shape of a shamrock

But to both her and Dave’s surprise, the lipoma pops out revealing a fitting surprise for Northern Irish born Dr Emma. 

‘It’s a shamrock!’ Dr Emma says gleefully, commenting on the lump’s unusual shape. ‘I like the reaction from over there,’ Dave giggles. ‘I’m so relieved that that’s out of my arm, it’s been there for so long.’ 

Moving onto the next bump, Dr Emma squeezes out a long, bumpy lipoma that looks like a blackberry.

‘I hope you guys have had your lunch!’ Dave says. ‘It looks like a red gummy bear,’ Dr Emma’s assistant Mottie chuckles. 

Jokes aside, for Dr Emma, it’s important that Dave’s leaves the clinic feeling reassured, knowing that his lipomas aren’t life threatening. 

‘There’s nothing that we can do about the genetics of how we make our skin, we are born with that,’ she explains as she stitches Dave up. ‘I think he now probably understands that it’s okay to have them, and nobody else can see them.’ 

Leaving the clinic after his procedure, Dave feels more relaxed about his situation. 

‘I’m very glad I came to see Dr Emma, I’m extremely grateful,’ he says. ‘She was able to talk to me about what they really are, the fact that they’re not dangerous, and the ones I’ve got are relatively small as well.’

The Bad Skin Clinic airs tonight at 10pm on Quest Red, available to stream on discovery+

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