Cosmetic Surgery Blog

One of the worst enemies of summer: Cellulite. Nothing sounds more ominous when you’re in a bikini or a pair of booty shorts at the pool, beach, or lake. It’s the female version of the shrinkage factor, and we hate it!!! So, is it there to stay or can we rid ourselves of the cellulite curse?

If you feel you have unsightly cellulite, I am sure you have thought about trying those cellulite treatment creams. Heck, I have even bought a few of them myself. Well, don’t waste your time or your money. They don’t work for long at all after you remove it, and they definitely don’t work long-term.

Firstly, what is cellulite caused from? Cellulite is not some toxic cesspool of whatever people are trying to sell you these days to buy their product. Your “cellulite toxins” are not going to ooze out of your pores with the use of a magical, topical cellulite eraser cream leaving you bump-and-dent-free. Cellulite is primarily caused by the hardening (sclerosis) of your connective tissue (called fibrous septa, or septae for plural) and no cream is going to penetrate that deeply. Think of a mattress with buttons that are anchored deep within the mattress. You get these little craters from the anchoring. Now, imagine cutting one of these anchors, so the fabric is not being pulled lower than the rest of the surrounding fabric; it results in a smoother appearance. That’s pretty much cellulite, with some excess mattress stuffing (which would be fat cells) thrown in to boot.

Cellulite can be an issue in people who are 110 lb or 220 lb. It doesn’t matter, as cellulite does not discriminate. Unfortunately, when you are heavier (and trust me I know this all too well) it can look a lot worse because of the mass bulging out from sclerotic fibrous septae. Imagine your mattress again, being stuffed with cotton here and there. If you have more muscle mass than engorged fat cells, you will have smoother skin. It’s just a physical inevitability. You can have some denting because of sclerotic fibrous septae, but for the most part with less bulk for them to slink through, you will have less problems.

So what can you do? Well, I know you are going to hate this but from personal experience (and I am the yo-yo dieter from hell), EXERCISE and a SENSIBLE CALORIC INTAKE worked for me. I have been thin and cellulite free (at 118 lb), then became immobile and gained weight (up to 140 b), the fibrous septae began to harden, I developed cellulite on the saddle bag area a little bit. I then went on a diet and got back down to 130 lb. Then I had liposuction, and it looked fine until the swelling went away and I developed internal scar tissue (at about 125 lb), which looked like cellulite. I gained weight again (127 lb), it looked worse with the scar tissue and remaining fat cells taking in my excess calories next to an area with barely any fat cells left. It was a mess. Then, recently I lost so much weight via natural weight loss (I am down to 111.6 lb. at the time of this writing) that I haven’t been this light since the age of probably 12. Yes, it looks better, yes I have been more active, yes I am slightly underweight, yes I have been restricting calories—but it looks better! That is one way of getting rid of it for the most part.

Okay, say you don’t have the time, the desire or the energy to drop 15 lb. Or more and want to look good now. The creams and wraps don’t really work but here is a rundown anyway. Most topical cellulite creams contain aminophylline (an asthma drug) or caffeine (also a bronchodilator), and some even alpha-hydroxy acids or Retinoids (such as Retinol or other vitamin A derivatives), which can cause some slight thickening of the epidermis. All of which temporarily, if at all, makes a nominal difference cellulite reduction. These products are not true drugs/medications and cannot penetrate all the way to your fat and connective tissue layer whatsoever.

Body wraps. Again, don’t bother. I did this one and my legs looked thinner and smoother for all of about an hour. The heat and the pressure cause the legs to looks smaller and your legs to sweat. And as soon as you drink water and your skin is no longer constricted, you puff back out.

You may have heard of Endermologie. Yes, Endermologie can work, but not long-term. You have to keep up the treatments to maintain any smoothness you may have. The treatment causes temporary trauma to the tissue by kneading, rolling and sucking your skin. This causes slight swelling and this alone can smooth the appearance. It can help with circulation and the movement of fluids in the tissues, as well. The massage can also temporarily stretch the fibrous septae also decreasing the appearance of cellulite. But, unless you can afford the time and money to commit to a few treatments a week in the interim and then once a week for maintenance, it’s not going to be worth your time.

Surgical methods to remove cellulite are few but they have been known to help significantly. Some surgeons remove the bands of connective tissue that are problematic, and also use liposuction to remove the pockets of apparent asymmetric fat, as well as place fat where there are dents to lessen the bumpiness. All three of these an effectively help in cellulite removal, however, but you may need two procedures. The procedure can cause severe bruising that may last for many weeks, and if to many fibrous septae are removed you can have a detached look to your skin. I have had this happen with accidental septae removal. You can pull out the skin farther than the surrounding areas still anchored to the muscle. It is a viable option, however.

SmartLipo® is a laserlipolysis procedure (a fat removal process which uses a laser to burst fat cells) that can help remove bulk but not really treat cellulite. It can assist in removing the cells that are causing bumps but it cannot address the septae that are pulling down on the skin.

Chemically-assisted lipolysis treatments which use enzymes such as collagenase or (Lipodissolve, LipoStabil ) which uses phosphphatylcholine (PPC) cause the fat cells to release their contents. Also commonly included in the injections are a vitamin B complex (which helps the liver in fat breakdown) and the drug, Pentoxifylline, such as Trental™ (which improves circulation, and faster fat cell breakdown). Again, these procedures are normally for loss of mass, and not specifically for cellulite. Cellulite is the problematic product of several factors—not just excess fat.

Unfortunately, there is no true cure yet. There are procedures that can lessen the appearance but truly ridding yourself of the problem takes exercise, a sensible diet, drinking adequate water, but more than likely in moderate to severe cases, surgery. Continue your research and even speak to other patients about what they tried to rid them of their cellulite. Hopefully this helps you on your way to becoming more comfortable in a bikini!

Helpful Links:

How To Remove Cellulite