Cellulite is one of those things that almost all women deal with, affecting 85-98% of all women. And yes, this is much more of a woman’s problem than one that effects men. This is simply due to the fact that the female skin tends to be thinner and our connective tissue is different and contains less collogen. This makes those fat deposits look bumpy leaving a dimpling appearance on the skin. This doesn’t mean we can’t beat it though, so don’t lose hope!

What causes cellulite?

Cellulite is the name for collections of fat that push against the connective tissue beneath your skin. In most cases this is something that happens to us not because of us. The culprit is often things that are completely out of our control. The most common causes are due to genetics, hormones, and ageing. We can make simple lifestyle changes that help reduce their appearance, if not eliminate them completely. First, I must encourage you to ignore the myths! Cellulite is not caused by lifestyle choices, and it affects women regardless of their weight. This is an equal opportunity affliction, so give yourself a break.

The toll Cellulite can take on us

Unfortunately having cellulite can lead destructive emotion reactions. This may include not feeling as youthful or beautiful as we once were. Many women find themselves embarrassed to show their bodies relying on cover ups and even refraining from social activities that include wearing shorts and swimsuits. These body dissatisfaction and self-confidence issues are often due to the stigma that cellulite is only found on women that eat poorly and have a lifestyle that is lacking in the areas of physical activity, fitness, and health. Don’t let cellulite ruin your relationship with your body.

Ways you can combat cellulite

As we age or add stress into our lives, our bodies require different things. Sure, when we were kids, we didn’t have to plan exercise or eat as many veggies. Our bodies have changed as we age, now we need to do the things that help our bodies maintain their past performance and appearance.

Eating nutritious whole foods is a good start to reducing cellulite and improve our overall health in the process. By increasing our intake in fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats, we increase our bodies desire to regenerate our cells and remove toxins from our body. Diet alone will not eliminate the appearance of cellulite, but it will reduce the appearance greatly by improving circulation as well as reducing inflammation.

Exercise is also a great way to reduce the appearance of cellulite. Doing exercises like walking, biking, swimming, or any other cardio focused exercise will increase circulation. Strength training and aerobic exercise will help build muscle around the fat deposits smoothing out the skin. You don’t have to commit to long work outs or extensive time at the gym, unless you want to. Simply add in several short bursts of exercise where you can as often as you can and start to see some improvements. You can even turn some of your household chores or daily routines into exercise like taking the stairs, choosing a distant parking space, and I like to do squats while I unload the dishwasher. It’s simple, instead of bending when I get or put dishes on the bottom rack, I squat.

Treatment options

There are several body contouring / body sculpting treatments out there that can help you target the fat loss in ways diet and exercise alone cannot. However, not all treatments are the same.

CoolPlas

This is a Cryolipolysis treatment, more commonly known as its branded name Coolsculpting, is a method of freezing fat, damaging the fat cells and activating your body to flush these cells out as waste. This reduces the fat in the area and is very effective in certain situations like under the chin, back of arms, lower belly ect. However, we don’t recommend this to our clients who are trying to reduce fat and the appearance of cellulite. Not because it wont help, but because there are more effective options available.

EMSlim

EMSlim is a treatment that uses electromagnetic energy to induce muscle contacts at a rate that cannot be experienced with exercise alone. A 30 minute treatment is equivalent to doing 20,000 repetitions during that short period with no discomfort or even breaking a sweat. This intense “workout” damages the fat cells and provokes your body to flush these damaged cells out as waste. This is a highly recommended treatment to reduce pockets of fat while toning muscles and reducing cellulite though the radio frequency treatment that is included. The Radio frequency portion induces additional collagen production and tightens the skin. Since this treatment relies on muscle stimulation, we at Laser Skin Solutions recommend this treatment to areas that are more muscular such as the buttocks, thighs and the abdomen.

Cavi-Lipo

This cavitation treatment uses ultra sonic vibration to damage fat cells. This activates your body’s natural response to flush those damaged fat cells from the body. This treatment also includes radio frequency in the treatment. This induces collagen production in the area and tightens the skin. This is also great option both for fat removal and reducing the appearance of cellulite. We recommend this treatment to be used in areas that do not have the muscle mass that would make EMSlim the best choice. This treatment is great for fat loss on the flanks, bra / back fat, and banana roll. We would recommend this to treat cellulite on the inner thighs as well as the back of the legs bellow the buttocks.

As women, it is important that we erase the negative stigma around what causes cellulite. We don’t have to love our cellulite or even live with it. Treat it if you want to treat it or live with it if you want to live with it. But love yourself either way.

Learn more about our body contouring options

Cellulite: What causes it and how do I get rid of it?