Though cellulite can affect people of all genders, it tends to be more common in women. In fact, 80-90% of women will have cellulite at some point in their lives.
The good news is that there are plenty of non-invasive treatment options and a few products to help smooth things over.
Some of the best treatments for cellulite include:
- TightSculpting
- Fat reduction with ultrasound
- LipoBlast (Scizer)
Before we get into how these treatments work, it helps to understand what cellulite is and how it forms.
What is Cellulite, Really?
Your tissues are layered with skin, fat, then muscle. As adipocytes (fat cells) accumulate more fat, the fat pushes against the skin and creates a dimply appearance.
Cellulite often becomes more apparent as we get older because our skin loses firmness and elasticity as the collagen naturally wanes with age.
Both men and women can have cellulite, but it’s much more common in women. Cellulite appears on 80% – 90% of women at some point in their life. It can start as early as adolescence, but it’s most common in women over the age of 25.
Which treatments work best for cellulite?
There are plenty of non-invasive fat reduction treatments, but for cellulite specifically, it’s important to use something that will both reduce fat and strengthen the skin.
TightSculpting
TightSculpting is a 2-step procedure that uses an ND-Yag laser to essentially target individual fat cells and kill them with heat.
Then, a non-ablative ER-Yag laser is used to contract collagen fibres and stimulate collagen production in your skin’s fibroblast cells.
Over the course of a few weeks, your body’s immune system naturally removes the dead fat cells while your collagen fibres rebuild and reproduce, smoothing out the cellulite.
Fat Reduction With Ultrasound
Fat reduction with ultrasound is similar to TightSculpting in that is uses targeted energy to destroy fat cells and stimulate and strengthen skin to smooth out the appearance of cellulite.
There are two main differences. TightSculpt uses laser energy, but Fat Reduction with Ultrasound uses, well, Ultrasound. It’s also a single step procedure, which could mean shorter treatment time.
For smaller regions of cellulite, we may perform this treatment with Ultraformer, which can be targeted at multiple depths in the fat and skin.
LipoBlast (Scizer)
LipoBlast, also known as “Scizer” is another treatment option that uses ultrasound energy to destroy fat cells and tighten the skin.
What makes LipoBlast unique is that it has a larger applicator for a faster treatment. It might be more suited to cellulite that covers a larger area.
Can CoolSculpting Work for Cellulite?
Fat freezing technologies like CoolScultping are great for removing small pockets or rolls of fat, but they don’t tend to produce the same skin tightening effects as TightSculpt, Ultrasound or LipoBlast.
You can use fat freezing to reduce fat on your hips and thighs, but it won’t smooth out or tighten loose dimply skin.
Do Cellulite creams work?
Some topical creams can help reduce the appearance of cellulite over the course of a few months, but the results won’t be as powerful as with laser and ultrasound treatments.
Look for creams with Vitamin A, Vitamin C or Collagen Peptides as these ingredients can help stimulate collagen and strengthen your skin somewhat, so that the lumpy fat won’t show through as much.
There are some caffeine creams that claim to reduce fat, but there isn’t much evidence behind this claim yet.
Effective cellulite creams can be combined with professional treatments to boost your results and help keep them maintained. We recommend consulting a body contouring expert to ensure you get the right products and treatments for you.
Closing fun fact: cellulite is also correlated with poor circulation, so maintain your results with a regular, healthy walk, preferably on the beach where you can show off those smooth results.
