Do Medications or Creams Get Rid of Cellulite?
What is Cellulite?
Cellulite is unsightly dimpled fatty lumps of skin that occurs in both men and women due to uneven distribution of fat and muscle in certain areas of the body.
Sometimes called cottage cheese or orange peel cellulite doesn’t only affect obese people it is also found in other body types including young thin girls as well. Unfortunately, our cultures attitude towards cellulite will not change anytime soon and there is no perfect cure for cellulite but there are ways to reduce it greatly and feel more confident about our appearance.
Cellulite commonly appears on hips, thighs, stomach and buttocks. It typically affects women more than men as women do usually have more body fat.
There are four grades of cellulite:
Grade 1 – No visible cellulite but beginning changes are occurring on your skin.
Grade 2 – the skin tends to be pale and begins losing some elasticity after contraction of muscles.
Grade 3 – this is the moderate stage and the skin appears dimpled and draped with lack of smoothness.
Grade 4 – this is the severe stage, The skin is extremely dimpled ,loose, and globby.
What Causes Cellulite?
When fat cells increase, they shove up against the skin. This creates an uneven cratering or dimpling, typically referred to as cellulite.
Cellulite may be caused by:
- an unhealthy lifestyle
- genetics
- hormones
- weight gain
- bad diet
- pregnancy
- inactivity
- toxins
Does cellulite serve a purpose?
Cellulite does not serve a purpose. Cellulite is a natural evolution to our sedentary culture in the western world.
After looking at pics of women in the 60’s and 70’s before retouching its evident that women use to have less cellulite, and ironically in this day and age when retouching and filters are the norm we still find photos of Icons like Kim Kardashian and others with cellulite.
Why do women get cellulite more than men?
Scientifically, women get when stimulated alpha receptors will result in cells producing fat. Conversely when beta receptors are stimulated, they break down fat. In women the issue is there are many more beta receptors than alpha.
Women have higher levels of the hormone estrogen which makes fat as opposed to testosterone. A woman’s body is genetically designed to store fat more easily due to the higher estrogen production. Unlike women, men have a one-to-one alpha- and beta-receptor ratio which causes them to naturally store less fat on average.
These days we have a fat epidemic with more overweight people —more and more younger women are getting cellulite. Many women are estrogen dominant, which means they are making too much estrogen.
Does diet play a big role in the amount of cellulite people get?
Diet plays a huge role in cellulite control and is your best bet in controlling cellulite. A good example of this is women in Asian countries tend to have less cellulite because their diets tend to consist of smaller portions and less processed foods although this is changing slowly due to influence of the western Americanized diet.
It’s really about biochemistry. It is not just about cutting out sugar or carbs or fat, It’s more than that. It’s about hormone balance—you need to eat healthy foods and remain active to strike at the underbelly of cellulite.
Do creams—thigh creams, caffeine creams—really work?
Most all creams will do a good job at addressing fat and those that contain L-Carnitine transmits fats into the cells to be used as energy. Caffeine creams will also help by blocking the making of fats by the alpha receptors. Some creams have aminophylline which work by blocking the alpha receptors. In most creams, you find some way of targeting only the fat cells. Creams tend to work better if your cellulite is not extreme and you are under the age of 40 when your skin is more elastic.
A very effective creams cream is FIRM by NEORA which contains Aloe, Cocoa, and Plumeria extract which is why it is a bit pricey (Almost $100) but has been proven to work EXTREMELY well in revitalizing skin and reducing cellulite with regular use.
Another newer cream on the market which has been gaining a lot of new fans is Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream. Do not let the playful name fool you, this cream has been noted to be particularly effective for the lower body specifically the legs and buttocks region. The secret to its success is one of it’s main ingredients Guarana Seed extract. To find out more about Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Cream go here.
What other treatments are there for cellulite?
Machines are used to treat cellulite including vacuum rolling and radio waves that break up fat. When you’re using machine treatments you’re increasing circulation, and the heat helps break down the fat, which makes the skin smoother.
The issue with these treatments is that you must pay for costly visits monthly once a month for at least 2-3 years before you see results and sometimes you have to keep going to keep the cellulite from returning.
Laser and radiofrequency treatments
These medical therapies massage the skin tissues with radiofrequency waves, infrared light, and diode lasers to treat cellulite.
Laser treatment break up the connective tissue under the skin that make cellulite noticeable. It also helps thicken the skin to help it look smoother. Improvements are seen after a series of treatments and can last six months or longer.
The downside is that some people have said these treatments have made their cellulite look worse. They also only last 6 months and like machine treatments you must keep going and having recurring treatments which can get expensive and time consuming.
Liposuction
Liposuction does not actually work for removing cellulite, although liposuction has been proven to work for body sculpting by removing excess fat from specific areas of the body, which doesn’t have much effect on the texture of fat that will remain below the skin.
Conclusion
The best way of fighting cellulite is by adjusting your diet and exercising more. A lot of research has been coming out showing that the best way to lose weight is not any specific diet but it is the ability to transform your metabolism. Some great information on resetting your metabolism can be found here.
As you are working on your diet you can try the creams mentioned earlier in this article. They tend to reduce cellulite appearance significantly when you are under 40 and your skin is more elastic although they can work for older people as well.
Machines and Laser treatments can definitely reduce the appearance of cellulite significantly but the downsides are that they are expensive, involve recurring doctor visits to perform , and stop working once you stop getting the treatments especially if your diet and exercise routine do not improve over time.
