What is cellulite?
Enemy number one of most women, cellulite is democratic, affecting everyone, beautiful and ugly, thin and fat, poor and rich without any preference.
Since time immemorial, this blemish has been among the most combated, but what works?
Cellulite with its typical “orange peel appearance,” is due to the abnormal protrusion of subcutaneous fat within the dermis. In women, the fibrous septa are arranged vertically, so that fat easily pushes on the dermis, causing depressions and protrusions.
What causes cellulite?
The main cause of the formation of cellulite is certainly estrogen, female hormones that have the characteristic of retaining fluids and that cause an increase in fat volume, in particular areas, where fat is “pushed” against the skin surface by the habitually assumed position (thighs and buttocks).
First of all, a myth should be debunked: cellulite will never disappear completely. It cannot be completely eradicated, but the very ugly “pitted effect” can be greatly reduced. But in what way?
Through the right balance of diet, physical activity, lifestyle, and of course aesthetic medicine treatments.
How to fight it?
Proper nutrition
Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it, eating chips and chocolate and spending our days on the couch is not healthy, and our bodies know it and suffer from it. It must be said, however, that undergoing drastic diets does not solve the cellulite problem: it only results in the emptying of the face, breasts, neck, and inner arms, while orange peel skin persists from the waist down.
A series of foods however è definitely Able to reduce water retention: Yes to lean meat, preferably white meat, during the evening meal; Yes to fresh fish especially at noon and seafood, which contain many fatty acids (including omega 3) that have anti-inflammatory abilities; Yes to cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt, and cow’s milk cottage cheese.
Raw vegetables do not help fight cellulite because they contain a lot of minerals that promote water retention. Yes instead to steaming, especially leeks and cabbage, eggplant, peppers. Yes to pink grapefruit, rich in vitamin C (which improves circulation and boosts the immune system) and lycopene, both antioxidants. Yes to red apples, loaded with pyruvate, an antioxidant and tonic, which reduces body fat, increasing lean body mass and prevents from osteoporosis.
However, it is very important to reduce the consumption of salt from one’s diet, and in general all salty foods (smoked, sausages, canned, etc.), use oil and butter in moderation for cooking, and prefer cooking meat or fish by steaming, baking or grilling.
Physical activity
Definitely swimming is the most effective sport for reducing cellulite and preventing it. It effectively acts on stretching the muscles by counteracting fluid stagnation in the lower limbs and facilitating the return of venous blood to the heart. Freestyle is indicated against cellulite in general, but breaststroke style is best for training specific areas (e.g., inner thighs and upper arms) where cellulite is normally most abundant. Clear results are seen with aqua-spinning and aqua-biking.
Running but better yet walking, an activity that can be done anywhere, so not just on the treadmill at the gym.
Jogging is a complete workout because it involves not only the lower body but also the upper limbs, abdomen and buttocks.
The metabolic mechanisms responsible for fat disposal are activated after 20-30 minutes of physical activity, whereas for cycling, the body aims to burn after an hour of cycling.
An active, non-sedentary lifestyle, even a simple brisk walk, helps maintain good blood and lymphatic circulation with beneficial effects on the whole body. To get to work, one may choose to take a walking route, perhaps measuring the route with a pedometer, or one may prefer to take the stairs instead of riding in an elevator. Among a proper lifestyle, one should also consider taking the birth control pill, as it often causes water retention and, therefore, increases the risk of seeing cellulite appear.
Remedies and creams
WHEREAS, self-medication is highly discouraged because you risk having more harm than good, some results, especially in maintenance after specific aesthetic therapies, are given by so-called “grandmother’s remedies”: lemon massages, coffee grounds compresses or salt scrubs; A good natural anti-cellulite remedy is the cocoa, which contains theobromine: a compress made with this food stimulates lipolysis And makes the skin smooth and even.
The chapter on creams, promoted by advertisements of various kinds, alone requires congruous investigation. It would seem, however, that they all share a poor cost-benefit ratio by giving almost all passenger results at considerable cost. Some of these anti-cellulite creams contain thyroxine and can cause thyroid problems.
The use of diuretics could lead to severe kidney damage.
Treatment of cellulite through aesthetic medicine
A medical diagnosis made in a specialized center and by professionals in the field (aesthetic doctors), allows you to choose the most suitable aesthetic medicine treatment for your case. In order to identify the type of cellulite and the stage it is in, it is essential to undergo some specific examinations, including impedance testing, which allows body composition to be determined and provides important data for medical evaluation.
Here are some treatments that can be performed:
- Carboxytherapy: a proper equipment that generates carbon dioxide (CO2), equipped with a tube and a small needle, allows the administration into the skin and subcutaneous tissue located in the affected areas of the medical gas. It improves tissue oxygenation and promotes lymphatic drainage and venous fluid elimination.
- Smooth Shape: these are as many as four different technologies that work in synergy to achieve the optimal result.
- laser to liquefy fat cells;
- laser to increase the permeability of the fat cell membrane;
- Specific massage to promote improved lymphatic circulation;
- vacuum suction to improve venous and lymphatic circulation.
- Pressotherapy: a kind of inflatable “armor” is put on the patient. A special machine inflates it by exerting pressure that is not equal and constant over the entire treated part, but moves gradually toward the center of the body; that is, it follows the blood and lymph flow (peristalsis effect). In lower limb treatment, for example, pressure is first applied to the ankles and gradually shifted to the calves and thighs. The goal is to promote venous and lymphatic circulation, reduce water retention and dissolve subcutaneous fat pads.
- Mesotherapy: acts by intradermal administration of specific drugs diluted in saline by means of single needle or by means of multinjectors, i.e., multi-gauge plates depending on the drugs, which the practicing physician deems to administer, the main effects obtained by this method can be lipolytic, vasoprotective, draining. Mesotherapy, therefore, requires an accurate preliminary diagnosis to intervene with the appropriate drug cocktail.
- Microtherapy: as in mesotherapy, needles are used but in this technique they are extremely small (one millimeter), and a hypersaline solution is injected instead of drugs. This, due to its high salt content, draws fluids in the adipose tissue back to the epidermis by osmosis so that they can be disposed of and eliminated.
- Hydroelectrophoresis: it is A noninvasive technique, which allows medical fluids to be delivered in depth without using needles; through an electric current suitably modulated by a special equipment, the active ingredients in the solution are made to penetrate through the layers of skin to the target tissue and can, thus, reach even the deepest layers.
- Thermage: also called “non-surgical facelift,” this cosmetic treatment is popular in the United States. It gives greater firmness to tissues, decreases the orange peel appearance and, most importantly, greatly improves microcirculation.
- Laserlysis: uses the energy of light to dissolve the fat accumulations present in cellulite pads, causes the dissolution of the fibrous bands responsible for the orange peel appearance.
- Cavitation: This methodology is very effective in liquefying localized fat pads that are the cause and consequence of cellulite. SEE SPECIFIC ARTICLE.
Younger individuals are advised to visit an aesthetic medical center as early as the first signs of cellulite, so as to stop its development immediately.
Contact us for more information about these treatments.
