Cellulite Problem: Is There a Solution?

Known also as orange peel syndrome, cottage cheese skin, or the mattress phenomenon. Whatever the name, cellulite describes a condition that occurs in both men and women – although much more common in women – where the skin on the hips, thighs, butt, and other parts of the body becomes dimpled.

You can check to see if you have cellulite by pinching the skin around your upper thigh. If it looks a bit lumpy, you probably have it. And if you do have cellulite, you’re definitely not alone. It is estimated that cellulite affects 90% of all women. While not life threatening, it’s considered unattractive, to the point that wearing a bathing suit or shorts becomes a real nightmare for some women.

Interestingly, the term “cellulite” isn’t even a medical term. It was first introduced by a fashion magazine in the 1920s and was picked up by English language publications in the late 1960s. From the medical perspective, cellulite is just plain fat.

It is a myth that you won’t get cellulite if you stay slim. Even if you have just 15% body fat, you can still have cellulite, even if you must squeeze the skin to see it. There are a number of reasons thin women can still get cellulite which include poor blood circulation, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, poor lymph system drainage and yo-yo dieting.

How to Get Rid of Cellulite?

There are hundreds of resources claiming to reduce or eliminate the embarrassing orange-peel condition.

The most popular are various creams, balms, and gels. These products are said to help reduce and prevent the appearance of cellulite by improving the skin’s elasticity of the skin. They also claim to do everything else from strengthening to renewing and softening the skin. In conjunction with increased circulation and a change of diet and lifestyle, some of these products reduce the appearance of orange-peel by strengthening the network of connective tissue. These products do not, however, remove cellulite forever, as cellulite is nothing but fat, so once you stop using these creams the skin returns to its original state.

Many spas and salons offer a treatment called body wrapping. This procedure claims to remove inches from the waist, thighs, hips or other parts of the body, as well as eliminate, or at the very least reduce, cellulite. Whether that last claim is true or not, I’ll leave up to you to determine. What I can say is that visiting a spa or salon for body wrapping may be a wonderfully rejuvenating experience, leaving you rested and refreshed. Who wouldn’t like to have a few hours being pampered and fussed over in a relaxing environment regardless if it helps the cellulite problem.

Some people claim that the only answer to cellulite is liposuction. Liposuction is an invasive procedure that involves surgery with a tool with a v-shaped blade that is inserted through small excisions in the skin to cut the fibrous bands of tissue that form the structure where the cellulite is formed.

It is important to remember that liposuction is a surgical procedure and that there may be serious complications. The cosmetic effect after liposuction may be good and many patients report being satisfied, however, it is possible that it will be less dramatic than what you expected and may not be permanent. In summary, it’s a costly and traumatic procedure that could impair your circulatory and lymphatic system, and has left many women with fewer inches but more lumps and bumps than before.

There are other methods as well, but the bottom line is this: No cream, oil, electronic device, or surgery can completely eliminate cellulite. Some methods may in fact slow down the accumulation and lessen appearance of cellulite temporarily, but none have been proven to actually eliminate it.

Is there any hope?

With all this said, I am sure you are wondering if there is hope. Well, actually there is.

Study after study has shown that the key to reducing cellulite significantly is by a combination of both proper diet and exercise. If you get rid of excess weight and exercise regularly to tone up muscles, you will most definitely find an improvement in cellulite.

We all wish there was a “magic genie bottle” to help us get rid of orange-peel, but in the end there really is no substitute for good, old-fashioned, healthy nutrition and exercise.