SLSF Articles

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. Cellulite is a random physical condition in women of all ages and body sizes. There are a number of reasons thin women can still get cellulite, which include unhealthy diet of fatty/starchy foods, lack of exercise, poor blood circulation, smoking, and sitting or standing in a single position for long periods of time.

How to Get Rid of Cellulite?

All you need to do is begin a search for information about cellulite and you will find yourself bombarded with commercial messages. There are hundreds of resources claiming to reduce or eliminate the embarrassing orange-peel, and “for only $$$ you too can permanently get rid of this condition.”

The most popular are various creams, balms and gels. They are said to help smoothe, detoxify, and hydrate the “affected area”. While the efficacy of these products is often disputed, some women claim they do see improvement. If you want to try them for yourself, keep in mind that some of these creams and other topical products contain ingredients that can be potentially harmful. Many people may have hidden allergies that only surface when the individual comes in contact with a “new” trigger, so read the labels and do skin test on a small area first to be on the safe side.

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 were expecting and may not be permanent. In summary, it’s a costly surgical procedure that could hinder the body’s natural circulation and waste-elimination processes, and has left some women with more lumps than before.

There are many other methods such as body brushing and massage, hydrotherapy, electric muscle stimulation, and Endermologie. However, the bottom line is that no cream, oil, electronic device, or surgery can completely eliminate cellulite. Some may in fact slow down the accumulation and lessen appearance of cellulite temporarily, but none have been proven to actually eliminate it.

So, 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 see an improvement.

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.