Have you ever wondered what those lumps and dimples on the fleshy parts of your thighs, buttocks and stomach are? And why do they exist? Well, The medical term for that is cellulite, and it is a phenomenon that affects both men and women but it is most common among women. Although we know what cellulite is, its hard to say what causes it. The most common explanation is that it occurs due to an interaction between the connective tissue under the surface of skin and a layer of fat that exists below it. This causes an enlargement of fat cells creating small bulges under the skin and leading to that puckered look. The intensity of this cellulite formation is measured in three grades,
Grade 1: where there is hardly only mild cellulite, and an appearance of smooth skin almost everywhere, while standing or laying down, with an exception of 1 to 4 superficial depressions and slightly saggy appearance.
Grade 2: this is for moderate cellulite, meaning 5 to 9 medium deep depressions and a ‘cottage skin’ appearance on the skin.
Grade 3: this is for severe cases also referred to as ‘mattress skin’ with 10 or more depressions. In which case treatments like laser therapy or other radio frequency systems are used.
Home Treatments
Almost 80-90% of women are affected by cellulite at some point in their lives. There is nothing wrong with having cellulite and it doesn’t affect one’s health in any way. However, a lot of women are usually embarrassed by the appearance of such saggy skin, and hence go for measures to help improve the texture and appearance of it. Some ways to treat it are,
- Weight Loss. In the grade 1 and grade 2 cases, a simple method of weight loss and exercise helps in treating it.
- Stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water helps in maintaining elasticity of skin. It is a low cost method to treat mild to moderate cases. Water also helps in proper circulation of blood and lymphatic flow which are the main causes of cellulite production.
- Massage. This is a promising method of treatment and has seen a lot of positive results. Massage helps in reducing cellulite by helping in lymphatic drainage and helps stretch the skin and cellulite dimples back to normal. You can either hire a professional massage therapist or do it yourself at home. One such massaging tool that has known to show results is that of FasciaBlaster made by Ashley Black that works by opening the fascia at the deeper layers and breaks up fascial adhesion. It claims a lot of benefits such as pain reduction, flexibility including removal of cellulite.