The truth about cellulite - treatments.

Dr Ioannis Georgiou 
Plastic Surgery
www.plasticsurgery4cyprus.com

Recently I found a review examining the efficiency of several treatments for cellulite. More than 60 reports were evaluated. The results might be interesting for woman suffering from cellulite.

This is the summary.

Weight loss:  Improving diet and exercise is an excellent way to start improving cellulite appearance. It has been shown that visible cellulite is reduced in females who lose weight.

Liposuction is a controversial intervention. Although there are some subjective reports that it has improved appearance, others have noted that it can actually worsens the dimpled-skin look.

Subcision. This involves inserting a needle under the skin and try changing the connective-tissue structure to improve the cellulite appearance. It can temporarily improve the skin dimpling but the long-term efficacy remains controversial.

Mesotherapy. It’s a technique that uses the injection of various substances into the fat to dissolve (lipolysis)it. Currently, no scientific evidence is available to prove the effectiveness of these injections.  

Endermologie (LPG) :Is a suction massage technique. In a review of the published research on LPG--which is minimal--this device does not show meaningful efficacy in the treatment of cellulite.

Massage:  Massage and tissue manipulation techniques are employed to enhance the removal of accumulated fluid in the dermis area. However, massage appears to offer only short-term minor skin changes.

Thermotherapy. Thermotherapy is a heat application technique that promotes blood flow and vasodilation. However no studies demonstrate any effectiveness with this treatment.

Topical Ointments. The role of topical treatments in cellulite removal is troublesome. There are minimal data substantiating any of these cellulite-diminishing creams effectiveness.

Herbals. The basis of most of the herbal treatments is to enhance microcirculation in the skin and to promote lipolysis of subcutaneous fat. It is interesting to note that research has shown a slight decrease in thigh girth with herbal treatments but a return to normal when the application stops.

Radiofrequency devices: This technology looks promising for the treatment of cellulite as some improvement can be achieved, but the long-term effects are unknown at this time.

My conclusion

At the time not enough scientific evidence exists for the effectiveness of these treatments and in cases of improvements these are not maintained over time. Never the less you can still try some of these techniques as it can work for you in the long term, but avoid treatments promising wonders and elimination of cellulite. From my point of view, the most cheap and effective treatment is diet and exercise.