Skin Details

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's a random physical condition that affects women (and some men) of all ages and body sizes. 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, including poor blood circulation, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, 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. 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 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, relaxed 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. Although liposuction has proven effective in taking off inches, it does not counter cellulite itself. Liposuction removes collections of fatty tissue from the legs, buttocks, abdomen, back, arms, face, and neck areas. It uses a 'vacuuming' technique to remove this fatty tissue, leaving minimal scarring. Because liposuction does not change the structure of the skin, it can't eliminate cellulite forever.

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 many other methods as well, such as electric muscle stimulation, hydrotherapy, body brushing and massage with use of caffeine or juniper oil. 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.

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.

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