Thursday, February 26, 2009

What is Cellulite and How Do You Remove It?

By Dan da Silva

A curse to many women, cellulite is formed close to the skin surface and produces a number of wrinkled fat cells intermixed with the connective tissue and produces that strange orange peel' effect most of us have witnessed. Most women carry excess fat in thighs and buttocks, but this condition is not confined just to the overweight as it is in reality, a lumpy substance that looks more like cottage cheese that forms beneath the skin.

Fat beneath the surface of the skin pushes against connective tissue causing it to give that dimpled look commonly known as cellulite. Health experts have been trying to discover the cause for some time as it is not a condition that affects every woman but they believe it does have some connection to the way the fat cells are made and possibly how toxins enter and are stored within the body.

What is certain though is that the older you become the greater the likelihood of this type of cell forming as the elastin and collagen, that help stop aging lines, becomes less effective. The condition is almost exclusive to women and has been attributed to hormonal changes that take place as a woman gets older as the fat in the thighs and buttocks of men is the same as fat found in other parts of their bodies.

Even women who do not appear to have cellulite may have them and sometimes this is visible when the skin is compressed as in the case of squatting or when it is pinched between the thumb and forefinger; however as most women suffer with at some stage it seems to be a perfectly normal condition. Just how much a person has will depend on a number of factors like, age, gender, genetics and even the thickness and type of skin they have will affect how easily it can be seen.

As the reasons for the formation are still a mystery, no complete treatment has been devised to rid the condition from people who suffer with is badly even though there are many creams that claim to rid someone of it. Where cellulite removal massage is offered at a clinic, all that is done is deep tissue massage which just masks the affect so it cannot be seen as readily.

Perhaps the most drastic therapy is liposuction where fat is literally sucked from the body or the more expensive procedure of injecting certain chemicals in a process called mesotherapy. Only temporary relief can be gained from both these procedures and liposuction despite its success at removing deep fat from large areas of the body, is not designed for the fats close to the surface as in the case of cellulite.

Unfortunately at the moment there isn't a magic formula for removal and it may be some time before it is found although some companies claim that they have creams that are effective but this seems to be better at hiding the effects. So far the best method is back to basics combining a healthy diet with exercise that gradually burns off the fat but not the connective tissue where it is found.

In addition, increasing the intake of water will help cleanse the system and flush out damaging toxins plus smokers should stop smoking or at least reduce it which will also be beneficial as smoking impacts negatively on the capillaries in the skin and reducing stress will help reduce the amount of cellulite. - 15438

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