Hope for Getting Rid of Cellulite

A technique that combines laser treatment with injections of a person’s own fat has been shown to be effective in greatly improving the appearance of cellulite-impaired skin, according to a recent study.
   
Cellulite is a common condition, especially among people who are overweight and who exercise little, in which the skin, typically of the thighs, buttocks and hip areas, becomes lumpy and waffled. It affects almost entirely women.

“Cellulite is caused by bands of fibrous tissue that connect the muscle to the skin,” said Alan Gold, president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. “If these bands are tight and the fat between the muscle and the skin bulges out between them, there will be dimpling over each of those bands. There is nothing otherwise special or unique about the fat itself in those areas.”
   
The study, presented in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, was performed using 52 women aged 18-47 with severe cellulite. Doctors treated their cellulite areas with a laser, which tightened the skin, reduced fatty tissue on deeper levels, and stimulated the formation of collagen (a protein that contributes to skin firmness).

Then the researchers injected the patients’ own fat to fill in sunken skin areas. Finally, the patients were massaged to evenly distribute the fat, which was followed by a course of physiotherapy. Side effects were negligible. The follow-up period was one to nearly three years, and almost 85 percent of the women judged their results to have been either “good” or “excellent.”

“The search for the cause of cellulite and effective treatments is ongoing,” said Robert Gotkin, a plastic surgeon in New York City and one of the study authors. “However, the combination of a minimally invasive pulsed laser treatment and autologous [the patient’s own] fat transplantation represents a viable option for women who have severe cases of cellulite. All treatments have limitations, and since cellulite is a chronic condition, the patient must understand that there are no miracle procedures, and multiple treatments may be necessary.”

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