What would you do?

Why it makes sense to switch to a proven, natural and effective solution for cellulite reduction instead of opting for the expensive, cost-ineffective and intrusive treatments.

It is 2008 and recession rears it’s ugly head over the UK economy. You have been suffering from cellulite for a few years now and have decided that it’s time to do something about it. So you are looking for a cellulite reduction treatment and after some research you realize that you have six choices:

1. You opt for a high tech solution (usually laser, ultrasound or radiofrequency) costing £250 to £450 a pop, after being promised that “you only need one or two sessions” hoping that then the cellulite will magically vanish into thin air. Being impressed by fancy LED lights and flashy premises you momentarily forget that the days of wasting money down the drain are over and hand over your credit card praying that this time “it will work”. If your therapist is honest or knowledgeable enough to tell you that one session is pointless and you typically need 12 or more sessions to see any serious results, you appreciate it and hand over £4,000-£6,000 for the course. Twelve sessions later, and depending on the technology you chose, you hopefully have less cellulite, albeit after selling your kidney to finance the cellulite reduction. Needless to say, that if you believed the hype that just two sessions are enough, you should now be £500-£900 poorer and with exactly the same amount of cellulite...
2. You go straight to the surgeon for a consultation about liposuction or smart lipo on your legs (typical cost £2,500-£4,000). Being dazzled by the crisp white coat and the wonders of modern medicine you also forget that money doesn’t grow on trees any more, and opt for the said operation. Liposuction does obviously remove deep fat deposits but leaves your cellulite completely unaffected, as it is an integral part of your skin structure and your skin is obviously cannot be surgically removed. After a couple of months you realize just that, and you wish someone had told you that surgery does not remove cellulite...
3. Actually, the kind doctor at the clinic does warn you that liposuction or smart lipo does not really remove cellulite and suggests mesotherapy instead, a procedure that involves multiple injections of natural or artificial chemical substances straight into your fat cells. At a cost of £250 and upwards mesotherapy doesn't come cheap and leaves you with dozens of painful bruises for weeks on end. For best results a course of 12 sessions is usually required, after which you need maintenance sessions - if you are not careful with your diet and exercise. Of course nobody tells you that, so after 12-24 painful weeks and with £3,000 less in your bank account you realise that this is not the permanent solution you expected and you could have achieved the same results naturally - without the injections, the pain and the extortionate cost.
4. You go for a mechanical, suction-based massage, often called the palper-rouler technique, which in some machines is boosted by a bit of infrared light and radiofrequency radiation. This costs a more modest £50-£120 per 35’ session and you are recommended to have 14 sessions or more. You complete a full course and after 14 sessions you realize that you do have somewhat less cellulite (if you also exercised and dieted during your course) but you also have some newly formed spider veins (thread veins) and that your skin is looser than before, due to the effect of the sucking, stretching and heating provided by the machine. You wish that someone told you that a large percentage of women having palper-rouler massage end up developing thread veins and looser skin, but now it’s all too late...
5. You do loads of research, always taking into account value for money and effectiveness and eventually discover a boutique service called LipoTherapeia that was developed by a therapist who spent a whole decade helping women reduce their cellulite. After reading many of the 100+ pages of the website full of information and advice on cellulite, you finally decide to go for the down to earth approach and opt to have a course of their vigorous cellulite-specific massages. These cost as little as £50 for 45 minutes of treatment and are accompanied by unlimited and free one-to-one exercise and nutritional advice for as long as your course lasts. Additionally, you receive a three month supply of their professional strength anti-cellulite cream to enhance the effectiveness of the massages - at no extra cost. You are pleasantly surprised by the value and also by how effective the treatment is, literally feeling the cellulite being “broken down” from the very first minutes of the treatment. After a few sessions your legs actually do feel and look smoother, firmer and slimmer. In addition, you eat better, you exercise intelligently, you have loads of energy and improved circulation, and most importantly you’re really looking forward to your weekly or twice weekly celulite massage indulgence. All this for a comparatively modest £648 for 12 45-minute sessions! You congratulate yourself for saving £3,000-£5,000 and beating the credit crunch, whilst at the same time improving both your appearance and your overall health.
6. You decide it’s all too hard work and too expensive and you can live with cellulite after all - as it doesn’t kill you, anyway. Your friends congratulate you for your maturity (secretly bitching about your thighs) and you live happily ever after with a less than perfect body. Fair enough!

What would you do?