This is a very common question that we hear at the clinic and also a very common question all over the internet. People believe the beauty industry marketing hype and all the extra extraordinary miracle claims, and then, when those claims do not materialise, they get disappointed. Well, after seeing literally thousands of clients over more than two decades, and after researching the subject continuously for the last 20+ years, let me put it as clearly, as honestly and as bluntly…
Flax seed oil, anti-aging and cellulite
In today’s Western world people consume not only too much saturated, hydrogenated or fried fats/oils, which are widely accepted as unhealthy. Such oils*, especially hydrogenated and fried fats/oils, are known to cause anything from heart disease to cancer to arthritis and of course overall aging, including skin aging and cellulite. Something which is generally unknown to most people is that we also consume too much omega-6 polyunsaturated oils, which are found literally everywhere: from processed foods, condiments, pastry and desserts to meat and chicken…
Are butt fillers better than BBL?
Is vaping better than smoking? Is saturated fat better than sugar? Are cocktails better than beer? Is death by heart disease better than death by stroke? As there is no good choice between the above options, there is also no good choice between non-surgical butt fillers (now pathetically known as “liquid BBL”) and surgical brazilian butt lift (“normal” BBL). Both choices have their risks and dangers, up to the point of death, with death from BBL being more common and death from liquid BBL also occurring…
At what age does cellulite get worse?
At the clinic we have seen thousands of clients with cellulite over the years and these are our observations. Cellulite can start appearing at about 13-14 years of age for some young girls. During the mid teens (16-17) more and more teenagers develop cellulite these days, due to the use of contractive pill (for acne or contraception). The next age milestone for cellulite is at about 27-28, when most young women start to…
What is the new cellulite treatment for 2024?
Unless you are a shallow blogger/journalist about to write a “Forget abc, xyz is the newest celebrity-endorsed cellulite treatment that took the world by storm in 2024” type of article, it doesn’t really matter what is the newest cellulite treatment. Every year a bunch of new, hyped-up beauty/aesthetic treatments appear and in a few years, when people realise that said treatments are not that miraculous after all, they gradually disappear…
Can treatments, creams or leggings melt body fat?
Can a treatment/special garment melt the fat which can then naturally removed through the kidneys into the urine. Absolutely not. Phrases like those are total garbage and would make any biologist laugh out loud. Yet they are churned out en masse on the internet by ignorant bloggers, influencers, “journalists”, beauty therapists and even medical aesthetic specialists, who do not even know the most basic biology…
Hypodermal fat accumulation and cellulite: the elephant in the room that most treatments ignore
When it comes to cellulite many so-called “cellulite experts” focus on everything else than the elephant in the room, the most important thing: hypodermal fat accumulation - i.e. fat accumulation in the deepest layer of the skin, the hypodermis. It is increased hypodermal fat accumulation that causes circulation constriction and consequent water retention…
Radiofrequency / cavitation: gel, cream, serum or oil? When to use each conductive medium.
“Radiofrequency” is an all encompassing term for treatment with different types of high frequency electrical currents. Different machines utilise different frequencies, from an extra low of 300kHz to an extra high of 5GHz. The types of physical phenomena at play on those different machines are quite different…
Will Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs eliminate cellulite?
The rise of current GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, such as Ozempic/Wegovy and Mounjaro, and the development of new ones with less side effects and possible oral administration (as opposed to current injection), is poised to reduce the incidence of overweight and obesity. However, can Ozempic/Wegovy, Mounjaro et al eliminate the cellulite appearance?
Cellulite: surgery or non-surgical treatments? What is best?
It is true that most non-surgical cellulite treatments do not really work. Most such treatments range from generally safe but ineffective (think palper-rouler massage, acoustic wave therapy (AWT), microneedling, bipolar/tripolar RF etc) to dangerous and generally ineffective (high intensity HIFU, high intensity RF microneedling etc). As a result many people think that cellulite surgery is a better, so-called “one-off” option...
If I press my RF/ultrasound handpiece hard on the skin, will it make treatment deeper?
Many therapists have the habit of pressing hard with the handpiece on the client’s skin in order to offer a deeper treatment. But does that make sense? Does treatment get deeper? The answer is maybe, depending on the equipment used, but this is not a valid or even safe way to provide deep treatment. First off, the constant pressure is not good for the therapist. It makes treatment straining and...
RF treatment is like massage: each therapist does it differently
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency is the best and safest non-surgical skin tightening treatment and the joint best/safest cellulite reduction treatment (together with deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation) and far more effective and safe than the undeservedly hyped-up HIFU or RF microneedling. Because radiofrequency treatment is provided with a machine, most people think that all treatments with a specific machine are provided identically and as a result they embark on “researching” what is the best RF machine on the web - as well as on instagram and tiktok 😂...
Can I have infrared / red light therapy treatment with makeup on?
Red and infrared light therapy (phototherapy) is very popular as an anti-ageing facial treatment, as it is generally very safe and instantly effective. The general rule is that makeup must be removed before phototherapy treatment. This is because makeup quite often contains ingredients which aim to reflect light back from the face, in order to create an effect of “radiance” and light on the skin. However, if they have a treatment during lunchtime, many women find it a hassle to remove...
Lipedema symptom relief with ultrasound massage and phototherapy
Lipedema is a genetic condition which mainly affects women and where the adipose tissue of the legs and arms gradually expands uncontrollably after puberty. Healthy diet and exercise do help slow down its progression but they are not sufficient to stop the development of lipedema completely or to reverse it. The only real solution to lipedema reduction is specialist liposuction. It seems that Austria and Germany are the best places to have lipedema surgery, as many surgeons specialise in it in those countries. Unfortunately treatments that do help with other fat reduction, especially cellulite fat reduction, do not sufficiently help with lipedema fat reduction. For this reason we do not use our deep-acting, high-power...
Light therapy vs cavitation / RF for cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Light therapy, also known as phototherapy and photobiomodulation, is a great aesthetic and wellness therapeutic modality, helping with anything from wound healing, to acne, to mood enhancement to skin anti-ageing. High-power light therapy can also help with cellulite and skin laxity prevention and perhaps a little bit with reduction, but its effect comes nowhere near to that of deep-acting, high-power cavitation and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound radiofrequency, the strongest SAFE...
Do fat cells grow back after liposuction?
Liposuction is like an absolution of previous sins, it does not absolve you of any future sins (over-eating / exercising too little). With liposuction anything up to 80%-90% of the fat on a specific area is removed but some - even 10-20% remains. This is because it is impossible to scrape off every single bit of fat, as this would cause injury to the surrounding tissues and consequent fibrosis...
When ultrasound / radiofrequency doesn’t work: too much, too little, too deep, too superficial
However, not all cavitation and RF treatments are the same. In fact, as every clinic individual therapist practises those technologies differently, even with the exact same equipment - and as there is a huge variety of RF and ultrasound equipment on the market, ranging from very low spec to very high spec - we can say that there are as many RF/cavitation treatments on the market as there are clinics in the world - probably tens of thousands of them...
When to use ultrasound and when radiofrequency for cellulite reduction
When practised with top equipment and by a well-trained practitioner, deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the best SAFE technologies for cellulite reduction and skin tightening. Cavitation and RF are sometimes used together (in varying proportions when it comes to treatment time and treatment intensity) and sometimes individually, depending on the client’s needs. In some people, RF and ultrasound can have opposing effects, so their combined use is not such a great idea...
Cellulite and the menopause
Menopause seems to affect women in multiple ways, none of which is good for cellulite. Firstly, collagen synthesis reduces with menopause, meaning a gradual collapse of the connective tissue which allows the hypodermal adipose globules to become more pronounced. The same effect leads to blood and lymphatic vessels weakening, leading to poorer circulation. Secondly, metabolism also reduces, allowing increased fat accumulation in the hypodermal adipose globules. This also makes cellulite more visible...
Skin tightening exercises: do they work?
Exercise and everyday physical activity are essential for skin firmness, together with a healthy nutrition, rich in protein and polyphenols. Exercise and physical activity offers our fibroblasts (collagen- and elastin-producing cells) the necessary mechanical stimulation they need to keep producing collagen and elastin. Collagen gives skin firmness, while elastin offers elasticity, leading to firm, elastic, healthy, good looking skin.