Skin tightening and cellulite reduction for slim women (and men) at the LipoTherapeia clinic (London, W1) with our advanced technologies. Two decades of experience, honest advice, personalised treatment, caring service. Book now!
Skin ligaments and cellulite
Cellulite appears due to the action of enlarged fat globules pushing skin upwards and shortened collagen fibre bundles pulling skin downwards. These collagen fibre bundles are not bothersome, unnecessary for the body tissues that need to be cut out so that fat can perpetually expand upwards without hindrance. These fibres are known to anatomists as retinaculae cutis*, i.e. skin ligaments, and they are there, as all ligaments, to keep two parts of connective tissue attached…
What are the best exercises to reduce visceral fat?
Before explaining the mechanics of visceral fat reduction, let's start with some definitions. Visceral adipose tissue, aka VAT or visceral fat, is the type of fat found deep in your belly and between your organs; subcutaneous adipose tissue, aka SAT or simply ‘fat’, is found just under your skin either on your belly or anywhere else on your body; and hypodermal adipose tissue, aka cellulite, is fat found within the deeper part of your skin itself on the thighs, bum and even stomach and arms. Now let's go back to visceral fat reduction…
Skin: if you don't use it, you lose it
We usually say that for muscle mass: “if you don’t use it, you lose it”. If we don’t walk, play sports or do weights, we will gradually lose our muscle. This is especially true when we recover from injury or a long-lasting health condition, where we find ourselves with much less muscle, especially on the legs. You may also be aware that if we do not do weights or at least walk, i.e. if we somehow do…
Can you do cavitation or radiofrequency while on period?
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the strongest SAFE technologies for cellulite reduction.
For best results these treatments must be performed regularly (anything between twice a week to once in two weeks, no less, no more) and the “period” quite often gets in the way. So this is a very common question. At the clinic we have performed radiofrequency and cavitation treatments during the “period” time and we never, even had a problem, even with…
Why am I getting more cellulite as I get older?
Cellulite may start in the teenage years, as early as 14, but in most women it appears more and more often with progressing age. At the clinic we see some women starting to seek cellulite treatments at about 23, then the next stage is 28, and then more in the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Indeed cellulite worsens with age and there are a few reasons for that…
What home remedy can I use for cellulite?
Don’t bother much with topical remedies - as we will see below they don’t work nearly as well as a simplistic 2% caffeine cream.
In fact, a the best home remedies you can use for cellulite is clean are super-healthy foods, such as vegetables, salads, oily fish, vegetable juices, berry fruits, berry smoothies, lean protein (lean meat and poultry, fish/seafood and pulses), lots of herbs and spices and herbal teas. Green tea, gotu kola, pine bark, grape seed, bilberry, quercetin, hesperidin at other…
What vitamins help cellulite?
Healthy nutrition is essential for cellulite prevention and this applies equally to vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, carotenoids, fibre, omega-3 fatty acids and protein. These exact nutrients are the ones lacking in today’s Western diets and whose deficiency results in cellulite - usually in combination with an excess intake of sugar, unhealthy fats and carbs; a lack of exercise and physical activity; as well as smoking and the contraceptive pill. Regarding vitamins, they all have a role to play in cellulite prevention and they can somewhat contribute to its reduction, with perhaps vitamin C (ascorbic acid) being the most important, due to its antioxidant action and its important role on collagen…
Can HRT get rid of cellulite?
Given that female hormones (estrogen, progesterone) are an essential cause of cellulite, HRT cannot possibly reduce cellulite, let alone “get rid of” it. In some cases, the lack of estrogen and progesterone during menopause can lead to loose skin, which can aggravate the appearance of cellulite. With HRT this effect will diminish and skin laxity (and consequent cellulite) may improve somewhat but don’t expect a significant…
What happens 10 years after a BBL?
If successful, BBL surgery lifts and enlarges the buttocks to create a beautiful, round firm shape. However, the quality of the skin on the buttocks itself does not change at all with a BBL. The only reason there is firmness after a BBL is because the skin has become taut due to the outward pressure of the added fat and - in some cases - the removal of excess skin. So if skin was thin and weak before a BBL, after some time (3-4 years)…
What is Stage 3 cellulite treatment?
There is no such thing as Stage 3 cellulite treatment. Someone simply made it up for marketing purposes. Treatment for cellulite is exactly the same at all stages - and aims to act on all major aspects of Cellulite - at all stages, from Stage 1 to Stage 4: reduce hypodermal fat accumulation; break down fibrosis; improve circulation and lymphatic…
Acoustic wave therapy for cellulite: does it work?
What is now euphemistically called acoustic wave therapy (AWT) goes by several other names: pressure wave therapy, extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT, the correct name and the original one coined by scientists), shockwave therapy (the shortened version of the correct name) and lipotripsy (the most ridiculous one I have seen). Before shockwaves were used for (questionable) cellulite removal, they were initially used to break down kidney and gallbladder stones, hence the medical name lithotripsy, meaning breaking down stones. From that, one crafty marketer coined the term “lipotripsy”, i.e. breaking down fat, although shockwaves do NOT physically break down fat…
The four stages of cellulite (plus pre-cellulite)
There are different methods to classify the severity of cellulite, some more accurate, some more technical and complicated and some more practical. As there are different types of cellulite (more on that below) and as the appearance of cellulite changes even from day to day, it is impossible to use an exact, measurable number to describe the severity of cellulite, as in 83% or similar. Furthermore, there is no objective, accurate, widely accepted way, to put an exact number and describe the severity of cellulite.
What oils are best for cellulite?
Internally the best oils for cellulite are the omega-3s. The highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) DHA and EPA, contained in fish oil or vegan DHA / vegan EPA oil, are known for their anti-inflammatory, slimming, circulation-boosting and overall anti-ageing action. So fish oil (or its vegan equivalents) is the bestt oil for cellulite. EPA and DHA are also contained in…
Should you exfoliate / moisturise cellulite?
Exfoliating and/or moisturising your skin would not make the tiniest difference to your cellulite. Exfoliation / hydration work on your epidermis, i.e. the top 0.1mm of your skin. Cellulite is located in the hypodermis, i.e. the deepest 2-8mm of your skin and 20-80 times deeper than the width of your epidermis. There is absolutely no connection…
What truly gets rid of cellulite?
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…
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…
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…
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…