Both red (around 630nm wavelength) and near infrared (around 830nm wavelength) light have been widely researched for the action on capillary health and integrity. Of course, existing broken capillaries cannot be repaired but red / infrared LED treatment will help prevent further capillary damage. By helping break down the by-products of leaked blood from broken capillaries, red/infrared light can also help with the dark pigmentation that occurs in those cases…
What is blue LED for?
Blue light LED treatment is mainly used for acne reduction and psoriasis. Blue light acts on porphyrins inside bacteria (including the Cutibacterium acnes bacteria, which cause most forms of acne), to inactivate them. Blue light is ideally combined with red and infrared light, which are known to stimulate skin…
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.
Estrogen and cellulite
This is a very common question at the clinic: “It’s so unfair, why do women need to get cellulite and men not”? Well, there is an answer to that and in short it’s called estrogen. Generally, everybody, man or woman, can get cellulite if both two following conditions are met: their body is loaded with enough of the hormone estrogen - natural or artificial; and they ingest more calories than they spend and/or they sit down too much/walk too little. Estrogen on its own does NOT cause cellulite, neither inactivity…
Does LED treatment contain UV light?
Most LED treatments are in the red (~620-750nm) and near infrared (~750-1400nm) wavelengths, i.e. the exact opposite side of the spectrum from UV wavelengths (for example UVA is at ~315-400nm and UVB is even lower at ~280-315nm). So there is not a danger of your LED treatment giving off UV radiation. Red and near infrared light are widely researched for their anti-ageing, healing, anti-inflammatory…
How often should I have cavitation treatment?
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the two best technologies for both cellulite removal and skin tightening. With a high-power setup, the optimum frequency for treatments is twice a week, with a two or three day gap between sessions. The 2-3 day gap allows for recovery between sessions, which means maximum intensity can be used during treatment (in the few cases where deep, strong treatment is provided)…
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…
Does LED help with dark spots?
Dark spots and hyperpigmentation in general are prime indications for the use of red and near-infrared light therapy. Red and near-infrared light, either from an LED or low-level laser light source exerts an anti-inflammatory and a skin metabolism-boosting effect (due to stimulation of mitochondria), which results in hyperpigmentation reduction, over several sessions…
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…
Will one session of red light therapy help?
For some immediate skin rejuvenation, pain reduction in musculoskeletal injuries and even improvement with acne appearance, even one session with a high-power LED device (i.e. ~120mW/cm2) can actually make a difference, and we see it every day at the clinic. Facial skin brightens immediately with a healthy glow and “angry” acne calms down and looks much milder…
Can I use hyaluronic acid with an LED mask?
A lot of LED mask companies suggest that you use a (usually very expensive) serum before having a red/infrared light therapy session with their mask. However, skin has to be as clean as possible before LED treatment, especially with an LED mask, which by definition - and for safety purposes - is of low-power. This is because the skin surface has to display the smallest reflection possible, in order to…
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…
Is red light therapy real or fake?
Red light therapy, as well as infrared and blue light therapy, is becoming ever more popular. With this popularity hundreds of LED red light therapy devices have appeared on the market and with all the miracle claims, the internet, tiktok and instagram misinformation and the confusion, a lot of people understandably question whether red light therapy is legit or not. To put it very shortly, properly applied red light therapy - as well as blue and infrared light therapy - are real…
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…
How often should I do LED on my face?
How often you can have LED treatment on your face - or any other body area - depends on the device’s light intensity. The higher the intensity the less often you should have treatment and vice versa. As with everything else in life a little more is good but a lot more is usually bad - and that applies to LED treatment too. LED treatment may be almost side-effect free but…
Pterostilbene, the polyphenol in blueberries, inhibits fat accumulation and fights overweight and cellulite
Pterostilbene, a small molecular weight stilbenoid compound chemically related to resveratrol and found predominantly in black grapes, blueberries and other berries, has important anti-adipogenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anticancer properties. Resveratrol is already widely known for its anti-ageing and anti-obesity properties and pterostilbene (3',5'-dimethoxy-resveratrol), being a more stable and more absorbable form of resveratrol, shows much more promise in fighting both ageing and fat accumulation…
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…