If you want an easy, nonsurgical way to banish unwanted cellulite, we’ve got you covered. At Smooth Body Contours, our expert team offers holistic cellulite treatments to help you diminish the appearance of cellulite and attain smoother, dimple-free skin in no time flat.
Read on as we explore the ins and outs of cellulite, including factors that may contribute to its development, and discover how an age-old cellulite reduction technique called wood therapy can help you get rid of it.
You already know that healthy lifestyle habits can help you keep your body fit, energized, and youthful — that’s why you try to exercise most days of the week, eat a wholesome diet, drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, and keep your stress levels under control.
It hardly seems fair, then, that your efforts haven’t kept cellulite away, or at least minimized its appearance. That’s because cellulite is stubborn; it tends to stick around even when you’re at a healthy body weight and your fitness routine hits all the right notes.
Unwanted cellulite is a frequent complaint among women of all ages. In fact, up to 90% of females who’ve gone through puberty have some degree of cellulite. It appears on the thighs and buttocks most often, but it can also emerge on the lower belly, arms, and breasts.
Diet and exercise can help reduce the appearance of cellulite by promoting fat loss and toning underlying muscles, but these tried-and-true weight loss measures can’t target specific areas of fat or cellulite to smooth and “spot-reduce” them as desired.
Even if you decide to spot-reduce specific areas of persistent fat with a cosmetic treatment like liposuction, fat freezing, or fat-dissolving injections, there’s no guarantee that unwanted cellulite will disappear, too.
Cellulite isn’t just a problem for fuller-figured women; many fit, health-conscious people have some degree of cellulite, as do plenty of women who are naturally slim.
Knowing how cellulite develops is key to understanding both what makes it so “stubborn” and how it can be effectively treated.
Cellulite is normal body fat with one major distinction: It’s located between connective skin tissue and smooth muscle tissue that are tightly tethered together with fibrous cords. As fat cells accumulate between these two tissue layers, they push up against the skin, effectively tightening the fibrous connective cords and causing them to pull the overlying skin down.
In other words, cellulite gets its trademark dimpled appearance from the way it pushes up against connective tissue, causing noticeable undulations in your skin. This puckered or lumpy effect, which is often likened to the texture of an orange peel or cottage cheese, is a purely cosmetic problem that doesn’t affect your physical health.
Although researchers are still learning about cellulite, they believe that various contributing factors may play a role in its development. You’re more likely to have cellulite if:
As we’ve mentioned, cellulite is mainly a female problem: 80-90% of women develop some degree of cellulite, but only about 10% of men have it. There are three possible explanations for this:
Higher estrogen levels are associated with cellulite formation. It often appears or for the first time after puberty or during pregnancy — two times in a woman’s life when estrogen levels are increased.
Because of estrogen, a higher ratio of female fat is distributed along the hips, buttocks, and thighs — the three most common areas for cellulite.
Cellulite may also affect more women than men because of the structural difference between male and female connective tissue structure. In men, connective tissue consists of fibrous bands that crisscross together; in women, it’s made up of fibrous bands that run parallel to one another. It’s possible that these parallel bands enable more puckering and dimpling than bands that are crisscrossed.
Genetics help determine your skin structure and texture as well as your body type. If cellulite runs in your family, you’re more likely to develop it.
As you grow older, your skin gets thinner. This can exacerbate the appearance of cellulite.
At Smooth Body Contours, we take a simple yet highly effective approach to cellulite reduction with a centuries-old treatment called wood therapy.
Using a variety of handheld wooden tools (some look like textured or grooved rolling pins, others are more contoured), we massage an area of cellulite to help release tight connective tissue, increase lymphatic drainage, and smooth out dimpled skin tissue. Most women see dramatic results in just four 40-minute sessions.
If you’re ready to say goodbye to stubborn cellulite, we can help. Call or click online to book an appointment at your nearest Smooth Body Contours location in Orlando, Florida or Sandy Springs, Georgia today.
