Don’t let your summer be ruined by lumps and bumps. Cellulite, it¹s a common curse for women great and small but what exactly it is? How we can treat it? Is there really a cure? Everything you need to know plus more! Imagine yourself walking along the beach dressed in a bright tropical swimsuit, showing off sleek firm and smooth legs that turn everyone’s head. If this lifetime dream gets further from reality with your every effort to bring it closer, you are not alone – an estimated 85% of women have cellulite. Some women may not know exactly what it is, but they'll wrap it, rub it, peel it, baste it and vacuum it to try and make it disappear.

 Cellulite is not a disease, a clinical name for a special condition, or an ailment. The term Cellulite took its roots in the 19^th century in European salons and spas to describe deposits of dimpled fat found on the thighs and buttocks of many women. The concept was popularized after the 1973 publication of "Cellulite: Those Lumps, Bumps and Bulges You Couldn't Lose Before", by Nicole Ronsard, owner of a New York City beauty salon that specialized in skin and body care.

Cellulite is simply fat stored underneath your skin. It is the same kind of fat you find anywhere else on your body – whether it is under your chin, or on the back of your arm. Unfortunately for many of us, fat may get a bumpy unpleasant appearance on some parts of our bodies resembling cottage cheese.

The mystery of cellulite comes from its unbiased nature – it plants itself on hips and thighs of thin and overweight, young and old alike. So, what might be the possible causes for this famous hated sight of orange peel found on hips and thighs of millions of women everywhere in the world?

How Cellulite Forms

Beneath the skin you have a foundation of muscle tissue covered by a layer of fat. Firm striated muscle fibers give you strength and a soft protective layer of fat keeps internal heat and balances all body functions on the cellular level.If muscles and fat were the only tissues involved, cellulite would be non-existent. The problem is the connective tissue that attaches the muscles to the skin.

Imagine the tent scaffold structure where the fabric is your skin, the muscles are the supporting ground and the connective tissue fibers are the tent poles. This network of fibers runs through the fat layer separating it into clusters.

When this thin layer of connective tissue becomes more fibrous, like a scar, it pulls together around the fat squeezing the it out of their pockets and pushing through the skin. This causes the tiny dimples and irregularities show on the skin surface creating cellulite.

Since there are four different structures engaged in potential formation of cellulite – muscle, fat, skin and connective tissue, any disturbances or imbalances in them may aggravate the problem and make cellulite more pronounced.

Causes of Cellulite

Body Fat

Cellulite concept is based on body fat. No matter how you look at it, it is still fat and weight gain worsens the problem - fat cells increase in size, bulge out of pockets created by the connective tissue walls, put additional pressure on the skin making cellulite fat bumps appear larger and more defined.

Overweight people carry additional fat in the deep layers under their skin. The deep excess fat applies outward pressure to the cellulite layer, pushing cellulite tightly against the skin and making it more visible on the surface.

Muscle Tone

Excess fat may not be the only explanation of cellulite, especially when you see waffled skin on the thighs of very thin women. On the other hand, some heavier women may have no cellulite whatsoever. One of the reasons for that may be muscle tone. Firm muscles provide a stable ground for fat and connective tissue keeping skin surface tight and smooth. Poorly toned muscles fail to give the foundation resulting in deformed connective fibers and visible fat bumps.

Age

 Most women lose one kilogram of muscle and add four kilograms of fat per decade. This changing body composition slows metabolism, worsens blood circulation, increases appetite and promotes cellulite formation. But even if you haven’t lost or gained weight, skin softens with age sagging down and wrapping around the bursting fat cells. As a person ages and the skin thins, cellulite becomes more visible.

Hormones

Cellulite formation is closely linked to the female sex hormone estrogen and is more likely to appear during the times of dramatic hormonal changes, such as puberty, pregnancy and menopause. It is not known how exactly hormones plant the cellulite roots, but seems that hormonal manipulation, such as using birth-control or HRT pills, may aggravate the problem.

Toxins

 The connective tissue is surrounded by a liquid that both nourishes it with nutrients and cleans out waste products. If the whole system is working efficiently, the connective tissue is healthy and performs its function properly. However, if the toxins are not removed, they get trapped deep in the skin. Metabolic wastes slow down the circulation of blood and body fluids that nourish fatty tissues and connective fibers. This thickens and hardens the connective tissue. As a result, it pushes on the surrounding fat squeezing it out of the pockets.

Genes

If your mother had cellulite, chances are so will you. Unfortunately, cellulite is 80 percent genetic, according to Robert Ersek, M.D., professor of post graduate education in aesthetic plastic surgery at the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and teaching professor at Southwest Texas University. But don’t despair just because you can’t choose your parents – there still are some things that you can do to make cellulite less visible.

Cures of Cellulite

Exercise

Exercise is the only way you can make muscles firmer and stronger and will also help you lose body fat and change the body composition. Improved muscle tone guarantees good blood circulation delivering valuable oxygen and nutrients to all body tissues and flushing out unwanted toxins.

But don’t try to get rid of body fat on specific body parts - you cannot ‘spot reduce’ cellulite. If you manage to lose body fat, it will melt from all over your body. You can, however, spot-build the muscles in certain areas making the appearance of cellulite less visible.

Cleanse and Massage

Detoxifying your body with diet and improving circulation with massage may help lessen cellulite appearance by encouraging the elimination of unwanted trapped waste products. There is a belief that professionally done, massage may help break through the fat cells smoothing skin appearance. There are many creams, oils and lotions available to be used specifically in massage for cellulite reduction. Even though science cannot back up these claims, anecdotal evidence shows slight temporal reduction of fat appearance.

Besides, massaging with aromatic oils will definitely improve your mood, reduce muscle tension, and hydrate your skin. If you are looking for an anti-cellulite cream, choose a good brand, ask around for real-life success stories, and look at the list of ingredients. Eye-catching constituents in skin products vary from unknown ancient herbs to rare sea mud. Beware that you are purchasing them from a reputable store.

Endermologie

Endermologie is the only procedure approved in the US for “temporarily improving the appearance of cellulite." A high-powered, handheld vacuum-like massage tool purportedly breaks down the fat cells and makes them look smoother. The magic device consists of a treatment head and two motorized rollers with a suction mechanism that compresses the affected cellulite tissue between the two rollers. It takes 10 to 20 initial treatments and one or two maintenance treatments per month for best results.

Mesotherapy

Originally developed in France, mesotherapy is another treatment for cellulite and involves a series of injections into small pockets of cellulite. They contain a solution -- a cocktail of homeopathic medications and supplements -- that supposedly break down fat and flush it away. No research supports the claims that mesotherapy reduces cellulite and there are many potential side effects to this form of treatment.

Liposuction

In this surgical procedure fat is sucked out from beneath your skin, but does not guarantee for cellulite to disappear. Liposuction can reduce some of the bulging caused by fat, but it will not make the skin perfectly smooth. There even is a chance that liposuction will worsen the problem through unbalanced fat distribution under the skin.

Electrical Muscle Stimulators (EMS)

Muscle stimulators are intended to relax muscle spasms, increase blood circulation, prevent blood clots, and rehabilitate muscle function after a stroke. However, they are advertised to remove wrinkles, perform face lifts, reduce breast size and remove cellulite. Blood circulation may help tissue nourishment, whether it can assist cellulite removal is unclear.

Remember, until the science finds the cure for cottage cheese hips and thighs, you are more likely to reduce your bank savings than your bottom bumps. And while the cellulite marketplace keeps capitalizing on women’s insecurity, you can spend your time embracing your womanhood and taking better care of your health.

By Elena Voropay