Pimples, wrinkles and dimples, oh my! Yep, this year I’ve got a brand new problem to add to my growing list of beauty woes.
While it used to be my vast amount of freckles that I wished would go away (and come back as a pretty splattering across the nose), this then moved on to pimples, then wrinkles and now the dreaded dimples (and no, I’m not talking about the super cutes ones that appear when you smile).
After years of avoiding the cottage-cheese-on-legs look, my luck has run out. And it appears I am not alone.
According to the Cosmetics Physicians Society of Australasia, cellulite is one of the most common aesthetic problems facing women in Australia with 85 per cent of ladies experiencing dimpled-skin to some degree.
Cellulite is caused by lumpy fat deposits just below the surface of the skin (did I just put you off your meal?!) and is unrelated to weight. It occurs when fat cells push through the tissues beneath the skin between the tight fibre bands that connect the muscle to the skin allowing the fat to bulge up and thus create the orange peel effect.
Cellulite is a far more difficult problem to effectively treat than fat bulges as it involves more than just fat,” says Dr Mary Dingley from the CPSA. Also, due to the cyclical nature of female hormones, it is even more difficult to produce long term results for cellulite. Although temporary results from treatment may occur, relatively briefly, they often require expensive maintenance.”
Dr Dingley recommended treating cellulite with diet and regular exercise, but says some women who are healthy and underweight are still unable to avoid the dimpled skin.
While the majority of solutions on the market offer little noticeable results, there are some non and minimally-invasive treatments available that may help to reduce the appearance of cellulite, which is good news for patients who want to see results but don’t want to go ‘under the knife’,” reveals Dr Dingley.
Non- and minimally-invasive treatments for cellulite currently available in Australia include: Ultrasonic Cavitation, Injection Lipolysis, Endermologie, VelaSmooth and regular lymphatic drainage massage.
Ultrasonic Cavitation uses ultrasonic soundwaves to put pressure on the fat cell membranes. Injection Lipolysis injects phosphatidyl choline into the fat layers beneath the skin. Endermologie is a massage machine which has two rollers and a suction valve that gently fold and stretch the skin to cause fluid movement.
VelaSmooth works similarly to Endermologie but combines the massage machine with electrical-optical synergy technology, bi-polar radio frequency and infrared light energies to smooth the skin. Regular lymphatic drainage massage involves manually massaging the lymph nodes and points of the body to reduce blockages.
Do you suffer from the dreaded cellulite? Are you using any treatments to help control it?
