Tips and Techniques for Fat Burning and Anti-Cellulite
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free skin care · Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:19 am

Products and Methods of Subcutaneous Fat and Cellulite Elimination

As many of you know, I am a strong proponent of physical fitness and good skin health. I follow the cosmetic industry trends and the bodybuilding industry trends, searching for new and novel methods of fat elimination. Recently, I came across articles published in the Journal of Dermatologic Surgery and Happi magazine. These articles listed some of the most common, and some of the newest procedures and products to rid the body of subcutaneous fat and cellulite. I thought many of you would be interested in this information, so here is a brief synopsis of the information:

First of all, the demand for anti-cellulite products is on the rise. Sales of these products rose from $58.8 million in 2002 to $93.1 million in 2007. These included surgical options, non-invasive devises, injectables and topical creams. For those not interested in surgery or highly expensive, repeat treatment non-invasive devises, the topical creams did show improvements on product users. It is important to note that it is recommended that "waist bands" or "bio-occlusive shorts" be worn over the topical creams. The articles sited 20% to 35% improvement as the norm in these cases. They did caution that the topical cream product should be chosen wisely, with emphasis on the fat burning actives in the product. There are over 200 products currently on the market today and these types of products proliferate despite the lack of data on efficacy for most of them. The bottom line here is let the buyer beware, and only use a product known for successful results. The Journal of Dermatologic Surgery which tested many creams and found many to be successful has these tips for use of that type of product. First, the products are best applied after a hot shower, or during regular exercise when the skin is still moist and warm. It is also important that the cream or lotion be used in conjunction with diet and exercise.

Now, this next section is one that I personally emphasize over and over again. According to the articles regular exercise increases circulation and promotes detoxification by increasing perspiration. Exercise tightens, tones tissues and helps maintain a healthy wieght to prevent certain diseases. Also, and this is important, water does not reduce the appearance of cellulite, but it fully hydrates and plumps the skin and provides health benefits. I always recommend drinking as much water as you can each day. The benefits are worth it.

Next, I'll give you a list of the treatments (other than cosmetic creams and lotions) that were investigated in the articles. You can take this information and do further searches, or research, to determine what might work best for you if you want to try something other than the topical creams and lotions.

Seaweed or Sea Mud Wraps:
This is a topical treatment that is relatively inexpensive. Spa charges range from $60 - $250, and this type of treatment is considered a relatively quick fix. These types of wraps increase circulation, promote detoxification, and compact skin tissue. Repeat procedures will be required.

Endermologie:
This treatment is approved by the FDA creating an initial sensation when it won approval in 1998. Patients wear a special body stocking during treatment while an aesthetician uses a hand-held roller that draws up the skin to break up the pockets of cellulite and increase circulation. At the same time another device suctions the skin. This somewhat uncomfortable procedure swells the skin to make cellulite go away temporarily. Endermologie typically involves two treatments a week for 10 weeks, followed by regular maintenance treatments costing approximately $100 each.

Mesotherapy:
Mesotherapy was developed in France about 50 years ago, and is an intriguing, yet controversial, cellulite treatment. Potentially risky, mesotherapy involves injecting small amounts of drugs or natural substances into the mesoderm, the layer of fat and connective tissue under the skin. The idea is to break up and metabolize fat. The injectable ingredients are usually FDA approved, but the treatment concept itself, is not. The ingredients commonly injected included substances such as aminophillin and isopropanol to break up fat cells, collagenase and hyaluronidase to dissolve the connective fibers, anti-inflammatory medicines to control pain and swelling, and agents such as melitotus to dilate the blood and lymph vessels to increase circulation. Treatments are usually applied by plastic surgeons and side effects can include bruising at the injection sites, sores, and scarring. The price range for a session is $800 - $1,500. Six to 10 sessions are typically recommended.

Liposuction:
Localized fat deposits typically are the targets of liposuction. But, this $5,000 technique of extracting fat by vacuuming it from under the skin is not an effective cellulite treatment. In fact, liposuction may worsen the appearance of the skin by eliminating the cushion of fat that resides just below the skin. The result can be additional dimpling.

Heat Treatments:
Several cellulite treatments depend on heat. One is a hand held probe that delivers electro-magnetic radio waves to heat underlying fat tissue. The Accent System is a new device that uses radio-frequency energy to heat the underlying tissue at different depths. This procedure is medically supervised and is non-invasive costing approximately $3,000 for six treatments. The Thermage method is a somewhat promising method for long term cellulite treatment. This device transmits radio frequency heat, which penetrates more deeply than lasers, without burning. However, this treatment can be painful, and can take over two hours to treat a single area. Therefore, doctors often administer pain medication before the procedure. Side effects can include pain, swelling, and temporary redness in the treated area. Treatments are expensive at about $4,000. However noticable results can be seen in as little as one session. Tri-Active is a painless, non-medical laser. It combines a low-energy laser to enhance blood circulation with mechanical massage to stimulate and tighten tissue. Treatments are usually 10 - 12 weekly with a monthly maintenance treatment thereafter. The cost is $80 - $150 for a 30-minute treatment.

Others:
Ultrasound
Carboxy Therapy
VelaSmooth

Bottom Line:
The most effective way to treat cellulite is through diet and exercise. This way you can impact the fat that makes its way through the net of fibrous tissue that makes up the skin to cause several small granular swellings or domes. To effectively reduce cellulite remember to watch your diet, eat fresh and natural food, drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration, limit the consumption of caffeine and alcohol, avoid high fat food and get plenty of fiber in your diet. Stop smoking....of course. As for the treatments, find the one that you can tolerate, and that is most cost effective for you. In most cases, it is the topical creams and lotions combined with sweat belts and/or shorts.

free skin care · Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:33 pm

Thanks for posting this John. I agree that a multifaceted approach is the way to go, with diet and exercise the most important. Home massage with an infrared massager, essential oils and topicals lightly dermarolled in is my routine at the moment. It's a long and slow process when you already have the horrid stuff. Sad

free skin care · Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:28 am

Wow, thanks for the post, very helpful. I think the key is to stick to the routine for a long time which I can never succeed. Embarassed

free skin care · Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:08 pm

I once got rid of IT through strict diet and exercise routine. With age the fighting gets tougher. But I feel it is time again to succeed. Another helpful hint: skin brushing and contrast shower (warm and cold water) on affected areas. Good firming cream helps. I have not found one yet. Any tips? Smile

free skin care · Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:22 am

Also saunas can be a help. But dry brushing is a great tool at the top of my list. The creams are proven temporary at best and none have actually delivered results according to my doc. He believes in drybrushing, water, exercise and diet.
(A little instant tan on white legs helps in the camouflage department! Cellulite always looks better that way IMO).

free skin care · Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:10 pm

Thanks for sharing! I believe that regular exercise and balanced diet are most important. They really do good to our health during our entire life.

free skin care · Wed Dec 10, 2008 5:58 am

Eggs are surprisingly helpful. Even though I'm a dancer and also practice yoga and Pilates, I had a little cellulite a couple of years ago. Then I read about all the benefits of cage-free, organic eggs in a health magazine (Prevention ?). I've been eating an egg or two most days since then, and no more cellulite. Very Happy

free skin care · Sun Dec 28, 2008 8:21 pm

I am reading a book, The Complete Hip & Thighs Diet by Rosemary Colney. She has listed many successful testimonials in the books, my friend gave me this book, she has tried it and lost few inches on her waist, hip and thighs. The diet seems popular in the UK, not in the US. As I have searched from Amazon.

Anyone has tried it before?

free skin care · Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:36 am

I think doing exercise is the only way. I do not believe that there is any product could help us with our fat burning. You know, our fat has to be changed into some heat quantity. But what could make us feel hot? only exercise!

Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:39 pm

Hi everyone.

I am a 41 year old woman.

I was always very skinny growing up, but dad's side of the family struggles with big butts, hips and thighs, and I am no exception now that I'm officially middle aged. Along with the fat hips, thighs and butt, I'm lucky enough to have inherited cellulite genes, and about 6 months ago I looked in the mirror and could take it no longer.

While I know that a good diet and exercise are very good for the body, I have never found high levels of exercise at the gym, etc., to have much effect at all on my body.

About 2 years ago, I tried The Zone Diet and going to the gym 3 times/week for about 6 months, and I lost about 8Kg over 2 months, and probably the same again before I was done, but eventually tired of they gym, and got sick of being so diligent with my diet. At the time, I thought the gym was the thing that had helped so much.

But then, I looked in the mirror one day about 6 months ago, and could take it no longer so, encouraged by friends, I decided to start counting calories (something that had worked for my dad in the past) and rented a cross-trainer to burn additional ones… but to NO avail.

I couldn’t figure out what had changed, but it wasn’t working!

Being middle-aged and with a reasonable income now, I decided to try Endermologie Lipomassage on the off-chance it would work. I really wasn't expecting much, but was pretty distressed that in the past I had always lost weight easily, but was not now, so I’d try anything!

The beauty place I went to tried to put me on some diet called Ultralite at the same time as the Endermologie treatments, but it's too much of a fad diet for me and so I flat out refused, and decided to change my way of eating just a bit, going more towards The Zone diet again, a bit more protein and a bit less carbs, but not extremely so.

From what I had read, I was expecting that I wouldn’t see ANY real improvement from the Endermologie until about treatment 8. So it was with a great deal of glee that I looked in the mirror after treatment 2, and could see things were changing!

I am having 2 treatments per week. The Endermologie feels a bit odd at first, but not unpleasant, and after awhile, you start to like it and look forward to it.

I have had half of my 10-treatment course now, and after 5 treatments, I am fitting into several pairs of pants that I haven’t been able to fit into in over a year, so I have lost about 2 inches, I would guess, in my hip and thigh area, the area we are concentrating on with the treatments.

I know that people say, “Nothing works except exercise and diet”, and I’ve always felt that was probably the case.

But I can now tell you without reservation that LipoMassage works, and works well.

I have read in other forums on this site that women who are not overweight but have big thighs with cellulite respond to the treatment the best, and I fit that profile, so I would guess this would work much better for some than for others, and I am one of the lucky ones that it does work for.

I expect that the part of the Endermologie that does the most good is not so much the actual massage on the problem cellulite areas, but the stimulation of the lymphatic system and the additional blood flow and unblockage of the body’s waste disposal mechanisms.

The reason I say this is that I sit in an office all day working on computers, and over the years I have been doing this I have had more and more problems with swelling ankles and “fat calves and thighs”. However, what I thought was just “fat calves and thighs” has subsided during the treatments too, and it seems I was actually also retaining a LOT of water in my knees, some in my calves, as well as in the ankles, which I didn’t realize!

All of the extra liquid in my body has indeed been drained, I suspect due to the lymphatic stimulation, and I feel great from it and look fabulous!

At the beginning of each treatment, the therapist stimulates my lymphatic system at my inner armpits, groin and inner, back of the knee, and then starts massaging to push the bad fluids out of my cellulite ridden areas. I suspect without the lymphatic stimulation this would not be doing half the good job it is.

Today was my fifth treatment, and afterwards I needed to pee really bad, and was very cold. These are side effects of the treatment which seem to get sharper every time, but do tell you that the treatments are working! When I put on my pants, they were noticeably LOOSER than when I had come in for the treatment. I am not kidding about this! I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.

I have no doubt that adding more protein to my diet and cutting back on grains has helped also, and I think The Zone diet is probably what really caused me to lose weight a couple years ago much more than the exercise. But this time I am losing the weight much faster, and EXACTLY where I want it to come off!

I am not eating much bread, rice, etc., and not missing it at all, having replaced it with things like dairy products, chocolate, anything I want. It is a lifestyle change to my diet that does not upset me in the least, and therefore is something I can maintain long-term this time.

I have sent back the cross-trainer (which I was thankfully only renting) and the only exercise I get now is walking the dog up and down some steep sets of steps and hills 3 times/week. I’m sure it’s good for me, and the dog likes it, so I do it, but it is NOT what is taking off the extra girth.

I have also not jumped on a scale. That is just depressing. One doesn’t always lose WEIGHT but GIRTH, and that’s the important thing to me, and that is happening in droves.

I have to say that, if you have the means (and I know I wouldn’t have been able to afford it in my 20s, so I can understand if people don’t want to spend that kind of money), Endermologie Lipomassage DOES work… at least for some of us, myself included.

If you can afford even 3 or 4 treatments, I would guess that it would make you feel so good, and you would see enough results to convince you to find the money to afford more treatments!

I will finish my 10 treatments, twice per week, and then will start on once/week treatments until June, when I go back to visit my family in the US looking nice and slim! (I’m American but currently live in Australia). After that time, I will gauge how I am doing and will continue maintenance treatments. If once/month maintains me, I am happy to do this for the rest of my life, because it works so well.

I should say here that if you can’t afford Endermologie, I suspect that Manual Lipo Massage treatments would probably achieve something similar and are worth a try. In Australia (this is in Aussie dollars so it sounds more expensive than it is), the Endermologie Treatments are around $120/treatment and Manual Lipo Massages are around $85/treatment, so it’s less expensive.

Well, that’s about all I have to say. I feel great, have lost cravings for bad foods, and have a LOT more energy than I used to. The slight changes to my diet and the Lymphatic stimulation seem to be key in this newfound me. I definitely recommend both these things to anyone who is having trouble losing weight through conventional diet and exercise.

free skin care · Tue Apr 06, 2010 4:47 pm

tequilaatamm - that is incredible! I wish I could afford to see if it would work for me. I think you are right about fluid accumulation. My doctor put me on a pill for nerve pain, and one of the side effects is edema. Suddenly, without changing diet, I looked fifteen pounds heavier, and had cellulite. I could not believe it. When I take the diuretics prescribed, the cellulite all but goes away. It was the same for my sister on the pill. We both have always maintained a high intake of water and had no problems, but with the edema, the fluid is pushed into the flesh, and the cellulite appears. As I have to take these nerve pain pills, I am struggling to find a way to deal with the lumpies. I will try dry brushing and massaging the areas and hope something good will happen.

Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:36 pm

Hi Alexa... keep trying, I have read that the body brushing works... but you have to do it religiously.

I think most things that work well are things you ghave to stick with over longer periods of time and be patient with. I also think in our society today, most people are too impatient to bother... they just want some 5 minute miracle cure.

I'm lucky because I don't have to take any medications for anything... I rarely ever even take Tylenol or anything! It's always hard when you have to take something to fix one condition and it messes up another condition!

Back when I was on birth control pills, I was always in a bad mood, bloated and it also set off an avalanche of spider veins that I still have today. I'm not on the pill anymore, so I'm not getting any new spider veins, but the cellulite treatments are the first thing ever that have actually managed to lessen the appearance of the spider veins too... that and I've ben taking a supplement called Diosmin 95... it's basically orange peel in tablet form.. which may also be helping the spider vens. That one took a good 2 or 3 months before showing that it helped much, but eventually it did help a little too!

Anyway, keep brushing and eat a bit more meat and a few less grains, that should also help.

free skin care · Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:19 pm

tequilatamm
I know this is off topic but how did the treatments help your spider veins? I am as pale and see-through as rice paper, and veins are a bane of my existence. I would love to do something to help them improve, and if it helps cellulite too...Do you think that removing the excess fluid helped, or the increase in circulation?
I will try to dry brush my lumpies more often in hopes of seeing positive change - you have inspired me!

Thu Apr 08, 2010 6:09 am

I think that regular exercise and healthy diet is the only effective way to lose weight and get rid of cellulite. Smile

free skin care · Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:16 am

ishay wrote:

I think that regular exercise and healthy diet is the only effective way to lose weight and get rid of cellulite. Smile

I totally agree...and less expensive, lol!

free skin care · Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:28 am

Amen to the regular exercise and good diet, but it's a tough habit to keep up. Confused

Every so often, I yearn for a liposuction treatment for an easy way out but always chicken out. Laughing

free skin care · Thu Apr 08, 2010 1:41 pm

Its weird, but I have heard repeatedly that bubbly drinks, even plain soda water with no sodium, make cellulite worse. Any comments on that? It seems like that is impossible, but I am no expert...

free skin care · Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:55 pm

It's genetic. Even Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford have cellulite. As you age, your skin thins and you can see what is underneath and if that's fat cells, so be it.

I think Endermologie gets rid of it temporarily and there is a surgery that snips the connective threads holding the upper skin to whatever is below but that grows back.

free skin care · Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:55 pm

I"m 25 y/o and have been battling with cellulite for a few years now. I'm 5'4 and 115 pounds, I excercise and have always been in good shape, I eat well but have cellulite on my butt and thighs! I've used topical creams of various kinds which dont work, i excercise but that doesn't make them disappear....i just purchased the Murad firming supplements and will see if i see any results in that as well as use the dermaroller.

free skin care · Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:41 pm

If you are a woman, cellulite is normal even though it's not attractive. Women without cellulite, especially after age 40, are the abnormal ones! Bad Grin

free skin care · Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:59 pm

did anyone try any medication / pill to help buring fat ??

free skin care · Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:18 am

I honestly think that excercise won't get rid of cellulite....sure it can help the appearance. I excercise 4 days a week at the gym. I used to excercise 6 days a week when I was 20 yrs old, spending 3 hours at a time and weighing 110/5'3 and was very, very toned yet still had cellulite. 5 years later I don't have that kind of time to spend at the gym but I still go and I am toned yet still have cellulite. I'm doing dry brushing, but how long should i dry brush the area for? What's the technique?

free skin care · Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:11 am

BCgirl, I've been doing your routine all my life. I still do 5 days/wk at the gym. I had my first dimple of cellulite 40 years ago at the age of 19! Weight training and cardio may help some, but for many, many of us, the appearance of cellutlite does not improve significantly. Brick wall

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