How to tighten skin on legs and reduce cellulite in your 50s and 60s

Cellulite reduction and skin tightening after the age of 50 or 60

• How to get rid of cellulite in your 50s and 60s?

• ‘Reduce cellulite’ vs ‘get rid of cellulite’ in your 50s and 60s

• Skin looseness and skin tightening in the 50s and 60s

• Cellulite reduction and skin tightening in the 50s and 60s do work but generally require more sessions

• How about cellulite surgery? Surely that must correct the tissue damage at any age, even in the 50s or 60s and eliminate cellulite, right?

• What about those non-surgical miracle treatments that “eliminate cellulite or tighten skin in one session”? I saw those amazing pictures on instagram…

• How about thigh lift / tummy tuck / arm lift surgery for skin tightening in the age bracket of 50s-60s?

• Cellulite reduction and skin tightening in the 70s

How to get rid of cellulite in your 50s and 60s?

Can you get rid of cellulite once you have it? And can you get rid of cellulite when it has been established for 20, 30, 40 years? These are common questions at the clinic, so let’s have a look at what experience shows us.

Cellulite can only be eliminated when it is at Stage 1, i.e. visible only when pinched, or at most a very recent Stage 2, i.e. visible when standing (Stage 3 is cellulite visible even when lying down and Stage 4 is Stage 3 cellulite with very deep, fibrotic dents).

By the time cellulite establishes itself to Stage 2 for a few years, it is not possible to completely eliminate it. So for Stages 3 or 4, you cannot get rid of cellulite once you have it, while for Stages 1 and 2 you can, if it’s recent.

Some women develop cellulite in their teens, most do so in their 20s, 30s and 40s and almost none develops cellulite in their 50s or 60s, at least in the Western world (in parts of the developing world, and very rarely in women in the developed world, cellulite never appears or it just appears in women over 60).

Some women in their 50s and 60s in the West do report they have just developed cellulite recently, but almost certainly cellulite was there for several years, either gone unnoticed or perhaps being too minor to be noticed.

The fact is that in people following Western lifestyles (unhealthy food, inactivity, hormonal contraception, smoking/vaping, alcohol drinking etc), either in the developed or developing world, cellulite appears early in life.

‘Reduce cellulite’ vs ‘get rid of cellulite’ in your 50s and 60s

As a result, by the age of 50 or 60 many women have had cellulite for 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years. This means deeply established changes in the skin and connective tissue, i.e. cellulite Stages 3 and even 4.

Cellulite established for several decades or cellulite Stage 3 or 4 cannot be eliminated by any surgery or by any “miracle” cellulite treatment, of any method of any kind.

So the correct term is ‘How to reduce cellulite in the 50s and 60s’ rather than ‘Getting rid of it’, which is a bit difficult even in younger ages - and despite what silly beauty instagrammers and tiktokers claim.

However, even in the 50s and 60s cellulite can be reduced to a large extent with a course of strong (but always safe) cellulite treatments. The strongest SAFE cellulite reduction technology is deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation, with deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency also helping.

Everything else just doesn’t work that well and/or can lead to burns/skin damage (hence the mention of the word ‘safe’ above).

Needless to say that, together with the treatments, exercise and healthy nutrition are essential, for effective cellulite reduction.

Skin looseness and skin tightening in the 50s and 60s

Similarly to cellulite, skin firmness/tightness/tone declines with time, especially given that collagen synthesis declines slowly from the age of 25 and then it sharply declines after the age of about 50.

This means more work to keep skin firm / tight or to tighten it if it has become loose.

However, you can still tighten skin in the 50s, 60s and even 70s with a course of strong (but always safe) skin tightening treatments. The strongest SAFE skin tightening technology is deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency.

Everything else just doesn’t work that well and/or can lead to burns/skin damage (hence the mention of the word ‘safe’ above).

Again, together with the treatments, exercise and enough protein and polyphenols in the diet are essential, for effective skin tightening.

Cellulite reduction and skin tightening in the 50s and 60s do work but generally require more sessions

As skin responds slower to any treatment in the 50s and 60s, cellulite reduction and skin tightening in that age group typically require 50% or 100% more more sessions than with someone in their 20s or 30s.

Even with the best technology in the world, we always recommend 6-12 sessions for good results, in most cases, for people below the age of 50.

For people in their 20s to 40s, many people are happy with just 6x deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency / high-power ultrasound cavitation (the strongest SAFE cellulite reduction / skin tightening technologies available today).

For people in the 50s the equivalent to 6x sessions would have to be roughly 9x sessions. And for people in their 60s that would usually have to be 12x sessions.

Of course, these numbers are not set in stone:

• A fit or generally more responsive person in their 50s may have much faster results than someone unfit or generally less responsive person in their 20s

• A person with severe cellulite appearance or skin laxity may need 18x sessions, even in their 30s, while another one in their 60s with less cellulite may only need 12x sessions, for good results

How about cellulite surgery? Surely that must correct the tissue damage at any age, even in the 50s or 60s and eliminate cellulite, right?

Absolutely wrong.

There are two types of cellulite surgery: laser cellulite surgery/cellulaze and subcision/cellfina.

The former (laser cellulite surgery/cellulaze) attempts to literally burn the hell out of the cellulite tissue with a laser cannula tip from inside the skin and turn that tissues into scar tissue, which is then baptised “collagen” or “skin tightening”. In reality the picture after is worse than the picture before, due to a large extent to adverse reactions. I have never seen a satisfied client after laser cellulite surgery.

The latter (subcision/cellfina) attempts to make 25 undercut the collagen bands of about 25 cellulite dimples with a laser after 25 incisions are made inn the skin, and it still usually does not correct cellulite on those areas.

Given that your thighs have hundreds of cellulite dimples, even if successful, this kind of surgery is a drop in the ocean. And let’s not talk about the adverse reactions and the consequent skin laxity.

Cellulite surgery, of any kind, is not the answer at any age, be it 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s.

The only time I would suggest cellulite surgery (subcision only, never laser surgery) is to remove 5-10 very deep cellulite dents, while keeping fingers crossed that it succeeds.

And after that I would definitely suggest deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and high-power ultrasound cavitation for skin tightening and for the other, less severe, several hundred dents existing on the same thighs and buttocks.

How about thigh lift / tummy tuck / arm lift surgery for skin tightening in the age bracket of 50s and 60s?

For severe skin laxity (e.g. droopy skin, paper-thin skin) indeed thigh lift / tummy tuck / arm lift surgery, whereby a portion of the skin is cut and discarded and the remainder stitched together is the best solution. However, such surgery involves long - and quite often deep - scars, so it’s not a panacea.

For less severe skin laxity, deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency is the treatment of choice as it is effective and super-safe (99.5% safety at our clinic), especially when provided by a well-trained, experienced and knowledgable therapist.

For cases of borderline severity you can either have more deep tissue RF sessions or have surgery. This can be decided after you consult with 2-3 RF practitioners and 2-3 surgeons and make an informed opinion.

What about those non-surgical miracle treatments that “eliminate cellulite or tighten skin in one session”? I saw those amazing pictures on instagram…

Let’s just make it clear once and for all that these are pure FRAUD.

As mentioned above, unless it is very recent or little, cellulite cannot be “rid off” with ANY method of ANY kind, no matter how painful or expensive the procedure is. And skin laxity cannot be safely AND effectively improved with just one session either.

Even with the strongest technologies in the world, 6-12x sessions are needed for more people for good results with both cellulite reduction and skin tightening and never with 1, 2, 3 or even 4 sessions.

Those “you only need 1-4” miracle treatments are either very unsafe and/or ineffective and are only good for clinics to make exorbitant profits - not for you. That’s the reality and that’s the honest answer. Don’t be gullible and don’t fall for so-called “before and after” pictures on instagram or tiktok: 95% of them are fake.

If you wish to reduce cellulite and/or tighten skin in your 50s or 60s, have a proper course of 6, 12 (and sometimes more) deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and/or high-power ultrasound cavitation sessions. The number of sessions will depend on cellulite / skin laxity severity and response from your body. And always combine with healthy nutrition and, if possible, with exercise, for maximum results.

Cellulite reduction and skin tightening in the 70s

Skin tightening and cellulite reduction in the 70s is still possible but typically requires more sessions. Over the years we had several clients in their early 70s (70-75) at the clinic and most of them got some good results, albeit usually with double the amount of sessions typically required.

So most of our clients in their 70s needed about 12-18 sessions for good results, rather than 6-12.

Of course, you may just disregard cellulite and skin laxity, in your 70s or even in your 20s, and that’s absolutely fine. But for those who care about cellulite reduction and skin tightening, these are the facts.