Best cellulite treatment? Here is a list of the good, the bad and the ugly

“This review is the result of more than two decades of specialisation and research in cellulite reduction and skin tightening and we hope it can be of help to you. You should definitely not have to spend two decades and invest hundreds of thousands of pounds to know what treatment works and what doesn’t.”

What is the best treatment for cellulite available today?

• The most effective cellulite treatments - in real life, not on Instagram

• The best cellulite treatments, in order of effectiveness

• Please note that this is only a list of the best technologies or techniques - the application of those technologies varies from clinic to clinic

• The cellulite treatments that work

• High-intensity, deep-acting radio frequency

• High intensity, deep-acting ultrasound cavitation

• Concentrated, multi-active cellulite creams

• The "hit and miss" cellulite treatments

• Electro-mesotherapy (mesotherapy without needles)

• Strong, cellulite-specific massage

• Pressotherapy

• The pointless or dangerous cellulite treatments

• Acoustic wave therapy (AWT)

• Injection-based mesotherapy

• Skin needling / microneedling

• Deep tissue massage for cellulite

• Lymphatic drainage massage

• Dry brushing

• Palper-rouler (vacuum suction with skin rolling)

• Infrared radiation (LED, cold laser, plain infrared lamps)

• Radiofrequency microneedling

• HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound)

• Bipolar/tripolar radiofrequency

• The surgical treatments

• The rest…

• Check our professional consultancy in cellulite, skin tightening, ultrasound and radiofrequency

The most effective cellulite treatments - in real life, not on Instagram

Before we get into more detail, let’s just say that most cellulite and skin tightening treatments just don’t work. And most women already know this by experience.

And when I say they don't work, I mean that they either do not work at all or that they offer so poor results that you would need 20, 30 or 50 sessions to be happy with the results.

The reason for this is that cellulite is a multi-faceted aesthetic condition with several different aspects:

• superficial fat accumulation

• poor circulation / lymphatic drainage

• skin and connective tissue looseness

• inflammation

• skin and connective tissue fibrosis

• glycation

• oxidative damage

It is obvious that no single treatment can tackle all those aspects at the same time, hence the failure of most treatments to work. A holistic, more comprehensive approach is needed, ideally one that combines two or more complementary techniques / technologies / approaches.

Plus, of course, healthy nutrition, exercise and other wholesome lifestyle changes.

Here we will review the best single treatments, according to effectiveness (more effective treatments are presented first, more ineffective treatments are presented last).

Ideally, a combination of two or more of the effective treatments is recommended for good results with:

• cellulite reduction or prevention

• skin tightening and skin looseness prevention

• Have a cellulite treatment in London at LipoTherapeia, the cellulite experts

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The best cellulite treatments, in order of effectiveness

This review is the result of more than two decades of specialisation and research in cellulite reduction and skin tightening and we hope it can be of help to you.

You should definitely not have to spend two decades and invest hundreds of thousands of pounds to know what treatment is the best.

Please note that this is only a list of the best technologies or techniques - the application of those technologies varies from clinic to clinic

Your therapist's knowledge and experience, the therapeutic protocols she/he uses for the treatment, the products used and the quality of the equipment are equally as important, so do your research and don't be afraid to ask clinics questions.

And of course, don't expect everything from the treatment. Follow a healthy diet regime (loads of vegetables, fruits and lean protein, restricted carbs, and no fried or sugary food), exercise a lot and try not to indulge too much on alcohol or smoking/vaping if you want good / long-term results.

The cellulite treatments that do work

These two treatments are the ones I would go for, as on their own or combined with each other they can offer the most impressive results.

Of course good, long-lasting results do not happen overnight and each body is different, so results always vary, with any treatment.

However, if offered by a skilled practitioner at a good clinic, deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation will offer you the best chance of (relatively) fast and sometimes impressive results. Furthermore, a real cellulite cream, i.e. one with multiple, high-purity anti-cellulite actives in high concentrations, can make a difference within several weeks and at a fraction of the cost of treatments.

High-intensity, deep-acting radio frequency

This treatment involves the use of high frequency electrical currents. These currents can create and focus heat on specific tissues of the body, depending on the technology and protocols used for the treatment.

This intense heat:

• Contracts your existing collagen fibres, thereby making your skin and connective tissue tighter

• Stimulates the secretion of more collagen and elastin by fibroblasts (collagen cells), thereby making your skin and connective tissue tighter

• Stimulates the release of fat from adipocytes (fat cells), thereby making your fat deposits and cellulite smaller

• Stimulates adipocyte apoptosis (early fat cell death), thereby making your fat deposits and cellulite smaller

• Results in a huge increase in circulation on the treated area

All in all, deep-tissue, high-power radiofrequency is the best technology to use for cellulite reduction, acting on fat, firmness and circulation all at the same time.

And if combined with other technologies, the results can be impressive - always, of course, in combination with diet and exercise (miracles do not exist).

Please note the "bipolar radiofrequency" variety does not work for cellulite, as it is too superficial to do anything for cellulite, which is fat seated deep inside the skin (more on that later).

The same applies to low-power RF machines, which are very inefficient.

So before you commit to any treatment, do your research. On this website we have several articles with detailed analysis on RF treatments.

High intensity, deep-acting ultrasound cavitation

Ultrasound cavitation treatments utilise high frequency sound to create cavities (bubbles) inside fat cells in particular. As the cavities grow in size with continuous application of the ultrasound head on the same area, they damage / burst the fat cell.

Of course, not all fat cells are burst or damaged in one session (the maximum intensity is capped to prevent damage to other tissues), but still this mechanical disruption caused by the sound waves encourages adipocyte apoptosis (early fat cell death), thereby helping reduce the severity of cellulite and the thickness of deeper fat layers.

Unlike radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation does not help much with circulation or skin tightening, so for best results it should ideally be combined with deep-acting, high-power radio frequency.

Concentrated, multi-active cellulite creams

It is true that most cellulite creams do not work. This is because, for profit maximisation reasons, most creams contain only one or two active ingredients and, in most cases, at low concentrations.

As we mentioned above, cellulite is a multi-faceted aesthetic problem and unfortunately some caffeine here or some retinol there are simply not enough. Clearly a more comprehensive approach is needed, with multiple actives that act on multiple aspects of cellulite (fat, circulation, inflammation, firmness, tissue repair etc.) and in high concentrations.

In summary, a highly concentrated, multi-ingredient cream can be effective in the fight against cellulite.

However, a cheap, single-ingredient, low-concentration one is definitely a waste of time and money.

The "hit and miss" cellulite treatments

The treatments below are not as effective as deep-acting, high-power radio frequency/ultrasound and they can be either helpful or a waste of time and money.

It all depends on the detail: therapist experience, equipment used, products used etc.

So read on and do your research before committing to anything.

Electro-mesotherapy (mesotherapy without needles)

Electro-mesotherapy, also known as no-needle mesotherapy or needle-free mesotherapy, refers to the increased absorption of anti-cellulite active ingredients into the skin.

Electro-mesotherapy can be based on ultrasound (sonophoresis), high frequency / radiofrequency electrical currents (electrophoresis / electroporation) or on a combination of both. Both ultrasound and high frequency electrical currents are known to enhance skin absorption of active ingredients.

If a quality anti-cellulite gel / cream / serum is used for the treatment (one that contains several actives and in high concentrations), the results can be great, especially if the treatment is combined with radiofrequency or ultrasound.

Unfortunately, most such electro-mesotherapy treatment products are actually highly diluted instead of highly concentrated and they contain either irrelevant or two few relevant active ingredients. And that's where most such treatments fail.

So before you commit to such a treatment, make sure you ask what ingredients are included in the treatment, at what concentrations and if the treatment is combined with other technologies, for maximum results.

Strong, cellulite-specific massage

Massage can be a relatively effective cellulite reduction method or a complete waste of time - it all depends on the skill and knowledge of the practitioner.

A strong massage that acts on cellulite itself can help boost circulation / lymphatic drainage, mechanically break down fat cells (limited effect), mechanically break down scar tissue (very good effect) and - if applied very regularly for several weeks - stimulate collagen production.

Unfortunately, such a strong massage is very tiring and unhealthy for the practitioner's hands and joints, painful for the recipient and also causes bruises, so it is not one of our first choices.

Furthermore, if the therapist does not exactly knows what she/he is doing, you will end up with lots of bruises and not much else.

On the other hand, with a good therapist you will have some good results, albeit accompanied by bruises and pain in the first few treatments until your body gets used to it.

Massage does not significantly affect fat tissue, which is the number one factor in cellulite, and as such it has limitations. However, in combination with a good anti-cellulite product, one with multiple active ingredients in high concentrations, results can be better.

In conclusion, as this technique depends 100% on therapist skill, it is hit and miss, so again, do your research before committing to a course of treatments.

Pressotherapy

Pressotherapy helps boost circulation and lymphatic drainage and as such can help reduce cellulite, but as it does not act on the fat tissue it has limitations.

If pressotherapy is combined with a plastic wrap, after a quality anti-cellulite cream / gel is applied on the legs, results can be better. It all depends on the active ingredients contained in the cream and their concentration.

Wrap or no wrap, the effectiveness of pressotherapy also depends on the equipment used. One with high speed of inflation / deflation and with high pressure capabilities will offer better and faster results, in comparison to a cheap machine with slow inflation / deflation cycles and low maximum pressure.

Some women also use pressotherapy to boost the effects of cavitation and radiofrequency treatments, by aiding lymphatic drainage / circulation after those treatments. However, both treatments significantly boost circulation on their own, so pressotherapy is not really necessary.

All in all, pressotherapy is a good maintenance treatment.

• Have a cellulite treatment in London at LipoTherapeia, the cellulite experts

• The only aesthetic practice in London to treat only cellulite and skin laxity

• 23-year experience, 22,000 cellulite and skin tightening treatments performed!

• Book your introductory session now at 50% off with code BEACHYLEGS50

The pointless or dangerous cellulite treatments

The treatments below are, in my experience, a waste of time and money, despite some of them being hyped up by the so called "experts" in the media.

Acoustic wave therapy (AWT)

Several years ago, when acoustic wave therapy used to be known as shockwave therapy and only confined to breaking down kidney stones, healing bones and treating tendon and ligament injuries, I have decided to research this technology for the treatment of cellulite.

That was well before the PR hype by a well-known London cosmetic clinic about Madonna buying a machine and using it for her cellulite (yeah, right)...

There was some research published on the use of ESWT* , i.e. extracorporeal shockwave therapy, which was quite promising and the whole idea "made sense" - at least theoretically.

(* The euphemistic "acoustic wave therapy" name was invented later, for PR reasons.)

This prompted me to thoroughly research the subject: I looked at all the research, found the major manufacturers, read about the different equipment specifications, features and limitations, talked to a consultant doctor specialising in ESWT about the application I had in mind, travelled all the way to Germany to talk to experts in the field of ESWT and finally rented, tried and tested the two best machines from the two leading shockwave equipment manufacturers for a month each at my clinic: one machine offering radial shockwaves (cheaper, more crude form, the only one available for beauty) and one offering focused (superior, more expensive, more refined form, only offered for medical applications).

For several weeks I used at my clinic on volunteering clients the two best and strongest machines on the market at maximum or near maximum intensity for about 8-12 sessions each.

The result? Well, not much...

The problem with acoustic wave therapy / extracorporeal shockwave therapy, is that it is great for hard tissues or structures (such as kidney stones, bones, ligaments, tendons and more fibrous muscles) and not that great for soft tissues (such as less fibrous muscles and fat).

This is because softer tissues absorb the majority of the shockwave in the same way a safety net absorbs the impact of someone falling from a height, so no significant therapeutic stimulation is achieved.

I suppose with enough sessions some women will see some results, some of the times. But this is not what I would call an effective cellulite treatment.

Research can be manipulated to prove or disprove anything and I have seen this happening with many treatments where theory says something works and reality says otherwise.

(Not to mention influencers, fake reviews and manipulated before and after pictures, which can prove that night is white and day is black…)

And this is the reason why I never buy machines for my practice based just on research or on technical characteristics any more (and of course I will never buy a machine based on marketing hype or because "Madonna used it")..

Research and technical data are there to guide me to shortlist a specific machine, but the final decision comes only after trying the machine at the clinic on several patients for a month or more.

In summary, AWT does not live up to its expectations. At low intensities it does not do much and at high intensities it does way too little.

Except perhaps from causing hearing impairment on the therapist using it - at high intensities AWT is deafeningly loud...

Injection-based mesotherapy

Mesotherapy involves the use of a "gun" with multiple needles which inject anti-cellulite actives into the skin. This intrusive procedure, which is painful and leaves the skin with bruises, can be effective in some cases and pretty ineffective in most.

If homeopathic or irrelevant actives (such as "artichoke extract that cleanses the liver" - really? the liver?) are used, don't expect much results.

If things like caffeine, vitamin C etc are used, you should expect some results, but don't hold your breath: it has been found that most of the benefit of mesotherapy is due to the injury caused by the needles and subsequent healing of tissues, rather than the extremely diluted actives themselves.

In some countries the combination of lecithin with bile acids (yes, the ones you use to digest your food in your gut), such as deoxycholic acid, is allowed for use in mesotherapy injections (banned in the UK).

This combination does help reduce cellulite and fat, but be prepared for bruises, irritation, pain and the occasional fainting: if lecithin escapes into the blood stream it can get converted into choline and then to acetylcholine, which stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, hence the fainting.

In some other countries stronger chemical cocktails, banned in more regulated countries, are used.

I once had a client that previously used to have painful weekly injections (she could not sit properly for a couple of days after the injections) for two months, every six months, every year.

And despite all the suffering, she did not have much to show for all that pain. In my opinion the results do not justify all the cost, effort and anguish and she would be way better off with one of the non-intrusive techniques referenced above.

In conclusion, if the right chemicals are used, mesotherapy can reduce fat and therefore cellulite, but it can be dangerous.

Plus it will not do much for the loose skin that accompanies most cases of cellulite, so it has to be combined with a skin firming treatment, such as radiofrequency for overall good results.

Skin needling / microneedling

Skin needling, typically provided via "rollers" with needles or "stamps" with needles, has become very popular in the last few years. 

The main benefit of "derma rollers" with needles is their stimulation of collagen production on the surface of the skin. As such they can be very helpful for skin firming / anti-ageing on the face - where skin is very thin - and to a lesser extent on the body.

However, cellulite is located 5-25mm deep inside the skin, and as such cannot be reached by the device needles, which have a length of 0.5mm (very mild, very superficial) to 2.5mm (deeper, but still not deep enough for cellulite, is very painful and causes bleeding).

The only application of skin needling that is suited to cellulite is that of stimulating skin penetration of anti-cellulite actives (something like "mesotherapy-light") and only when combined with a quality anti-cellulite skin product.

Furthermore it all depends on the number of actives in the cream and their concentration:

• a diluted product won't do much

• while a concentrated one may be worth the pain but may cause a lot of irritation too

Deep tissue massage

Deep tissue massage refers to massage that acts mainly on the muscles, tendons, ligaments and deep fascia, and as such it misses the point (cellulite is located above those tissues), so it is quite useless for cellulite reduction or prevention.

Keep your deep tissue massage for your sore back muscles and for cellulite find a therapist who specialises in cellulite and can do a strong cellulite-specific massage (see above), or better still go to a clinic that offers one of the two best techniques mentioned above, i.e. high-power, deep-tissue cavitation/radiofrequency.

Lymphatic drainage massage

This must be the biggest hype in the history of cellulite reduction (if such a thing as history of cellulite reduction exists...).

Manual lymphatic drainage massage (MLD) helps shift excess water from the legs, thereby improving the APPEARANCE of cellulite VERY temporarily - but does not do anything else.

It is way too gentle to stimulate skin firmness. For the exact same reason, it does not help repair the skin and connective tissue deformity, caused by the expansion of fat cells.

But most importantly, lymphatic massage does not do anything to reduce fat - the number one issue with cellulite. It does help reduce inflammation though.

On the other hand, circulation and lymphatic drainage can be improved equally well - or even more so - by strong cellulite-specific massage, which offers several other benefits, as described above.

Furthermore, cellulite-specific massage can be used with a good anti-cellulite product, whose absorption it boosts - while MLD can only be applied with talcum powder or a minute amount of oil, thereby preventing such synergy.

Contrary to the popular myth, even good old deep tissue massage can boost circulation equally well, if not more, than MLD, with the added benefits of muscle relaxation and muscle tissue micro-stretching.

All in all, lymph massage should be confined in the care of people with compromised lymphatic glands (typically due to chemotherapy or surgery) or to people who for a variety of reasons are fragile and with very poor lymphatic system. In those cases, MLD is valuable and quite often the only manual treatment that can help.

For the rest of us, the stronger massage techniques - or the technologies mentioned above - are preferred, as they are far more effective and offer multiple benefits.

Dry brushing

If cellulite reduction with lymphatic massage is hype then what can I say about body brushing? That it's an urban myth? A hoax? A fraud?

It really is beyond me how exfoliation of the most superficial layer of the skin (epidermis) can break down fat in the deepest layers of the skin (hypodermis). No connection, whatsoever.

How can you affect cellulite by brushing the epidermis for ten minutes when even the strongest, deepest, cellulite-specific massages of one hour duration take several sessions and several weeks to give good results?

Furthermore, unlike normal massage, you cannot really dry brush your skin for one hour without it starting to bleed.

People who advocate body brushing insist that it helps boost circulation. But so does a plain massage with your hands and some oil or cream - and it is actually several times more effective.

The only application of dry brushing for cellulite reduction would be to exfoliate the skin after a shower and prior to the use of a good anti-cellulite cream. Nothing else.

Palper-rouler (vacuum suction with skin rolling)

This is another hyped-up treatment whose effectiveness is inversely proportional to the hype that surrounds it.

Palper-rouler refers to a machine rolling the skin while the skin is literally sucked up in a vacuum between rolling cylinders or rolling balls.

The strong massage, in combination with the vacuum, do boost circulation and do stimulate collagen production, but at the same time they break the small blood vessels, causing spider veins (thread veins) and also stretch the skin (what's the point of firming the skin when at the same time you stretch it)? 

In a small minority of women, who have very firm skin and very strong veins, palper-rouler can give good results - but still nothing amazing.

This is due to the fact that this technique does not do anything to fight the fat - the most important aspect of cellulite. It mainly addresses the circulation / lymphatic drainage aspect.

In fact, the only reason I would use palper-rouler would be to break down scar tissue (connective tissue deformity), but the problem is that if you set the machine at low suction settings it does not do much. While if you set it at high suction settings the possibility of skin loosening and thread veins disproportionately increases.

I used to offer palper-rouler treatments when I started treating cellulite, more two decades ago, when it was the only anti-cellulite treatment you would care to take seriously.

As soon as I realised the limitations of the treatment I adapted the machine so that I could create the same effect on the skin, but with minimal suction and without rolling.

And later, I got rid of the suction altogether, working with my hands, special tools and special creams that I developed (cellulite-specific massage) and the results were much better - and without the side effects of skin looseness and thread veins.

For the record, I stopped offering cellulite-specific massages when the cavitation and - especially - radiofrequency technologies became more powerful, effective and affordable.

Two decades later I am amazed by how popular this treatment still is, despite its problems and low effectiveness. The last several years I have seen dozens of clients at my practice, who previously had palper-rouler treatments and none of them was happy.

Infrared radiation (LED, cold laser, plain infrared lamps)

Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation beyond the visible spectrum. it penetrates the skin a little bit deeper than normal light or red light, but it is still too superficial to have any significant effect on fat tissue.

In high intensities, infrared light can help tighten up the surface of the skin a little (epidermis and, to a lesser extent, dermis) and boost circulation. But it won't do anything for the fat and connective tissues comprising cellulite, which are located deep inside the skin (hypodermis): the epidermis will literally burn well before the cellulite tissues notice anything.

Low intensities (as in cold laser treatment, a.k.a. low level laser therapy, LLLT) are even less effective. I have actually rented and tried hands-on for a month the strongest and best cold laser system at my clinic and the results were absolutely nil - waste of time and money.

I would wholeheartedly recommend LLLT for musculoskeletal and vascular problems, because of it's proven ability to effect tissue repair and healing, but unless you want to have healthy - but still equally bumpy - cellulite tissues, I really don't see the point of cold laser treatment for cellulite.

Radiofrequency microneedling

This is the latest fad: microneedling “on steroids”.

Radiofrequency microneedling involves the insertion of multiple micro-needles reaching up to 7mm (!) into the skin with radiofrequency currents running though the needle tips aiming to literally burn the deep layers of the skin (they euphemistically call it coagulation, but it’s just plain burning) and stimulate fat destruction and scar tissue-like collagen production.

This is a ‘destructive technique’, i.e. one that is based on causing tissue damage, usually tissue burning, to stimulate connective tissue scar tissue growth, which is euphemistically called “skin firming”. As such, it has frequent side effects not worth the benefits. Not to mention the pain and the downtime.

This kind of technique is marketed as “you only need one” and the truth is that you never need just one - more like six sessions or even more are needed. As the price per session is typically too high, paying for six or more of such sessions becomes prohibitively expensive, for results which could be produced by normal deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, at a fraction of the cost per area and without side effects and adverse reactions.

As I want to sleep well at night, I would never offer or receive destructive treatments, because the chance of severe or lesser side-effects are not worth the limited benefits of microneedling RF and given that with more and more sessions performed, the likelihood of serious side-effects accumulates.

In contrast, deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency/ultrasound treatment has a safety rate of 99.6% (at least at our clinic), with the remaining 0.4% being very minor irritation and never anything serious.

HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound)

HIFU is yet another on of those promising treatments that sound good in theory but, just like acoustic wave therapy, they never deliver in real life.

HIFU focuses ultrasound waves under the skin (similar to focusing light on a piece of paper with a magnifying glass), in order to literally burn the tissue (fat or collagen) and stimulate the growth of scar tissue, which will in theory create smooth firmness skin later.

Nice in theory but not in so much practice. At low intensities nothing ever happens. At high intensities, just like microneedling RF, you can cause sever burns, tissue damage, scar tissue and all sorts of bumps.

At optimum intensities (good luck with safely finding which those are, when skin is numbed with anaesthetic cream) you can create some skin hardening/scar-tissueing (euphemistically called skin tightening). However, this scar tissueing / skin tightening is quite temporary, simply because the new scar-like collagen created by the treatment is not functional and gets aborted by the body in a few months. On the other hand, if intensity is too high and too much scar tissue is created (as in scar tissue bumps), this may take years to disappear.

This technique is also marketed as “you only need one” and the truth again is that you never, ever, ever need just one - more like six sessions or more are needed. As the price per session is typically too high, paying for six or more of such sessions becomes prohibitively expensive, for results which could be produced by normal deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, at a fraction of the cost per area and without side effects and adverse reactions.

High-intensity HIFU is yet another hyped-up ‘destructive technique’ that causes more problems than it solves and is not effective or efficient either. I would never have such an inefficient/unsafe treatment myself and as such I would never offer it to my clients.

Low intensity HIFU with cheap, low-power, low-end machines (the majority of HIFU on the market) is a sheer waste of time for cellulite and skin tightening, especially when fat safer, far more effective technologies, like deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, exist.

Bipolar/tripolar radiofrequency

By definition, bipolar radiofrequency is way too superficial to affect the deep-lying cellulite tissues and mainly affects the epidermis and dermis. Just like intense infrared treatment (see above), the surface of the skin will burn well before the cellulite skin layers notice anything...

Bipolar radiofrequency is OK for superficial skin tightening and to boost circulation, but since there exists a real radiofrequency treatment that focuses both on deep skin tightening and cellulite with surgical accuracy (deep tissue radiofrequency), I do not see why one should ever use bipolar RF for cellulite.

Tripolar, tetrapolar, hexapolar, octipolar radiofrequency are all gimmicky forms of bipolar RF (there are only two poles in electricity, negative and positive, not 3, 4, 6 or 8 poles as the names suggest). These do not offer much more, if anything, than normal bipolar RF.

The surgical treatments

There are three surgical treatments available today for cellulite: cellfina, subcision and cellulaze.

The first two are based on undercutting the fibrous septae that keep skin in place - but also contribute to the cellulite shape.

With cellfina or subcision, the fibrous septae are cut-off, skin shape only on that specific spot smoothens (not always, sometimes the cellulite trough turns into a cellulite bump…) and skin becomes flabby in that area.

The biggest 15-25 cellulite troughs are treated, leaving the hundreds/thousands of other smallest cellulite bumps unaffected. Plus you are also left with 15-25 incision marks. Obviously not a great solution.

I would personally use subcision/cellfina only on very big cellulite troughs/bumps which are beyond help with any other method. But for the typical person with dozens or large bumps and hundreds/thousands of small ones, cellfina/subcision only treats 5% of the problem - and not always effectively or without scar tissue, new bumps, hyperpigmentation or hypertrophic incision scars. Not very safe or effective…

With cellulaze, cellulite skin is literally burned from underneath with a laser cannula tip, hoping to smooth out cellulite. In all the cases that I have seen though, skin is actually more bumpy after that procedure, due to scar tissue bump formation, which negates the whole effort.

I would never personally use cellulaze, if I had cellulite. I’d honestly rather start “loving my cellulite” instead…

The rest...

There are hundreds of other cellulite treatments on the market. For example:

• There is one that blows air on the skin

• There are all sorts of body wraps

• Water absorbing clays

• Honey applied on the skin and then a hand pulled from the skin and then "slapped" again on it

• There even exists what I jokingly call "happy slapping", i.e. slapping an area for several minutes with the hands. This does increase circulation and stimulates collagen production, but it is also painful for the recipient's bum and thighs and also for the provider's hands. Human “ingenuity” is endless…

There are all sorts of other ideas that don't really work or that only offer a very temporary benefit.  I am not interested in very temporary results - and I am sure you are not either - so i am not going to list all of them here.

I hope this article was informative, interesting and helpful. As an endnote, I would advise that if the best treatments listed above are not available in your area, the alternative option is to combine two or three of the secondary treatments for a more holistic approach.

With a good anti-cellulite cream, healthy diet and some exercise you should be able to achieve your goal of smoother, healthier, firmer legs.

• Have a cellulite treatment in London at LipoTherapeia, the cellulite experts

• The only aesthetic practice in London to treat only cellulite and skin laxity

• 23-year experience, 22,000 cellulite and skin tightening treatments performed!

• Book your introductory session now at 50% off with code BEACHYLEGS50