Cellulite reduction and skin tightening before and after weight loss

Our Beachy Legs articles are a practical way to share our experience and knowledge in cellulite and skin tightening, from our London clinic with everyone in the world. Check all our articles here. And if you do live in London, book an assessment, consultation or treatment with us here.

• Increased fat volume leads to an increased skin surface area and therefore more skin laxity when we lose weight

• Fat tissue expansion leads to reduced skin firmness

• Fat gain almost always means cellulite fat gain too

• How to beat cellulite and skin looseness during / after weight loss

• Have your course of cellulite / skin tightening treatments during the weight loss phase, not after you lose weight

• What is the best treatment to tighten skin / reduce cellulite for overweight and curvy people and for people who have lost weight?

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

Increased fat volume leads to an increased skin surface area and therefore more skin laxity when we lose weight

Cellulite and skin looseness affects both overweight and slim women, but it is generally worse in curvy/overweight women - and men.

When we put on weight, skin stretches to accommodate the extra fat/volume. This also leads to the creation of stretch marks.

Skin does not look so loose when we are still overweight, as the extra volume keeps skin taut. For the same reason stretch marks do not look as pronounced either.

When we lose weight skin looks looser and stretch marks look more pronounced.

Fat tissue expansion leads to reduced skin firmness

However, there is another reason for skin laxity / reduced firmness, in addition to excess length of skin.

As fat tissue expands, it breaks the collagen infrastructure around it and replaces it with fat and loose, thin collagen fibres.

This means that with overweight, skin becomes soft, spongy and wobbly because fat tissue literally “eats away” the collagen tissue.

Of course, after weight loss, this degraded skin looks and feels even more soft, puffy, thin and loose.

Fat gain almost always means cellulite fat gain too

The most important component of cellulite is fat, so overall fat gain almost always leads to hypodermal fat gain, i.e. cellulite.

This is especially true for people who follow the western lifestyle: sedentary life, smoking/vaping, yo-yo dieting, drinking alcohol, sugar intake, hormonal contraceptives, plastics in the food/water supply etc.

In developing countries where people follow a traditional lifestyle based on a lot of walking, eating fresh food and natural living in general, overweight may exist but cellulite is non-existent.

Furthermore, even when weight is lost, the resulting loose skin makes cellulite look more evident.

How to beat cellulite and skin looseness during / after weight loss

If you are curvy/overweight and you are about to start (or you have already started) a diet/exercise regime to lose weight, you may wonder what is the best time to have a cellulite / skin tightening treatment: during the weight loss period or after?

Have your course of cellulite / skin tightening treatments during the weight loss phase, not after you lose weight

Many people think that they must first lose all the weight and then have a course of treatments. However, this could not be more wrong.

In fact, having a course of cellulite treatments DURING your weight loss phase will increase the efficacy of the treatment, as in this way you will combine the lipolytic (=fat releasing) stimulus of your diet/exercise with the lipolytic stimulus of the treatments.

Plus, having a course of skin tightening treatments DURING the weight loss phase will help your skin contract / tighten whilst you lose weight, thereby helping you maintain your firmness and prevent skin laxity after weight loss.

What is the best treatment to tighten skin and reduce cellulite for overweight and curvy people and for people who have already lost weight?

Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency combines skin tightening and cellulite reduction and is thereby the best possible treatment you can have if you are/were overweight.

High-power ultrasound cavitation works primarily for cellulite reduction and can also be also helpful, especially for cellulite reduction, and in some cases for skin firming too.

(Any other treatment apart from those two is either not safe or not effective, despite the wild marketing claims.)

So start your deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency treatment as soon as you start losing weight, in order to maximise cellulite reduction and skin tightening.

In most cases, a course of 6-12 sessions is great during / after weight loss.

(Treatments that claim to reduce cellulite / tighten skin in 1-4 sessions are unsafe, ineffective or both, despite the misleading marketing claims.)

For people with significant weight loss (20-30 kilos), up to a maximum of 24 sessions may be needed for great results.

If you do not want to lose weight (many people want to stay curvy and that is absolutely fine), 6-12 sessions are also great to reduce cellulite and tighten skin, even without weight loss.

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

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening? Attend a half-day, 1-day or 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / one-to-one masterclass and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible. Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.