Cellulite: surgery or non-surgical treatments? What is best?

“TL;DR: Cellulite surgery in both its iterations is neither very effective nor very safe. A quality non-surgical treatment may not be an instant miracle (which cellulite surgery isn’t, anyway) but produces safe, dependable results, typiclaly in 6-12 sessions.”

What is best for cellulite reduction? cellulite Surgery, liposuction or non-surgical cellulite treatments?

• Most non-surgical treatments do not work

• Cellulite surgery vs liposuction

• Cellulite surgery

• Non-surgical cellulite treatments

• Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

• Advanced, infrared / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

• Discover our professional training in cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency and ultrasound

Most non-surgical treatments do not work

It is true that most non-surgical cellulite treatments do not really work.

Most such treatments range from generally safe but ineffective (think palper-rouler massage, acoustic wave therapy (AWT), microneedling, bipolar/tripolar RF etc) to dangerous and generally ineffective (high intensity HIFU, high intensity RF microneedling etc).

As a result many people think that cellulite surgery is a better, so-called “one-off” option.

Cellulite surgery vs liposuction

However, cellulite surgery is not for cellulite removal what liposuction is for fat removal.

Liposuction does “what it says on the tin” and always removes subcutaneous adipose tissue. Sure, liposuction always results in skin laxity and sometimes also in fibrosis, adhesions or other complications. But liposuction indeed aspirates (suctions) fat out of the body, with the only limit being that the total fat volume should not be excessive. Success!

(BTW, liposuction only removes subcutaneous adipose tissue - what people call ‘fat’ - not hypodermal adipose tissue - what people call ‘cellulite’.)

Cellulite surgery

With subcision-type cellulite surgery (e.g. subcision, cellfina) only about 25 of the hundreds of cellulite ‘bumps’ can be treated - quite often not very successfully either.

I have seen dozens of clients whose subcision-type surgery resulted either in no cellulite reduction or even in worse appearance, due to raised cellulite connective tissue strands, hyperpigmentation or simply unsightly 25 scars dotted all over the thighs and buttocks.

Some real people’s experiences with subcision cellulite surgery are shown here.

On the other hand, with laser-assisted cellulite surgery (e.g. cellulaze) the aim is to “coagulate” (misleading jargon for ‘tissue burn’) large areas of hypodermal tissue with the aim to destroy the fat and replace it with ‘tight skin’ (misleading jargon for ‘scar tissue’).

It would be nice if life was so easy, however. The actual results show a totally different reality. Most clients I have seen after such procedures either have lots of scar tissue and fibrosis or not much cellulite reduction to show after surgery.

Some real people’s experiences laser-assisted cellulite surgery are shown here.

Sure, all procedures have side effects and if such side effects are limited to 1% of cases or less, and if those side effects are not in quite a few cases horrific, then such surgery would make sense.

But for the meagre and rarely good results it is not worth it to have surgery with such common - and bad - adverse reactions.

In plain language, the juice is not worth the squeeze.

Of course, people hell-bent on having “instant results” at any cost or risk will still go for the “miracle cures” - and unfortunately some of them will end up leaving reviews such as the above.

Non-surgical cellulite treatments

However, it does not need to be that way. One can have an effective cellulite treatment without skin injury or other adverse reactions.

Sure, it will not be the miracle promised by cellulite surgery (instant elimination of all cellulite) but that miracle is never delivered, anyway. At best some meagre, partial cellulite reduction is delivered with cellulite surgery. At worst, well, you’ve seen the links above…

To sum it up, if I had cellulite, with the knowledge I have in this field, I would never have cellulite surgery - of either type. I would either have a strong, deep radiofrequency and/or ultrasound cavitation treatment or, if my cellulite was that extreme, I would just accept myself and learn to “love my cellulite”.

After 25 years in the industry, and after trying hands-on and researching dozens of treatments and techniques, my feedback is that a personalised combination of deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and high-power ultrasound cavitation is the strongest *SAFE* treatment for cellulite reduction, offering the maximum results possible, naturally (i.e. by stimulating tissue change not by burning tissue), with 99.5% safety or better.

Sure, such treatments need anything between 6-12 sessions for good results, and up to 24 sessions for more severe cellulite. But they are 99%+ safe and they satisfactorily work 90%+ of the time.

(If I did not have access to deep/strong RF/cavitation I would just have a deep/strong cellulite massage, which although much less effective, it is more generally readily available - and more economical too.

But I would definitely stir clear of either surgery or the dangerous/ineffective “instant miracle’ techniques, such as high intensity HIFU/RF microneedling, or the ineffective palper-rouler, AWT, bipolar/tripolar RF and the like.)

Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.

This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.

As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.

Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.

And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.

Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, microneedling-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.

And our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.

We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1).

Advanced, infrared / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

At LipoTherapeia we are passionate about phototherapy (also known as photobiomodulation/PBM, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, blue light therapy, LED light therapy etc) and we use the most powerful equipment available today (up to 240mW/cm2), for best results and treatment of large body areas.

We use specialised therapy protocols for skin rejuvenation / anti-ageing, pigmentation / post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), moderate/severe acne, skin redness, sensitive/inflamed/irritated skin, wound healing, sports injuries / musculoskeletal pain and overall wellness / well-being.

Our LED phototherapy sessions are comfortable, deeply relaxing and super-safe and are great to enhance our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments for skin tightening / cellulite reduction.

On our booking page you can book stand-alone phototherapy sessions or combine them with our other treatments, as an add-on.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert LED phototherapy treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1).

Discover our professional training in cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency and ultrasound

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.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1)