Men, women and the causes of cellulite

Why don't men get cellulite?
Why men don’t get cellulite and women do: less collagen, more fat
How do you get cellulite? “Cellulite is trapped toxins” and other old wives’ tales
Why do I have so much cellulite? Aging itself causes cellulite
Why do women have cellulite? Weight gain causes cellulite (obviously).
Men have more collagen, women have more fat
Men have stronger collagen too
Women have more subcutaneous fat too
More fat contained in larger “parcels” and less collagen leads to biomechanical instability
How do you “strengthen the subdermal interface”?
Structural Gender-Dimorphism and the Biomechanics of the Gluteal Subcutaneous Tissue – Implications for the Pathophysiology of Cellulite
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Why don't men get cellulite?

These are common question we are asked at the clinic: “Can men have cellulite?'“ or “Why women have cellulite and men don’t?”.

And our answer has always been that women develop cellulite because they have weaker connective tissue and more and larger fat cells, due to the effect of female hormones.

Men, on the other hand, have much stronger connective tissue and much less hypodermal fat, so they normally do not develop cellulite.

In fact, a groundbreaking study has verified our approach and has shown that this is the reason why men don’t have cellulite and women do, explaining the exact mechanisms at play in women’s skin.

This study also confirms our approach to insist on high-power, deep-acting radio frequency to tighten the dermis and hypodermal structures and reduce fat accumulation at the same time.

And it also confirms our approach of using concentrated actives that stimulate collagen synthesis and fat release, such as forskolin, caffeine and gotu kola triterpenes (asiatic acid, asiaticoside, madecassic acid, madecassoside).

This is in contrast to the old fashioned way of focusing on temporary lymphatic drainage and vacuum suction mechanical massages, which literally trade water and achieve nothing in the end.

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Why men don’t get cellulite and women do: less collagen, more fat

The study on 20 men and 20 women aged 36-92 years’ old, has shown that…

Women have 34% less collagen fibres and 57% larger fat lobules

…in their hypodermis (the deepest skin layer) in relation to men.

The combination of larger fat lobules pushing the skin upwards and less collagen anchors that offer little resistance to said upward pressure of fat lobules, creates the appearance of cellulite.

As we will see below, this specific anatomy characterised by more fat and less collage, is due to estrogen and the collagen metabolism occurring during the monthly cycle.

How do you get cellulite? “Cellulite is trapped toxins” and other old wives’ tales

This study also shows that the ‘cellulite is trapped toxins’ theory is yet another internet myth.

Men are actually less careful with their diet, alcohol and smoking. So if someone had to have lots of cellulite because of high consumption of toxins, that would have to be men, not women. And don’t tell me that that chocolate before one’s period is ‘toxins’, because it isn’t. It’s just fat and sugar.

This also shows why lymphatic massages, machine operated suction massages and body wraps do not ‘work’ or only work very temporarily: because they just focus on a temporary reduction of water retention.

Such treatments do not address the issue of fat accumulation combined with lack of collagen. The latter are the proverbial ‘elephants in the room’ when it comes to cellulite, according to this and several previous studies.

These toxin/poor circulation ideas developed several decades ago, based on some basic and obsolete studies about cellulite, which have been superseded by more modern, far better designed studies, including the one mentioned here.

Those studies basically said that cellulite does not exist (as if people are blind) or that cellulite is only a case of poor circulation.

Pathetic.

The fact is that water retention is only one of the aspects of cellulite, with the main causal factors being more fat and less collagen.

Unfortunately, the public is usually 10-20 years behind the latest advances of science in this respect, as in almost everything to do with health, and people still try to do lymphatic massage, mechanical massage or detox body wraps to “get rid of cellulite”.

Why do I have so much cellulite? Aging itself causes cellulite

The study also demonstrates why cellulite develops more with age.

In the study, both older men and women have been found to have thinner dermis (middle skin layer).

Combine this with the gradual accumulation of superficial fat into the fat lobules that we mentioned above and you have an increasing occurrence of cellulite with age.

Of course, you can see young girls with cellulite, in which case other risk factors are much stronger than the risk factor of the thinner dermis.

Why do women have cellulite? Weight gain causes cellulite (obviously).

The scientists also found that the higher a woman’s body mass index (BMI), the bigger the hypodermal and dermal fat lobules are.

No surprises here. I know that some people will say that there are some slim women with loads of cellulite and some overweight women with little cellulite, but these are exceptions.

Of course there will be exceptions, but the general rule applies: extra weight means more cellulite.

In fact, overweight /obese men also get cellulite, as their fat cells secrete estrogen. Estrogen is the secret sauce between plain fatness and cellulite appearance.

Men have more collagen, women have more fat

And there is more:

Men have their superficial fat arranged in many smaller lobules with a lot more collagen anchors around them, which makes the upward protrusion of fat very difficult. Plus this makes skin tighter in men.

Women, on the other hand, have larger fat lobules with less collagen anchors around them to keep them in place, as well as a weaker dermis, as mentioned above. The combination means more cellulite and diminished skin tightness.

There are two reasons for this:

As fat cells increase in size they break down the connective tissue around them, in order to expand. This results in less collagen around the enlarged fat pouches.
But most importantly, in women the monthly cycle gradually breaks down the connective tissue, via enzymes called MMPs.

The end result of both is cellulite.

Men have stronger collagen too

Moreover, the researchers have found that:

Mens’ collagen anchors are also 65% stronger, further keeping skin tight and controlling the growth of fat cells, by means of compression action.

Make the collagen weaker and you have more uninhibited fat growth and therefore more cellulite. Keep collagen stronger and in a way you suffocate the growth of superficial fat cells and you have less cellulite.

Again testosterone in men and estrogen/monthly cycle in women cause the difference in connective tissue strength.

Women have more subcutaneous fat too

Plus:

The subcutaneous fat tissue under the skin (under the hypodermis / cellulite layer) is 49% larger in women than men, further undermining skin tightness and increasing excessive plumpness.

Now larger subcutaneous fat means more tension on the collagen anchors that connect the deep fascia and the skin. This leads to an appearance similar to cellulite, but with much larger peaks and troughs.

This is not cellulite per se, but for all intents and purposes we can call it cellulite - which is also the term everyday people use.

More fat contained in larger “parcels” and less collagen leads to biomechanical instability

The authors of the study succinctly summarise these findings as follows:

“Our results demonstrated that these structural factors lead to a significantly reduced biomechanical stability in females compared to males.”

The researchers add that ”Cellulite can be understood as dis-balance between containment and extrusion forces at the subdermal junction... Therapeutic options targeting cellulite should aim to strengthen the subdermal interface”.

By “subdermal interface” the authors means the hypodermis, the intermediate fascia and the subcutaneous fat with its own connective tissue.

Which is what we have been saying all along the last 10-15 years.

How do you “strengthen the subdermal interface”?

And how does one improve this “biomechanical stability” to get rid of the dreaded cellulite?

Obviously you have to reduce the size of the fat lobules and increase skin collagen.

This practically means more everyday movement, more exercise, less calorie intake and more collagen-boosting / collagen-protecting foods, such as vegetables, berries, herbs and lean protein. Avoiding hormonal contraception can also prevent further deterioration of connective tissue and enlargement of fat lobules.

This entire website is dedicated to cellulite removal and skin tightening and contains plenty of tips on how to strengthen the "subdermal interface” for a smoother, firmer looking skin.

As stated above, treatment-wise, the only treatment that boosts both collagen in the deep skin layers and releases fat from fat cells is high-power, deep-acting radio frequency, the strongest such technology available today.

Deep tissue RF is ideally combined with high power ultrasound (which acts mainly on the fat component of cellulite and not so much on collagen).

This is what we have been offering at the clinic for more than a decade now, and this study actually confirms our approach.

Structural Gender-Dimorphism and the Biomechanics of the Gluteal Subcutaneous Tissue – Implications for the Pathophysiology of Cellulite

Research paper link: https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Abstract/2019/04000/Structural_Gender_Dimorphism_and_the_Biomechanics.22.aspx
Abstract: Background: This study was performed to investigate gender differences in gluteal subcutaneous architecture and biomechanics to better understand the pathophysiology underlying the mattress-like appearance of cellulite. Methods: Ten male and 10 female body donors [mean age, 76 ± 16.47 years (range, 36 to 92 years); mean body mass index, 25.27 ± 6.24 kg/m2 (range, 16.69 to 40.76 kg/m2)] were used to generate full-thickness longitudinal and transverse gluteal slices. In the superficial and deep fatty layers, fat lobule number, height, and width were investigated. The force needed to cause septal breakage between the dermis and superficial fascia was measured using biomechanical testing. Results: Increased age was significantly related to decreased dermal thickness, independent of sex (OR, 0.997, 95 percent CI, 0.996 to 0.998; p < 0.0001). The mean number of subdermal fat lobules was significantly higher in male body donors (10.05 ± 2.3) than in female body donors (7.51 ± 2.7; p = 0.003), indicating more septal connections between the superficial fascia and dermis in men. Female sex and increased body mass index were associated with increased height of superficial fat lobules. The force needed to cause septal breakage in male body donors (38.46 ± 26.3 N) was significantly greater than in female body donors (23.26 ± 10.2 N; p = 0.021). Conclusions: The interplay of dermal support, septal morphology, and underlying fat architecture contributes to the biomechanical properties of the subdermal junction. This is influenced by sex, age, and body mass index. Cellulite can be understood as an imbalance between containment and extrusion forces at the subdermal junction; aged women with high body mass index have the greatest risk of developing (or worsening of) cellulite.

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Do men get cellulite? Why do women get cellulite?