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 laser treatment: don't waste time, money and hopes, it doesn't work - learn why
There are three types of lasers used for cellulite and skin tightening: hot lasers, i.e. high energy lasers; cold lasers, i.e. low energy lasers and also known as low level laser therapy / LLLT; surgical/invasive lasers. Here we present an analysis of all three types of lasers used for cellulite removal and their effectiveness.
Deep cellulite vs superficial cellulite
Cellulite refers to fat pockets within the skin that are attached to and/or surrounded by fibrotic (hardened) collagen strands. The fat pocket tries to bulge out of the surface of the skin, while the collagen strand pulls the adjacent skin down. The combination creates the cellulite peaks (fat pocket makes skin “pop out”) and troughs (collagen strands keep skin down).
Cellulite can appear at three depths inside the skin:
At the dermal level (superficial cellulite)
At the hypodermal level (medium cellulite; most common cellulite)
And at the subcutaneous fat level (deep cellulite; not true cellulite)
We will look at each of them in detail…