Cellulite
Cellulite is the name for an issue experienced by many women. It exists both in obese and skinny people. It is commonly located in the hip, thigh and but regions, but also on arms.
Cellulite is an increased volume of fat tissue cells under skin surface, generated as a consequence of insufficient excretion of harmful substances from the body. Substances are accumulated in the deeper part of the skin, in the extracellular space and lead to retention of water. As a result of that, minute blood vessels cannot lead nutritive substances to the tissue, and the tissue becomes inelastic, and skin gradually loses tonus, and smaller or bigger swellings occur, which we see as an uneven appearance of the skin, or in common parlance, the skin begins to look like orange peel.
Cellulite genesis stages
There are 4 stages of cellulite genesis:
- Accumulation of water and fat in skin cells.
- Increased volume of the cells which puts pressure on blood vessels in the surrounding, which hampers substance exchange in the tissues
- Reduction of the number of elastic fibres in the skin and the hardening of skin surface.
- Formation of palpable knots in the skin and the onset of inflammation process.
The first three phases can, more or less, be observed, while the forth phase is highly visible and cannot go unnoticed. Further more, apart from unpleasant appearance, this phase can also include pain to the touch when pressing the affected region, which can impair normal physical activities.
Causes of cellulite
- Hormones - whereas women are more prone, men are typically spared of the cellulite problems. The reason is primarily the oestrogen hormone. Recently, cellulite has been observed in some men too, which is mainly explained by food, particularly of animal origin, since nobody is exempted from a certain quantity of hormone intake in the body.
- Genetic predisposition - in spite of respect for all the rules on "correct fight against cellulite" certain people still have problems with it, which provides an argument to say that there is a certain propensity to cellulite.
- Body constitution, or framing - the very ratio between muscle and overall body mass. Insufficient physical activity is also deemed a culprit here too, since it results in reduced muscle mass.
- Smoking and consumption of harmful substances which are difficult to dissolve and stay long in the body.
- Incorrect nutrition and insufficient intake of water - fat substances, sugars, insufficient intake of herbal fibres will certainly increase the likelihood of cellulite generation, just as increased intake and the flow of water will reduce the generation of cellulite.
How to get rid of cellulite
Taking into consideration the above mentioned causes of cellulite generation, we must accept the fact that we cannot influence some of them. The good news is that there are still those that we can influence to a great extent. Here is the list of recommendations for your skin to retain healthy composition, and thereby an attractive appearance too.
- Increase water intake as much as you can. Plenty of water will facilitate exchange of substances, removal of harmful ones, and arrival of nutritive ones into all the cells.
- Consume easily digestible food, and avoid excessive fat and sweets.
- Add food that is proved to facilitate removal of excessive liquids and detoxicate the bodyin your diet.
- Increase physical activity, thereby enhancing all metabolic processes in the body. Most physical activities are recommendable, and everyone can find those that suite them best. You can chose between swimming, riding a bike, running, fast walk... What matters is that the exercising is regular and in set periods, rather than sudden overburdening of the muscles which would lead to inflammatory muscle processes.
- Apply anti-cellulite treatments in the form of gel, cream, oil and masks.
- Apply massage therapy, as a mechanical process of pressuring the skin and pushing the excessive liquid out of the cells. Combination of massage with calming products will definitely yield the best results.
- Rubbing in tonus-enhancing products, because, even though we may have resolved the cellulite issue once, floppy skin that remains can become very prone returning to the same condition again after the treatment, so making the skin taut is always recommended.
In any case, cellulite can pose a serious problem, because it is not only an aesthetic issue, but may lead to painful inflammation processes and its accumulation will keep progressing. Even when resolved once, or at least reduced, it still does not mean that the fight against it is over, because it may easily come back in the previous condition. We therefore need to accept the fact that its occurrence must be prevented continuously, and that means healthy nutrition, physical activity and massage.
B. Sc. ph Vesna Đuričić, Merkator Pharmacy manager
