The ?orange peel’ effect seen on some people’s thighs and buttocks are fat cells beneath the skin and is known by the general term ?cellulite’; predominantly accumulating in areas below the waist. Most women carry excess fat in thighs and buttocks, but this problem is not confined just to the overweight; the cottage cheese appearance so familiar with this condition can affect slim women as well.
A number of fats collect in the lower areas of skin and push against the connecting tissues forcing the skin to pucker or have a dimpled look which is called cellulite. It may still be some time before medical science arrives at a definitive reason for why some people are more prone to this than others but it may have something to do with how toxins are held in the cells of some people.
This problem usually comes naturally with aging and similar to wrinkles that form in the face, it is actually the result of lower levels of collagen and elastin in the skin. Women are more prone to hormonal imbalances as they age and the fat found in their thighs and buttocks where it forms is different to the fat in other areas, unlike men who rarely suffer with this condition.
It is not uncommon to only see the cellulite when the skin is pinched between the fingers at which pint it can normally be felt as well but it is a very common complaint amongst women. Just how much a person has will depend on a number of factors like, age, gender, genetics and even the thickness and type of skin they have will affect how easily it can be seen.
One thing for sure is that technology has not as yet devised a miracle potion or treatment that can eradicate it completely. One method that hides the cellulite quite well by puffing the skin is deep massage and an increasing number of clinics are now offering this therapy.
Other treatments involve liposuction (to remove fats) and mesotherapy (injection of drugs into the affected areas) which is expensive and out of reach of the majority of women. Liposuction is rarely that effective with surface based fat like cellulite and is more proficient at removing deeper fats from the body which are not trapped in the cells but none of these treatments offer anything but short term relief only.
Whilst the creams that claim to burn the fat deposits away may not be very successful, the latest generation is designed to hide the condition although once again this is a short term answer. So far the best method is back to basics combining a healthy diet with exercise that gradually burns off the fat but not the connective tissue where it is found.
Many toxins that accumulate in the body can be flushed out with regular amounts of water which some believe is still an effective way to keep the body free of harmful substances including the toxins which help with the formation of cellulite.