How to Get Rid of Cellulite

The quest for a cure for cellulite, the lumpy fat deposits most women have on their thighs and buttocks, is a seemingly endless endeavor. By some estimates, as many as 98 percent of women have some degree of cellulite on their bodies. There are many different suggested remedies for cellulite, but it seems the only way to win the battle of these bulges is to take a multi-tiered approach.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Topical creams

Attack Cellulite From all Directions

1. Tone up your muscles with strength building and resistance exercises. Studies have shown that improving muscle firmness can help you get rid of cellulite. Concentrate extra time on muscle beneath the areas with lots of cellulite, but create a total body workout for best results.
2. Stick to a low calorie diet. Cellulite is not exclusive to overweight women, but eating healthy will keep the size of your fat cells small. This is not enough to get rid of cellulite, but it will contribute to the solution.
3. Consider topical creams to that tighten the surface of the skin or the connective tissue beneath the skin. Amino acids, seaweed and ginkgo-biloba extracts all act as skin tighteners. Look for one or more of these ingredients on different anti-cellulite products.
4. Consider topical creams that shrink fat cells. Caffeine is the most common ingredient in these products and acts as a dehydrator. When these products work, they usually work immediately.
5. Splurge on endermologie, an outpatient procedure that involves suction massage to even out the skin. Multiple treatments are required over several months at a significant cost per treatment. Follow-up treatments are also required to maintain results.
6. Try mesotherapy to eliminate localized pockets of fat causing cellulite. Mesotherapy is series of several outpatient procedures in which injections are administered to breakdown fat cells for good. Used in Europe and South America for quite a while, it is now being offered in the U.S. by select plastic surgeons.
7. Research laser treatments to strengthen connective tissue beneath the skin. New procedures are being developed to use lasers to target cellulite, though there is some dispute over their effectiveness.

Tips & Warnings

• Camouflage cellulite with a good tan. Fake baking is the healthiest way to tan your skin, so don't sit out in the sun and risk skin cancer.
• Don't stop using topical treatments or the effects will wear off. These are only temporary fixes.
• Don't get liposuction to get rid of cellulite. This procedure can actually worsen the problem.