Often, an obese person is less alarmed by general body weight than by hips, waistline, thighs or arms that bulge where they shouldn’t. They are natural prospects for ‘spot reducing’ gadgets which promise to flatten the local bulges. Sauna belts, rollers, vibrators and many more are examples. Science has proved that two things are necessary to lose weight effectively, one: follow a medically oriented weight loss programme so that you burn up excess fat. Two : exercise those areas you specifically wish to reduce, tone and firm.
There is no such thing as a magic pill or remedy or gadget for spot reduction that can specifically reduce hips, thighs, breasts etc.
I have lumpy, dimpled patches on my hips and thighs. My beautician says this is ‘cellulite’ – a different type of fat which feels rigid on touch, is usually stubborn and very difficult to get rid off. Is it true doctor? I am so worried.
No separate fat called cellulite exists in the body. In fact, there are no two types of fat at all in our body. “All fat is same old fat” formed as a combination of fatty acids with glycerol. All fats are deposited and stored in the same way in fat cells that together form adipose (fatty) tissue.
Then what is cellulite, doctor?
Cellulite is a term coined by French scientists to describe an ‘appearance’, ‘a look’ typical of an orange peel (peu d’orange in French) or cottage cheese ‘appearance’ of certain parts of the body as compared to their normal smooth contour. Generally the areas affected are hips, thighs and occasionally arms, abdomen and back. According to cellulite authorities the ‘cellulite look’ or the orange peel, ( peu d’orange) or cottage cheese appearance is thought to be the result of two totally different mechanisms yet both involving the layer of connective tissue between the skin and the muscles and the internal organs. The treatment for both these cases is also accordingly different.
In one case, the thick layers of fat on certain areas of the body, like hips, thighs and occasionally abdomen, back and upper arm, looks lumpy because the strands of connective tissue, which serve as mesh-work for large group of fat cells, lose their elasticity and shrink with age. As the connective tissue shrinks, the overlying skin attached to these fibres contracts. If the size of the fat cells encased in them does not shrink to match, a kind of over all dimpling occurs on the surface of the skin. This gives a cottage cheese or an orange peel appearance.
A factor which contributes to this problem is the fact that most women, after the age of eighteen years gradually lose muscular-size and strength.
There is no special treatment required for getting rid of this cellulite, caused by lumpy deposits of fat from the hips, thighs, abdomen, back and arms. There is only one scientific way to shed off these lumpy deposits of excess fat from the body and that is to, one: follow a medically oriented weight loss programme designed to oxidize or burn excess fat and then two : exercise to increase the size and strength of the large muscles that compose the hips and thighs. The other major muscles should be exercised to support fatty deposits through out the body.
In the second case, the cellulite, is thought to be the result of congestion of the layer of connective tissue that lies between skin, muscles and internal organs. Among the components of this connective tissue are the circulatory vessels and lymphatic fluid that carry nourishment to the cells and carry waste for elimination. When, because of sluggish body function, wastes cannot be efficiently eliminated, a vicious circle begins. Wastes (toxins) engorge surrounding tissue and harden into lumpy pockets. These pockets further impair circulation in the area and more pockets form, giving an orange peel (peud’orange) or cottage cheese appearance to the affected area.
90% of the affec ted persons are ‘thin women’, usually having fat legs and susceptibility to periodic changes in the female hormone estrogen such as puberty, pregnancy, use of birth-control pills and menopause. The other factors which contribute towards cellulite is poor nutrition and lack of regular exercise.
The treatment usually in this case of cellulite, due to hard lumpy pockets of wastes, is a cleansing regimen that combines (1) Restricted sodium (salt) diet to counteract water retention, (2) Aromatherapy using essential oils for application on affected area to counteract water retention and for cleaning and detoxifying blood, (3) Body brushing using commercially available good body brush for detoxifying the body, by stimulating the circulation and lymphatic system to drain away toxins, and (4) Consistent but unstrenuous exercise programme. The result of such a treatment is improved digestion, elimination, circulation ad body tone. In this case of cellulite, the treatment is not a weight loss programme, based on balanced nutrition, and treatment of underlying cause of obesity, but as a part of a purifying regimen designed to rid the body of toxins and encouraging breakdown of these waste engorged, hard, lumpy pockets.
It is possible that both causes of ‘cellulite’ are present in the same person either in the same area such as hips or different areas such as arm and hip?
Yes. It is possible. Both causes of cellulite, when present in a person, may be found to co-exist in the same affected area as hips only or exist separately such as hard, lumpy pockets on the arms.
What is the treatment in cases where both causes of cellulite exists in the same person?
The treatment of cellulite in cases where both causes of cellulite exist in the same person, is a combination of a medically oriented weight-loss programme to burn excess fat, and a purifying regimen designed to rid the body of waste engorged, hard, lumpy pockets.