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Dr. Van Dyke shares the best cellulite treatments available.
Dr. Van Dyke:
Treatments for cellulite - my favorite treatment is to thicken and increase the tightness of the surface skin so you think, try this at home. If you have cellulite and you pull the skin taught it looks phenomenal. So what we are doing, with a procedure called thermage, is we use radio frequency energy to create heat in the skin to stimulate new collagen to make the skin tightened, and not only does it tightens the surface, but it tightens the tendrils, those collagen fibers that hold the skin down. So it kind of firms everything up and you will see a nice improvement of cellulite, which will last maybe year, year and a half, two years. There is no cure for cellulite so even the best treatment out there, which appears to be radio frequency right now, has to be done in a maintenance level.
Now there are other treatments for cellulite, for instance a procedure called endermologie. It’s been around for a long time and it does give a nice temporary improvement in cellulite, probably by milking out some of the fluid that seems to collect in these little out-pouchings.
Epidermology is a combination of massage and suction. There’s a procedure that’s a little bit more aggressive than that called TriActive. These are all brand names so there are other names of similar procedures, but just to give you an idea, TriActive has a low-level laser that stimulates collagen, plus the suction plus the massage. So you are getting some fluid movement. You are also getting some collagen stimulation.
Now if you don’t want to go into procedures the question is, what about products you can use at home? There are massage units that you can help remove some fluid. There are topical agents that contain caffeine or aminophylline. Those are ingredients that seem to break down fat, but honestly topical treatments are pretty minimal. I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on topical. I would need you to have to get a little bit more aggressive to get a longer lasting improvement.
Surgery for cellulite; good topic. Now cellulite is related to fat and the best surgery we have for fat of course is liposuction. I will explain on the fat, there are two levels of fat. We have superficial fat and we have deep fat. Liposuction is awesome for removing deep fat. It’s not that great for removing superficial fat because you can get some increased lumpiness just by an irregular removal of fat and since we are already dealing with cellulite, which is lumpy, unfortunately, superficial liposuction can make cellulite worse.
Most of the good surgeons, plastics surgeons, dermatologists who do liposuction will not promote it for the treatment of cellulite and will offer other options rather than just liposuction for cellulite.
About Dr. Susan Van Dyke, M.D.:
After completing 2 years of formal training in Internal Medicine, Dr. Van Dyke found what was to be the start of her dream job. She spent the next 3 years training intensely at Ohio State University and the University of Arizona Medical Centers. Her focus: Dermatology, particularly the cosmetic aspects. Founded in 1985, she formed her practice to deliver the best of Dermatology. In 1995, Van Dyke Laser & Skin became one of the first exclusively Cosmetic Dermatology practices in the world.
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