What Is Cellulite

Over the last decades cellulite has become one of the worst banes for modern women. However, it is not a new bane, as it has actually been known for centuries. Of course, you want to know how to get rid of cellulite, but what is cellulite actually? And how is it formed in female bodies?

Once you know what cellulite is, and what it’s not, you can make a more informed choice of a cellulite treatment such as cellulite creams or of a cellulite removal method such as mesotherapy, endermologie, or more natural ways to get rid of cellulite.

One of the myths about cellulite states that it is formed only through the modern hypodynamic or inactive lifestyle and our eating habits. However, if you look at some world’s masterpieces, such as paintings of famous artists of the Renaissance epoch, you will see women with a lot of cellulite on their thighs, belly or buttocks. Moreover, back in those times, cellulite was a sign of female beauty. So, as you may see, it is a natural occurrence.

Now, what is cellulite? It is not a disease. It is rather a cosmetic issue. Most scientists believe it is not the sign of any health problem in the body. However, it does have a bad effect on many females’ emotional and mental stability by making them feel unable to meet modern beauty standards.

Cellulite is not a condition linked to an excess of fat and obesity. Even very thin people can have cellulite, because this orange peel is not caused by the under skin fat deposits. It is caused by the inner skin fat deposits.

If you really want to understand what cellulite is and how to reduce cellulite, it is essential to learn more about our skin anatomy.

As you can see on the picture below, our skin consists of several layers:

• the upper layer is the epidermis,
• the next layer is the dermis. The dermis contains blood vessels, sebaceous glands (oil producing glands), nerve receptors, connective tissue and hair follicles. The connective tissues are made of collagen.
• and the bottom layer is called the hypodermis or subcutis, which is itself formed by 3 distinct layers of fat. This is where cellulite happens.

The connective tissues located in the dermis pull the skin down inwardly. Beneath the dermis we have the fat deposits, called subcutaneous because they are located in the subcutis. As mentioned previously, there are 3 layers of these fat deposits. Some of the cells of the top layer of fat sort of pop up into the dermis. This is what forms this unpleasant look of bumpiness of cellulite on the skin.

Cellulite does not appear on all the body, but mostly on thighs, buttocks, arms and stomach. There is a simple reason for such cellulite location: the female body stores most of its fat in those areas. Some men also get cellulite, but the majority of cellulite cases are found in women.

Such unfairness is conditioned by the differences in male and female skin structure. Female skin is much thinner, especially on thighs and on buttocks. Thicker male skin makes skin fat less obvious and visible. Plus, females have a different structure and direction of connective tissues. Men’s connective tissues go in diagonal direction, while female connective tissues are located vertically.

Under the gravity the skin and fat cells sag and become jammed by the pull of connective tissues. This forms the look of cellulite. When you get older, the skin becomes thinner and less elastic, and the pull of connective tissue becomes stronger, as it also becomes less elastic. As a result, cellulite becomes more visible.

Now, there are some factors which contribute to the visibility of cellulite. Obesity is one of them. If your body accumulates a lot of fat, it gains more fat inside the skin, as well as under it. It makes the fat cells more sticking out and bumpy to look at.

So, how to get rid of cellulite? Once you can answer the question “what is cellulite”, you can see that it is not a disease, but a natural occurrence, which cannot be cured with drugs. You can not get rid of cellulite completely, but cellulite can definitely be treated to be less visible.