“I started my career in cellulite reduction back in 2001 also believing the hype - like everyone else those days - that skin ligaments are the main cause of cellulite and all you need to do to reduce cellulite is to relax or even to cut-off the retinaculae. However, I quite quickly realised that this approach is quite wrong for multiple reasons. On this article I analyse the role of skin ligaments in cellulite and where should the focus be for effective cellulite reduction.”
Retinaculae cutis and cellulite
Are skin ligaments (a.k.a. “collagen bands”, “fibrous bands”, skin retinaculae, retinaculae cutis or fibrous septae) the cause of cellulite?
How fat and skin ligaments affect cellulite
Subcision, palper-rouler and AWT to break / relax the skin ligaments?
Radiofrequency and ultrasound to reduce hypodermal fat, tighten skin, boost circulation and relax skin ligaments
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The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Are skin ligaments (a.k.a. “collagen bands”, “fibrous bands”, skin retinaculae, retinaculae cutis or fibrous septae) the cause of cellulite?
Cellulite appears due to the action of enlarged fat globules pushing skin upwards and shortened collagen fibre bundles pulling skin downwards.
Skin ligaments vs fat: what is the most important aspect of cellulite?
These collagen fibre bundles are not bothersome, unnecessary for the body tissues that need to be cut out so that fat can perpetually expand upwards without hindrance.
These fibres are known to anatomists as retinaculae cutis*, i.e. skin ligaments, and they are there, as all ligaments, to keep two parts of connective tissue attached to each other.
In the case of skin ligaments, they keep skin attached to the fascia underneath. Without them skin would just slide down and would not stay in place. In a nutshell, skin ligaments keep our skin firmly in place.
(* Retinaculae cutis are known to the public as “collagen bands” or “cellulite collagen bands”. They are also known to both public and “experts” as septa or, more correctly, septae. However, researchers have found no fibrous septae in cellulite, just retinaculae, so the term septa is erroneous.)
How fat and skin ligaments affect cellulite
When fat globules around those skin ligaments enlarge, they also stretch the skin ligaments. And as fat globules enlarge they also inhibit circulation and tissue oxygenation and flood the area with inflammatory cytokines (cellulite fat tissue is well-known to cause chronic, low grade inflammation, exactly the same as visceral fat tissue).
With continuous stretching, hypoxia and inflammation, skin retinaculae also become inflamed and fibrotic and as a result they slightly shorten.
So it is not those “pesky” skin ligaments that primarily cause cellulite, it is fat. Therefore, the first course of action should not be to cut out the retinaculae cutis, the first course of action should be to reduce hypodermal fat levels (hypodermis is the deeper skin layer, where cellulite is found).
Subcision, palper-rouler and AWT to break or relax the skin ligaments?
Procedures like subcision and cellfina cut out the skin retinaculae and let fat expand freely upwards but do nothing for hypodermal fat, i.e. the main cause of cellulite. The aftermath is:
10-25 incision scars above the 10-25 biggest cellulite dents. These scars do not always fade away, with some becoming hyper-pigmented or hypertrophic.
Skin laxity, as the skin supporting retinaculae are cut-off and skin can glide more freely on the underlying fascia
Hundreds of smaller cellulite dents which are not treated (they cannot physically be treated in one, in five or even in ten surgery sessions)
Another option is to try to stretch the retinaculae with machines which perform mechanical skin rolling massage combined with vacuum suction. However, all these techniques manage to do is loosen up the skin and cause thread veins.
Another option is to try to break down the retinaculae cutis with (shockwaves (a.k.a. acoustic wave therapy) but shockwaves do not achieve anything significant, either in regard to skin ligaments or to cellulite in general.
Radiofrequency and ultrasound to reduce hypodermal fat, tighten skin, boost circulation and relax skin ligaments
However, there is another way, which makes sense and does address the main cause of cellulite: to reduce hypodermal fat.
The best techniques to achieve this SAFELY are deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation, ideally combined with high-power LED phototherapy.
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency helps reduce hypodermal fat levels and tighten the skin, while deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation also reduces hypodermal fat levels and helps relax the retinaculae.
They both boost circulation and lymphatic drainage, while high-power LED phototherapy helps maximise the effects of RF and ultrasound when applied right after those techniques.
Such an approach makes much more sense, as it prioritises fat reduction but also secondarily works to relax the skin ligaments, boost circulation and lymphatic drainage and - very importantly - tighten the skin, which is usually loose in women with cellulite.
Have a treatment in London with the cellulite experts
At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.
This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.
As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.
(Of course, we keep looking for new technologies every day and if/when a better technology materialises we will be the first to provide it. However, we will never follow the latest ineffective gimmick, just because it’s good marketing to offer the latest hyped up - yet ineffective and/or unsafe treatment.)
Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.
And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.
Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.
(No unsafe and ineffective RF microneedling or HIFU and no safe but ineffective acoustic wave therapy, superficial RF (bipolar/tripolar/multipolar etc), low power RF/cavitation, electrical muscle stimulation, lymphatic massage, cupping, dry brushing and no ridiculous bum bum creams.)
Our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.
We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Why train with The Cellulite School™?
We all know that training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening is as basic as it gets. It is typically a 4-6 hour training, involving only basic instruction from the manufacturer on how operators can use the machine; lots of myths, erroneous information and misconceptions; and some basic health and safety on how to use the machine.
There is no proper, real training in the science or cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound and all related technologies is non-existent - worldwide.
Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening?
Get proper training based on 25-year theory and practical application of cellulite reduction and valuable insights from 24,000+ sessions and 4,200+ clients.
Now you can get instant access to our expertise and save yourself literally thousands of pounds, dollars or euros of expensive mistakes and thousands of hours of study, research and practical application by attending one of our half-day, 1-day, 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / training courses.
Understand deeply - and get properly trained in - the science of radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible.
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