“I have been involved in cellulite reduction and skin tightening for more than 25 years and during those times I have seen all kinds of treatments proposed from soft, pointless and superficial, that do nothing to change the structure of cellulite and skin laxity, to deep and intensive that aim to do more “structural” work. Some structural treatments work by stimulating better “structure” (collagen contraction, collagen synthesis, fat release, skin ligament relaxation etc), while some work by literally burning tissues at 60-90ºC and then hoping that the scar tissue that follows will improve skin condition. As you understand there is a big difference between the two. Read more...”
Real, structural treatments for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, based on safe technologies
Fluffy and superficial vs deep and structural cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Superficial and fluffy cellulite / skin tightening treatments
Deep and structural cellulite / skin tightening treatments - the unsafe and destructive bunch
Deep and structural cellulite / skin tightening treatments - the safe and effective way
Advanced skin tightening and cellulite treatments in London, by LipoTherapeia
The only aesthetic practice in London specialising 100% in skin tightening & cellulite removal
Book an expert skin tightening / muscle toning treatment at our central London clinic
Fluffy and superficial vs deep and structural cellulite reduction and skin tightening
There are two types of cellulite treatment: the pointless superficial and fluffy ones and the deep, structural ones. The latter can be further subdivided between safe and functional and unsafe and destructive.
Let’s dive deep into these subcategories.
Superficial and fluffy cellulite / skin tightening treatments
Superficial cellulite and/or skin tightening treatments involve things like:
Dry brushing and coffee scrubs, which all they do is scrub the outermost layer of the skin (epidermis) while doing nothing for the deepest skin layer (hypodermis), where cellulite lives. Beauty “experts” and influencers still promote such stuff, as if it’s 1999…
Basic body hydrating creams with one active ingredient (or none at all) masquerading as “cellulite creams”. These ingredients range from the widely tested - but still inadequate on its own - caffeine, to random and unproven, highly diluted “kinda” actives, with almost no efficacy data. Even worse, some famous so-called “cellulite creams” contain ZERO active ingredients and still boast thousands 4.5+ star reviews. Go figure how this is possible…
Manual lymphatic drainage, which just temporarily drains some excess water, while doing absolutely nothing to change the structure of cellulite (or even address the causes of water retention itself) and has to be repeated every week forever.
Massage with suction cups, rotating balls, skin rolling with suction, mechanical skin rollers or simply deep tissue massage (which in fact affects the muscles, not the skin). These, although they reach deeper, they are wrong by design and do little to address the main aspects of cellulite and they are overall quite inferior to deep, structural treatments.
⏵ Book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our central London clinic
Deep and structural cellulite / skin tightening treatments - the unsafe and destructive bunch
These kind of treatments do reach deep and do attempt to change the structure of the hypodermis - by actually damaging it, one way or another.
By definition, such treatments have a high chance of adverse reactions occurring, as a little extra “controlled” damage becomes too much and can lead to burns, bumps, fibrosis and even worse skin laxity.
Such “structural” treatments include:
Radiofrequency microneedling involves literally burning the hypodermis to 60-90ºC with the aim of damaging fat tissue or slack connective tissue and replace it with hardened SCAR TISSUE (not tight skin tissue, there is a huge difference). This is the passed on to laypeople as “skin tightening”. I am not exaggerating: tissue after such procedures looks in the ultrasound examination EXACTLY like scar tissue, such as the fibrosis found after vaser liposuction, after an injury etc. If the fibrosis is just the right amount, people call it “skin tightening”; if it’s too little, there is no difference before and after; and if it is too much, people resort to visiting multiple Harley Street doctors and professors and spend thousands of pounds trying to repair their skin. Extreme intensity, stationary radiofrequency works in the same fashion but with no needles. Some examples here and here, respectively.
High intensity HIFU works exactly in the same way by using ultrasound instead of radiofrequency and needles, in terms of attempted goals (controlled scar tissue), in terms of adverse reactions and in terms of results. If it is strong you get uncontrolled scar tissue, if it is too light you get no results. Just like microneedling RF, these adverse reactions also need a lot of care and money to be repaired. Luckily, most therapists don’t use HIFU at very high intensities, which means side effects are not that common but “results” in a reasonable number of sessions are not that common either. In most cases not much happens, apart from a waste of time and money. Some examples here (they are all based on facial HIFU but its adverse reactions work out exactly the same way anywhere on the body).
Cellulaze and endolift involve inserting a small cannula with a laser tip inside the skin and also work by burning the hypodermis to stimulate scar tissue and create the illusion of skin with more tightness and less cellulite. Same problems here and here, respectively.
Subcision / cellfina / aveli. This involves undercutting the hypodermal retinaculae (what most people erroneously refer to as ‘septa’ while some people call them ‘collagen bands’). The problem with subcision/cellfina treatments is that by completely cutting off the retinaculae, they lead to skin laxity. This is because the retinaculae are there for a reason - to keep skin in place and connected to the underlying fascia - by cutting them off the connection is lost. Retinaculae may indeed get too shortened and lead to cellulite but that does not mean we should just excise them and believe it will all end well. Ideally we would like to thin out or stretch the retinaculae, not to get rid of them completely. Some cellfina examples here (BTW, cellfina was so effective that it the manufacturer stop making the machine). Some Aveli examples here. And some subcision examples here (they are all based on facial subcision but subcision’s adverse reactions work exactly the same way anywhere on the body).
Acoustic wave therapy is supposed to act deep and structurally to weaken the retinaculae but this is the theory on paper, not lived experience in real life. In most cases not much happens. At least, AWT does not cause much in the way of side effects. Some examples here.
These kind of treatments are indeed deep and “structural” but by trying to repair cellulite or skin laxity by first creating STRUCTURAL DAMAGE, they carry a lot of risks, are painful and expensive and in most cases they are not even more effective than safe techniques (AWT is generally safe and cheap but in most cases it is not effective).
Sure enough, some people do get good results from these techniques but the ones who get the adverse reactions are not 1% of the population and they are extremely distressed and desperate to repair the damage, as you can see from the links above.
For example, 33% of reviewers (not 1% or 2%) are extremely unhappy with radiofrequency microneedling (link here). And, as you can see from the reviews and the images, most of these people are unhappy not because the treatment did not work but because they experienced quite serious / long-term adverse reactions. And the same applies to the other examples above.
Safety for us is number one and we would never offer such procedures where a sizeable number of people suffer such reactions.
⏵ Book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our central London clinic
Deep and structural cellulite / skin tightening treatments - the safe and effective way
Among the superficial and fluffy stuff and the brute force structural damage bunch, there is a third way: the treatments which act DEEP and ARE structural but which are also safe (99.5%+ safe in our clinic, with the remaining 0.5%- of the cases experiencing mild, temporary reactions).
These technologies are:
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, used at controlled temperatures (43-47º in the tissues, not the 60-90º used for destructive treatments) is proven by multiple studies and by 25+ years of application around the world (15+ at our clinic) to stimulate collagen contraction, collagen synthesis, blood circulation, and hypodermal fat reduction. These are deep, structural - but SAFE - changes which reduce cellulite and boost skin tightness and elasticity, without the need to damage tissue first.
Deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation, again used at controlled temperatures (43-47º in the tissues, not the 60-90º used for destructive treatments) is proven by multiple studies and by 25+ years of application around the world (15+ at our clinic) to stimulate fibrosis reduction (helps relax and thin out thickened and contracted retinaculae), mild collagen synthesis, blood circulation, and, most importantly, hypodermal fat reduction. Again, these are deep, structural and SAFE changes, which reduce cellulite without the need to damage tissue first.
High-power LED phototherapy at 630nm, and especially 830nm, penetrates in the dermis and hypodermis and if used right after radiofrequency / cavitation boosts the results of these technologies, by boosting mitochondrial energy production right when it is needed the most.
I have been involved in cellulite reduction and skin tightening for 25 years and have researched and trialled all the major technologies.
At the moment these three are the best deep, structural technologies which make sense and are SAFE and we combine all three technologies at the clinic.
Of course, if any new amazing technology comes out which works structurally and which is safe, we will immediately adopted and you will see it in our treatment list.
⏵ Book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our central London clinic
Advanced skin tightening and cellulite treatments in London, by LipoTherapeia
Experience LipoTherapeia® Plus, the strongest SAFE cellulite reduction and skin tightening treatment available today, skilfully applied without compromises or cut corners, for maximum results, naturally.
LipoTherapeia® Plus comprises 6 exclusive elements:
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, the most effective SAFE cellulite reduction technology, with the best equipment currently available
Deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation, the second most effective SAFE cellulite reduction technology, with the best equipment currently available
High-power LED phototherapy, to maximise and enhance the effects of our high-power, deep-acting radiofrequency and ultrasound, with the best equipment currently available
Muscle toning and lifting on the glute muscles with Emsculpt®, the best technology in the world, to help lift your skin from the inside, by toning, building and lifting your muscles (optional; only for the arms, buttocks, stomach and calves areas)
Advanced treatment protocols, based on actual Physics and the Anatomy & Physiology of cellulite, in order to make the most of these technologies (this is in contrast to the usual one-day training on some basics of how to use the machine, which is the norm at almost all salons and clinics that offer cellulite treatments - including cosmetic surgery practises)
Treatment based on more than two decades of experience, study and research in cellulite and skin tightening, with more than 23,000+ treatments and 4,100+ cases (including 14+ years and 13,000+ high-power, deep-acting radiofrequency and cavitation treatments)
A PAINLESS, realistically priced and effective technology, LipoTherapeia® Plus has a 99.5%+ safety rate at our clinic, as it is based on naturally stimulating collagen production, hypodermal fat release and circulation/lymphatic drainage - not on burning the skin inside, as some procedures aim.
In most cases of cellulite / skin laxity we recommend 6-12 sessions for best results (there are no miracle treatments that reduce cellulite in 1-4 sessions).
⏵ Book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our central London clinic
The only aesthetic practice in London that specialises 100% in skin tightening & cellulite removal
Most aesthetic clinics offer 20, 30, even 50 different treatments, from laser hair removal to fillers to chemical peels to cellulite, and thereby lose specialisation and expertise.
A jack of all trades therapist or clinic cannot possibly be experts in 20, 30 or 50 different treatments. It is physically impossible to follow the science and all the latest developments in 50, 30 or even 20 fields.
And it is impossible to be an expert in an aesthetic condition, if you never study and practise with focus and depth the science of that aesthetic condition.
So at LipoTherapeia we only focus 100% on cellulite reduction and skin tightening - nothing else.
We do not do botox, fillers, chemical peels, dermablading, microdermabrasion, waxing, nails, fluffy facials, laser hair removal and the like: just cellulite reduction and skin tightening with the best ultrasound, radiofrequency and LED phototherapy technologies in the world (no exaggeration). And we have a deep knowledge of these five subjects - for your benefit.
⏵ Book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our central London clinic
More than two decades of experience in cellulite removal and skin tightening
At LipoTherapeia we make the most out of the best technologies in the world with our advanced protocols, developed over more than two decades and based on:
A deep knowledge of the Physics of radiofrequency, ultrasound and phototherapy and the anatomy of skin laxity and connective tissue (as opposed to the usual one-day training provided by machine manufacturers)
Literally tens of thousands of sessions on thousands of clients with hundreds of kinds of body types, sensitivities and health/aesthetic issues
All with 99.5%+ safety and NO PAIN, NO DOWNTIME, no microneedling, no injections, no fillers, no unsafe “instant miracle treatments”, no numbing creams, no invasiveness, no surgery, no drama.
Just comfortable, safe and effective treatment that works by stimulating your skin to become smoother and firmer., naturally and safely.
⏵ Book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our central London clinic
Caring, honest, boutique treatment and advice with an expert - premium treatment without the premium prices
Treatment is always provided by a highly experienced therapist and is personalised, according to your specific needs.
No treatment by machine operators trained for one day, no ever-changing therapists and receptionists, no armies of pushy salespeople, no hard sales and no premium prices.
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 skin laxity, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.
⏵ Book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our central London clinic