“I have practised pressotherapy since 2002 for both sport injuries, lymphatic drainage and cellulite and I have to say that I love pressotherapy. It’s a nice, relaxing treatment and quite effective for lymphatic drainage. When it comes to cellulite though, pressotherapy can be a great treatment maximiser for other, much more effective techniques, such as deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation or strong, cellulite specific massage. However, as a sole treatment its utility against cellulite is limited, as it does not work or skin laxity or fat accumulation, two major aspects of cellulite.”
Do pressotherapy compression boots help with cellulite?
Pressotherapy, lymphatic drainage and cellulite | In summary
Pressotherapy for water retention and lymphatic drainage
Is pressotherapy treatment effective for cellulite?
In which cases can pressotherapy treatment help reduce cellulite the most?
Does pressotherapy treatment work for skin tightening?
Pressotherapy immediately after cellulite treatment with radiofrequency, ultrasound or massage
Pressotherapy for cellulite prevention
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Pressotherapy, lymphatic drainage and cellulite | In summary
Pressotherapy involves alternating compression applied through pneumatic garments to improve circulation and lymphatic drainage. Traditionally used for water retention, sports recovery and injuries, it has more recently become popular as a cellulite treatment.
As cellulite often involves water retention, pressotherapy can temporarily reduce its appearance by enhancing circulation, reducing inflammation and supporting lymphatic drainage. These benefits, however, last only about a week.
The treatment does not address the deeper causes of cellulite such as fat accumulation, skin laxity, oxidative stress, glycation or fibrosis. Its effectiveness varies depending on the type of cellulite: those with water retention and inflammation (oedematous cellulite) benefit most, while those with fat-related, fibrotic or skin-looseness cellulite see limited results. Pressotherapy does not stimulate collagen and therefore has no impact on skin tightening.
For more lasting improvements, it can be combined with other therapies, such as radiofrequency, ultrasound or intensive massage. By helping transport released fat molecules away from tissues, pressotherapy enhances the outcomes of these treatments. Alone, it offers modest, short-term improvements and is best suited for cellulite prevention or maintenance.
Pressotherapy for water retention and lymphatic drainage
Pressotherapy refers to alternate compression, provided to your legs by pneumatic garments - inflatable boots for the legs and sleeves for the arms. The aim is to push fluid from the periphery (limbs) towards the heart and boost blood circulation and lymphatic drainage.
Pressotherapy has traditionally been used used for water retention / lymphatic drainage, recovery from sports training and recovery from sports injuries.
In the last couple of decades pressotherapy is very popular for cellulite, but is this use justified? Can pressotherapy reduce cellulite?
Is pressotherapy treatment effective for cellulite?
Do compression boots help cellulite? Does pressotherapy really work? These are common questions at the clinic, so let’s have a look in detail.
As cellulite is characterised by water retention, it makes sense that pressotherapy can also help with cellulite.
Indeed, pressotherapy can partially help reduce cellulite by boosting circulation and aiding lymphatic drainage, which also has an effect on inflammation, an important aspect of cellulite.
However, this is only a temporary effect lasting for up to about a week, thereby improving the appearance of cellulite for up to seven days.
However, pressotherapy does NOT affect to a significant degree:
Hypodermal fat accumulation (the main aspect of cellulite)
Skin looseness, oxidative damage, glycation and fibrosis (the other aspects of cellulite)
So there are limitations on what can pressotherapy do for cellulite.
In which cases can pressotherapy treatment help reduce cellulite the most?
Cellulite is partially a problem of poor circulation/water retention, so anything that boosts blood circulation/lymph drainage can decrease cellulite too.
Different women have different types of cellulite:
If your type of cellulite is characterised by excess water retention/inflammation (oedematous cellulite) you will experience better results after a course of pressotherapy sessions
Conversely, if your cellulite is characterised by a lot of hypodermal fat accumulation (adipose cellulite), lack of skin firmness or a lot of connective tissue hardening (fibrotic cellulite), then pressotherapy treatments will provide poor results
Does pressotherapy treatment work for skin tightening?
As mentioned just above, pressotherapy cannot help with skin tightening, as it does not stimulate collagen contraction or synthesis at all.
Pressotherapy immediately after cellulite treatment with radiofrequency, ultrasound or massage
In cases with more hypodermal fat accumulation, skin looseness or fibrosis, pressotherapy will have to be combined with - or replaced completely by - a vigorous cellulite treatment, such as:
High-power, deep-acting radio frequency
High-power, deep-acting ultrasound
Or at the very least by a strong cellulite-specific massage
In this way, pressotherapy can - to some extent - enhance the effectiveness of other cellulite treatments by expediting the transportation of fat released by the adipocytes (fat cells) away from the cellulite tissues.
Contrary to popular belief, fat that is not removed from an area after a lipolytic cellulite treatment (such as radiofrequency or ultrasound cavitation), is not “burned”. It is typically re-absorbed by the adipocytes, thereby diminishing the effectiveness of the treatment.
Because pressotherapy helps prevent this re-absorption, it is the ideal companion to all other cellulite treatments as it enhances their effectiveness.
Of course, both ultrasound and RF significantly stimulate blood circulation and lymphatic drainage themselves. However, any extra help in removing fat molecules from the treated area is always useful.
Pressotherapy for cellulite prevention
Because most types of cellulite are characterised to some extent by water retention (only the severity of water retention varies), you will almost always experience SOME results with pressotherapy, even as a sole treatment. However, the degree and the duration of improvement will vary.
Pressotherapy can offer some quick, modest results with water retention / lymphatic drainage and consequently cellulite. However, these results are short-lived, so pressotherapy is ideally suited to cellulite prevention or perhaps maintenance, more than reduction.
Of course, if you combine pressotherapy with a lipolytic or skin firming cellulite treatment, such as those mentioned above, you will always experience good results, regardless of your type of cellulite.
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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.
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