The Four Stages of Cellulite Development

Statistics show that there is about 90 per cent of the total population in the world who has cellulite, and only 10 per cent is the estimated case for men. The main reason for this seemingly discriminatory variance is that the fat structure of women is different than that of men.

Cellulite is known as modified adipose tissue. The female hormone, estrogen, is the main (to many) culprit of cellulite formation. The fact is that a woman’s dermis and epidermis is slightly thinner than that of men. Also female band of fibrous connective tissue is baggier. This is particularly important for women especially since the skin has to be stretched during pregnancy. What makes cellulite even more prevalent to women is that her fat cells are larger and in some areas of the body, thicker. When the fat cells tend to increase in size, the gaps in between will narrow down, disrupting the flow of blood and lymph. This makes it difficult to deliver oxygen and essential nutrients into the affected adipose cells, and it’s also difficult to expel out toxins. Because of this aggregate change in the subcutaneous layer of the skin, the surface becomes uneven and lumpy like a cottage cheese or orange peel. While cellulite is due to the modification of the adipose cells and tissue, it should not be associated with obesity. The condition affects even those who have slender bodies.

While cellulite affects almost all women and is considered a normal skin condition by the medical community, majority of the sufferers of the orange peel or cottage cheese syndrome can’t help but find ways of eliminating the condition due to the social stigma cellulite invokes. It is then important that every woman should have knowledge on what are the symptoms of cellulite. As these symptoms advances, cellulite becomes more pronounced in the form of localized bumps in the surface of the skin. This cottage cheese effect that makes dimply skin very unsightly is what we want to avoid. As a person matures, the elasticity of the skin is slowly lost and cellulite becomes more prominent, forming more noticeable bulges around the abdominal area, buttocks, hips, thighs, upper arms, and legs. One sure way of knowing if you have cellulite is by pinching your upper thigh. If you see dimples start to appear, then you have cellulite.

According to the Nurnberger-Muller Scale, cellulite has four stages. It is of utmost importance to know this in order to know the type of cellulite treatment that is best to use.

This is the stage when the pinch test doesn’t show any dimply skin, but just normal folds. There’s no dimpling either that can be seen when you are lying down or standing.

When you do the pinch test, there’s a cottage cheese appearance of the skin. However, you still see no dimpling when you stand up or lie down.

The dimples appear either when standing up or lying down.

The dimply skin is very prominent when lying down or standing up.

While cellulite doesn’t pose any grave health risk, it does give the skin a diminishing look. To prevent the progression of cellulite, it is important to seek professional cellulite treatment from a reputed skin care specialist. However, if you are tight on the budget, a committed personality change is helpful. Eating anti cellulite foods and doing regular exercises can put cellulite at bay.