Cellulite

Derived from the surface of an orange: orange peel.

Cellulite on the thigh of a woman aged 28.

Subcutaneous fat tissue in cellulite (cross section).

Cellulite (synonyms: dermopanniculosis deformans , orange peel or wrongly cellulite ) is a constitutional, non-inflammatory change in the subcutaneous fat tissue in the thigh and buttock area. The dent-like surface of the skin is reminiscent of the surface of an orange. Cellulite occurs almost exclusively in women, as men have a masculine structure of the connective tissue . If the connective tissue is overweight or weak, the appearance of the skin can occur at a young age; 80 to 90% of women develop cellulite to varying degrees as they get older.

Paronym

The term cellulite as a synonym for cellulite is common in everyday language , but the term is incorrect from a medical point of view: cellulite is an inflammatory process of the subcutaneous tissue caused by a bacterial infection , which is not present in cellulite. It is a paronym . This confusion can also be found in the foreign dictionary of the Duden Verlag.

description

The description of the appearance under the name cellulite came up in the English-speaking world at the end of the 1960s. The idea was also widely used through publications by Nicole Ronsard. Your descriptions of the cause as slag that is deposited in the body have now turned out to be incorrect.

In women, cellulite develops in the subcutaneous fat tissue as a cushion with a slight congestion of the lymph : the fat tissue is traversed by connective tissue collagen strands ( retinacula cutis ) in grid-like subdivisions. These structures swell more or less under the hormonal changes of the menstrual cycle and thus make the shape of the collagen bands visible. Cellulite is therefore also caused by the hormone estrogen . There is no scientific evidence for the alternative medical claim that the accumulation of various metabolic products in the connective tissue (keywords acidification and purification ) is responsible.

The change in the surface of the skin is not a symptom of illness, but a purely aesthetic property. Numerous medical, alternative medical and cosmetic treatments have been developed for prevention or reduction, but none of them are entirely successful. Cosmetically, a distinction is often made between three levels of skin appearance:

1. Visible dents on a pinch test.
2. Dents are visible when standing, but not when lying down.
3. Dents can also be seen when lying down.

Treatments

Without evidence of a therapeutic effect, the following treatment methods are tried:

• Reduction of the body fat percentage through injection lipolysis (fat-path injection)
• Aesthetic mesotherapy or micro-needling to improve the surface of the skin
• acoustic wave therapy: ultrasonic waves are introduced into the treatment area
• Lymphatic drainage
• Massage with papaya seed oil
• Treatment with negative pressure in a special vacuum tube: intermittent vacuum therapy
• Stimulation of the blood circulation in the skin through sufficient exercise, alternating showers and brush massages
• Endermologie , mechanical connective tissue massage for "skin gymnastics"
• Supportive nutrition, for example consumption of vitamin C , which can strengthen the connective tissue through the cross-linking of collagen fibers
• Sea salt baths
• Body wraps with bandages tighten the tissue
• Cryotherapy (application of extremely low temperatures - down to −160 ° C for a short time) - especially whole body cold therapy in a cryochamber
• alternative medical methods, such as B. galvanic fine current treatments

Since cellulite affects deep skin structures, creams, ointments and similar cosmetic treatments cannot be successful. A noticeable effect can only be attributed to the massaging. When liposuction ( liposuction ) while body fat is removed, however, the typical skin dimpling may persist or develop again.

Web links

Commons : Cellulite  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Wiktionary: Cellulite  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Werner Bartens: Helpless against orange peel. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung from August 20, 2010.
• Christina Hucklenbroich: Cellulite: The new bubonic plague. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of July 2, 2007.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Reuter: Springer Lexicon Medicine. Springer, Berlin a. a. 2004, ISBN 3-540-20412-1 (Lemma Cellulite).
2. ↑ The foreign dictionary. Dudenverlag, Mannheim 2007, Lemmata Cellulite and Cellulite.
3. ^ Nicole Ronsard: Cellulite: those lumps, bumps, and bulges you couldn't lose before . Beauty & Health Pub. Corp., 1973.
4. ↑ Margaret Minker (Ed.): Dictionary of Medicine. Falken, Niedernhausen 1992, Lemma Cellulite.
5. ↑ Zerini, Irene, et al. "Cellulite treatment: a comprehensive literature review." Journal of cosmetic dermatology 14.3 (2015): 224-240.
6. ↑ Heike Käser: Make natural cosmetics yourself . 7th edition. Freya, ISBN 978-3-99025-049-5 , pp. 512 .

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !