"CELLULITE" is a misnomer meant to DIMPLING and UNEVENNESS seen in the buttock and thigh skin. Also described as Orange peel or Cottage cheese skin and with more obscure medical terms such as Dermopanniculosis deformans, Status protrusus cutis, Adiposis edematosa.
Cellulite is also associated with raised levels of estrogen (seen more commonly in women), insulin, adrenaline and noradrenaline (as seen in stress), thyroid hormones, and prolactin (lactating women).
Cellulite is also thought to be related to the way the thigh skin is attached / anchored to the thighs. Such skin anchoring appears to be more densely attached in men than in women,. As a result, with aging, sun damage, stress etc, gravitational drooping is associated with more dimpling in women than in men.
A High Lateral Tension Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) which lifts the anterior and some of the side (lateral) thigh WILL smooth cellulite. The same holds for a Buttock lift which is extended forward providing lifting of sagging thighs AND the buttocks.
Good Luck.
Peter A Aldea, MD
