18 Months Later- Results Take a LOOONG Time to Show Up but Worth It - Tampa, FL

Overall I am really happy with my results but if you had asked me a year ago I would have said that I was disappointed. Its now been about 18 months since I had cellulaze on my behind and the back of my thighs. I am an african american woman in my mid thirties. Like many here I have had cellulite since I was an adolescent. I am 5'1 and weigh about 125. I workout about 5-6 days a week (sometimes 7) and I am a healthy eater. No matter what workout I did it never made a 'dent' in my cellulite. My level of cellulite was I would say moderate on my thighs and much worse on my bottom where I had some very deep dimples. it was bad enough that if I wore a dress that was at all tight at the booty I had to wear spanx underneath or my dimples would show right through and I had never worn a bikini that did not have the shorts(with legs) bottoms and a dark color to fully cover my behind and upper thighs and even then I usually wore a cover up. Over the years I tried several different laser treatments and many different creams all to no result.

The procedure itself in my opinion was not that bad pain wise. Don't get me wrong its no stroll in the park but it was also not nearly as bad as I had imagined. I actually have a pretty low pain tolerance and the worst part of the procedure is the initial numbing part- first there was a needle to numb the incision points - those pricks really hurt but grit your teeth through that part the pricks are at least quick. Then they make the incisions- another ouchie. Then the worst part- they use a long tube to insert the numbing stuff. That hurts, a lot, however my doc was reassuring and told me that this was as bad as it gets and was quick about getting it in there. Once that part was over they let me lay there for about 10 minutes while the numbing set. The doc then began the actual cellulazing which did not hurt-I felt the occasional zing and there were a few points where the doctor needed to add more numbing to the area but when I felt discomfort I said so. Other than those zingers there were extended periods where I nearly fell asleep. Its a weird pressure feeling but does not hurt.

After the procedure- the recovery on this was not easy. I have had lipo (on another area) and this was definitely much much worse than lipo. Part of my personal discomfort was I had my behind and thighs done so I could not find a comfortable position to sit or lay and while walking you use those areas. I know they say you only need a few days recovery but my recommendation is take a full week off of work and 10 days if you can. You will be walking like a little old lady and if you want to keep the fact that you had a procedure private I suggest seclusion. I would say without a doubt no way could you go back to work after 3 days unless you are a superhuman. Day 2 and 3 are by far the worse. On day 1 you still have the numbing in so you aren't feeling it as much but when I woke up on day 2- ouch. I felt like I was hit in the butt by a truck- twice. Also when you need to take off your garment and change your dressings the first few times have someone there with you. I got really woozy the first few times I had to do this so for safety get over your shyness and have someone help you. I was bruised and swollen for an incredibly long time- at least 10 weeks-and I do not bruise easily so plan your outfits post surgery accordingly- this is not something you want to get at the start of the summer as layering will help to cover both the bruises and swelling. Also I wore my garment for about 3 months which was longer than absolutely required but I found that I felt more comfortable with it on.

Beyond the initial issues I felt that the overall recovery took a long time. I really could not work out for about 6 weeks and even then I could still feel the soreness and had to take it easy. As far as scarring I was very concerned about that but the incisions are so tiny that I really don't even notice the little dots and they are about the size of a piece of white rice and I have 5 on each side (1 is hidden in butt crease) . They are only minimally noticeable and a shade darker than my skin. I really have to look hard to even find them. My surgeon also did a good job of not placing them exactly equidistant so it looks more like a natural discoloration rather than a surgical result.

6 months out I felt that I saw no difference and at that point I felt almost regretful that I'd had it done and went through all that for nothing. At about a year out though I noticed that my cellulite seemed maybe not as bad and also my butt overall seemed more rounded.

This April was when I really realized that it had for sure and definitely worked - for the first time EVER I bought a bikini with a triangle bottom. Mind you it was a full coverage back (no g strings in my future) but I never ever would have worn that type of bottom before. Also I wore a skin tight dress with relatively thin material (something I also used to avoid) and a good friend of many years (who knows all about my myriad of spanx and control undies) said to me whatever spanx you are wearing are working cause your butt looks awesome. I replied- I'm not wearing spanx!

To be clear I absolutely do still have cellulite but to quantify it I'd say its about 40% better on my butt and about 70% better on my thighs. Some of the very bad areas are still there but improved and the areas where i had a tinge of cellulite and not the deep indents are greatly improved and those more moderate areas are where I saw the most improvement. I also feel like it helped a bit on my stretch marks which i don't think it is indicated for and I did not expect but still I see improvement. Not a ton but a bit.

The reason I'm writing a review is because I see a lot of reviews saying it did not work but are only 4 months out. i almost did not get this procedure because I saw all these no results reviews but I figured hey it can't get worse and I was desperate for a change. I suggest extreme patience. My doctor said 6 months before results and I think that was even incorrect. I did not notice results till about a year out(of course to be fair after 6 months I stopped looking for a change and its possible I just did not notice for a while as the changes were subtle and not overnight). So to everyone reading reviews check out those that are more than a year out and to those writing please come back and update a year out. Will this get rid of your cellulite entirely? I think probably not unless you barely have cellulite (and in that case i don't know why you would go through this procedure). if you have this expecting to be entirely cellulite free and you will likely be disappointed. Also in the areas where I had very deep cellulite I had the least results so if you have very deep cellulite all over I am not sure how much this would work for you. Overall I am happy- I was looking for an improvement and not perfection and I got that.