SUCCESS: Cellfina on Dimpled Thighs! - Portland, OR

If you look at the very last picture of my lipo/BBL review, you can see a picture of a couple of deep dimples on my left thigh that became more prominent after fat transfer to the outer buttocks. I believe these dimples were always present but hard to see; after my butt was filled out a little (450mLs each side), I believe the extra weight combined with skin laxity caused these dimples to be more obvious. The mini-BBL was exactly a year ago.

The left thigh had deeper but fewer dimples. The right thigh had shallower but more numerous ripples. This was complicated by the fact that 15 years ago, I had tumescent lipo to the saddlebag region, and it's possible some canula tracks were made. Nonetheless, I've had thigh ripples for a long time, despite being of normal weight.

After a completely failed attempt with Accent at a local medispa, I turned to the kind, considerate, and gentle Dr Douglas Key at Key Laser Center. I knew that only Cellfina and Cellulaze had any real chance of notably improving my cellulite. Thus far in my area, no one has Cellulaze and Dr Key is the only one who has Cellfina.

Dr Key was very thorough and meticulous in his examination. He used an angled light to look at my thighs, having me turn minute amounts so that could see how the dimples stretched, moved, and connected. He was very honest in saying he didn't know if all my dimples would respond because my dimples were more like troughs, or peaks and valleys, rather than perfectly round, discrete dimples. Part of my issue is also skin laxity...there's just no getting around it at 40. I'll likely need radio frequency afterwards to maximize the tightening.

I had the Cellfina procedure yesterday, and it was very easy compared to last year's lipo. I had about 20 dimples addressed, and the procedure took about an hour and a half or so. The injection of local anesthetic was, as warned, the only painful part. But as the solution diffuses, each subsequent poke becomes less painful. I'd say on a scale of 1-10, the worst injections were a 5, but they were short-lived.

The actual Cellfina then goes very quickly once you've been injected with the local anesthetic. It sounds like a small tree saw and you don't feel a thing. Afterward, you drain a bit just like lipo, but to a much, much less extent. I put on a compression garment with absorbent pads.

Attached are my pictures taken today, one day after the procedure. I'm obviously very bruised and the tissue feels tender. It's still too puffy to tell whether it has worked. The pictures I've seen all indicate about a 50% improvement...which I'd be satisfied with.

Dr Key and the amazing staff at Key Laser were extremely gracious, kind, funny, warm, and very real. Dr Key is so gentle and sweet! He was very generous with his time and with his honest opinions.

Trying not to get too excited since I know the bruising and swelling is likely hiding some of the dimpling. That said, the areas definitely look smoother to me, especially given the "furrows" on the left outer thigh were pretty deep. Very comfortable today, only painful if I bump the regions. Dr Key prescribed hydroquinone cream to prevent the entry sites from hyperpigmenting. I start that tomorrow.

Now that the swelling and bruising have substantially improved, I can really see the results! Dr Key wasn't sure my kind of cellulite would respond--i.e. the linear, furrow type--but as you can see from my Before pic (left thigh), it has totally worked! I'm really very pleased.