The Skinny on Cellulite

Cellulite. We know it well ... the dreaded loose and lumpy fat nearly every woman has. Many men have it, too, in the breast and abdominal area. Now there are two new ways to tackle it.

"Cellulite can be made to look smaller with weight loss, but it's still there," dermatologist Christine Glavey, M.D., of Alpha-Derm in Atlanta, tells Ivanhoe.

So what works? One new technology is called VelaSmooth. "It lights up. It heats up, and it tightens things as well as suctioning and rolling manipulation," Laser Specialist Kristi Brewer, of Face & Body Works in Atlanta, says. VelaSmooth requires 16 treatments over eight weeks. Brewer says radio frequency, infrared heat, and a sucking motion create the improvement in the skin. "The dramatic inch change is going to be around that love handle area, that spare tire." Mike McDonald spent $3,000 to have VelaSmooth on his abdomen and back. "I was very happy," he says. "I went down two pant sizes."

Another technology called Thermage may also help rid the body of cellulite. Dr. Glavey says, "We're pulsing at multi-layers of collagen, from the top all the way down, and then into the fat." Thermage uses radio frequency to heat up cellulite. Dr. Glavey says the one-time procedure reduces the size of the fat cells by tightening tissue. Ginger Foretich spent about $4,000 with the hopes it tightens her stomach after having three children. If you don't want to shell out the big bucks, over the counter anti-cellulite creams can improve the look of skin, but don't affect fat cells. And self-tanning lotions can help mask cellulite.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.