In this day and age the body can be a very sensitive subject. For many years I myself disconnected from my body. It is a whole personal story of protection. Enveloping my self in insulation to protect my gooey sensitive interior. Even though I was putting on many kgs I was so disconnected I never put on a pair of trousers that didn’t fit. I just automatically went for stretchies. A lot of people wouldn’t understand that but I just couldn’t look at myself never mind reconnect. It’s weird when you are hiding yourself behind your weight and think no one can see you when you actually take up more space.
Anyway, you can imagine when I began working on myself and learning to love my body the signs of neglect were evident. We are one whole being, connected from head to toe, mind included. So kg’s lighter, here I am with all my imperfections, water retention, cellulite, localised fat deposits and skin slackening. Lucky I am a Beauty Therapist and knew I had a choice, give up and hide it (Irish weather does make this possible) or do my best to improve the situation and make the most of what I have.
I am a nerd and good at facing the negative head on to find my way out. So trolling through information I went. In beauty therapy we have always studied cellulite in particular, so I wanted to update my knowledge. The following is what I know about cellulite, fat deposits and skin slackening. Sometimes knowing what things are and may cause them, gives us somewhere to start.
Cellulite is still somewhat of a mystery. We know its there (we can see it, and feel it) but there are many reasons that cause it and everyone is different. Sometimes slim people have more of it than the not so slim. Why? You may say. It is because it is caused by water retention. It can begin with swelling. As we know it is mostly (but not always) women that get to enjoy this phenomenon. As most of us have experienced swelling on a monthly basis since our early teens its not surprising. Then we can add diet, lifestyle, hereditary factors, posture, stress, change in blood circulation and lymphatic drainage. All of these things can cause the liquid in the dermal layer to become stagnant. A simple example of a few of these factors are bad posture, lifestyle and circulation issues. They can alter how we walk. As the soles of your feet hit the ground, if the full foot doesn’t land properly, your lymphatic return can be interrupted, possibly causing swelling on the inner or outer thigh.
When swelling becomes an issue, ie doesn’t reduce, it starts to press on your natural fat tissue causing your fat cells to become distorted, hence they can’t do their normal work. They become larger and put pressure on the connective tissue causing it to draw down. What follows are small nodules of fat that can look and feel like ‘orange peel’.
Stages of Cellulite:
Stage 1 – No dimpling when pressure applied
Stage 2 – When you squeeze you will see dimpling
Stage 3 – Cellulite is visible when standing but not liking down
Stage 4 – Visible all the time
Stages 3 & 4 the areas effected can feel cold, also quite painful when pressed or massaged. These are the most difficult to treat but its worth the effort to increase the circulation and lymphatic drainage so we become healthier.
Localised fat deposits.
Interesting to know that by the age of 18 or so we no longer make fat cells. The cells we have get bigger and smaller. For me they got bigger mostly around my waist, hips and upper arms. Also commonly they can be localised around the thighs and buttocks.
Along with good diet and exercise, stress relief, meditation, drinking lots of water we can massage and receive body treatments that improve the situation.
Skin slackening is something we all need to be aware of. when we age, our body is slower at producing all our cells. Our epidermal (top skin layer) is where we see this first. The decrease in production of lipids (our natural oils) causes dryness and rough skin. Our protective barrier is weakened therefore our skin becomes thinner and we loose tone. Lifestyle and overexposure to the sun causes our support proteins collagen and elastin to weaken.
The areas we can look forward to this happening most on our bodies are inner thighs, upper arms, abdomen, buttocks and breasts.
We can’t stop ageing but we can slow the process down. We only get one body. Even if we loose our way on our life journey that’s ok as we can always start today. No matter how old you are its never too late.
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you found this an interesting read.