It is a common skin phenomenon that most often occurs in women after adolescence — 85–98% of women over 20 have it to varying degrees. Cellulite also occurs in men, but less frequently, and appears due to a deficiency of male hormones.
Orange peel
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As you know, with cellulite, the skin looks like orange peel or cottage cheese. All this beauty manifests itself most strongly on the hips and buttocks.
According to the degree of severity, there are several degrees of cellulite: at zero there is no cellulite, and at fourth, the skin has a characteristic orange peel-like texture with pronounced raised and sunken areas.
It will help to better understand what cellulite is
Microanatomy of the skin
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The outermost layer of skin is the epidermis, and underneath is the dermis. The next layer of tissue is the hypodermis, it is loose, and this is where cellulite occurs — in places with a large amount of fat deposits, most often on the back of the thigh and buttocks. The connective tissue of the hypodermis contains lobules with chambers of fat cells.
- In women, these lobules are located vertically, and in men at an angle. Fat cells in men expand horizontally, not upward, and therefore, even with the same level of subcutaneous fat, women have more noticeable protrusion of fat cells through the skin than men.
- Also, men have thicker layers of epidermal and dermal tissue in the thighs and buttocks, and this prevents cellulite from “appearing.” The different skin structure between men and women is due to differences in hormones between the sexes.
Why then does cellulite occur in men too?
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It has been proven that men born with a deficiency of male hormones often have subcutaneous fat tissue similar to that of women, and are therefore prone to the appearance of cellulite.
To make the mechanics of the process of cellulite manifestation clearer, imagine a mattress that is filled with water and placed on stones. The surface of the mattress immediately deforms in places where it comes into contact with stones. It’s the same with cellulite—protruding fat cells lead to the formation of depressions in the skin.
This “bulging” process has been confirmed:
- magnetic resonance imaging,
- sonography (high-frequency sound waves to produce images)
- skin biopsy.
It has also been proven that cellulite appears due to sagging/weakening in the connective tissue areas of the dermis.