Why Women Get Cellulite

“Beauty is only skin deep.” Thomas Overbury

To those that have it, cellulite can feel like a hideous monster has crept across their skin, leaving behind a trail of grotesque evidence. At its best, this trail looks like an orange peel. At its worst, it looks like cottage cheese. In either case, it can make its victims feel self-conscious, frustrated and desperate for a cure. Despite its popular definition as skin that looks like cottage cheese, cellulite is actually fat cells that sit under the skin. Even if cellulite makes you feel like a victim, it has no effect on your health. It is a purely cosmetic issue that affects 90 percent of post-pubescent women. In 2008, women dropped $47 million on cellulite-reduction products. Yet those same women only showed a 25 percent to 50 percent improvement, and even that was short-lived.

Cellulite is so common in women that many dermatologists consider it a secondary sex characteristic. In other words, almost every woman has it, skinny or obese. Cellulite is primarily about estrogen. After puberty, the female hormone estrogen triggers the woman's body to store extra fat for pregnancy. Typically, that added fat appears in the buttocks, thighs, hips and lower abdomen (areas that naturally store fat). But it can also show up under the arms, in the breasts and even in the nape of the neck. As estrogen is released into a woman’s body, fluid builds up in fatty tissues. And women have more fatty tissue than men – particularly throughout the thighs and hips. The very hormone which helps us relax during pregnancy decreases production of collagen, which is the protein which helps keeps skin elastic and strong. When elasticity decreases, there is a greater likelihood of cellulite.