Cellulite: it’s many women’s worst nightmare. You may have cellulite yourself and it makes you feel terribly insecure, so you try to hide it as best you can. As a plus-size woman, are you sending mixed signals about cellulite?
No mixed signals here: plus-size women may be slightly more likely to have cellulite since excess fat can be a cause, but straight-size women can develop cellulite as well. Since cellulite is untreatable, embracing this flaw is the best way to go through life.
If you want to understand more about your cellulite, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll explain what cellulite is, whether plus-size women have more cellulite than slimmer women, and what you can do to minimize it. Make sure you keep reading!
What Is Cellulite?
We all know what to look for on our own legs, but what exactly is cellulite?
Cellulite is technically considered a skin condition, although it’s only a cosmetic one. In other words, cellulite has no bearing on your health. When fat under your skin atop the muscle accumulates, the collagen there creates a gap, sending fat upward. The result is cellulite. It may appear bumpy, dimpled, and uneven. Some women liken their cellulite to orange peels or cottage cheese.
Although most women talk about cellulite on their thighs, that’s not the only area this skin condition can affect. Your stomach can develop cellulite, as can your rear, your upper arms, and even your breasts. It’s mostly women who have to deal with cellulite, although men can have it too. The reason women have visible cellulite is due to how our fat is distributed compared to men’s.
Are Plus-Size Women More Likely Than Straight-Size Women to Have Cellulite?
Alright, so let’s just get it out of the way so there are no mixed signals: are plus-size women predisposed to have cellulite? The answer–as with all things medical–is probably, but not definitely.
Size and Cellulite: Does Weight Matter?
Healthline describes several causes of cellulite, including inactivity, weight gain, and an unhealthy lifestyle. The reason your size affects how much visible cellulite you might have is that it’s an excess of fat cells that causes cellulite. Well, that and the placement of your connective tissue, which weakens and changes structure as the fat presses against it.
So yes, plus-size women are certainly more likely to have cellulite, but that doesn’t mean every plus-size woman will have it. Also, there are some other interesting facts we have to talk about.
Remember, the reason women have cellulite is due to how their fat is distributed, which is more generous in certain areas than men, including the breasts, buttocks, thighs, and arms. According to Livestrong, these are the areas where people will store their extra fat:
- Chest
- Obliques
- Underarms
- Calves
- Thighs
- Butt
- Hips
- Stomach
Almost all those areas are where cellulite develops. Thus, even if you’re a straight size–or a woman who isn’t plus size–you could have cellulite in naturally fattier areas like the arms and especially the thighs.
That brings us to this conclusion: yes, your weight can influence whether you have cellulite, but smaller, slimmer women can have it too, not only plus-size women.
Another interesting fact is this. Older women of any size will typically have cellulite. The reason? As you get older, your body stops producing as much collagen. Collagen is a protein in the extracellular matrix that does a lot for your body, including the production of bones, hair, and nails.
You also have skin elasticity and suppleness thanks to collagen. When you stop making less collagen, your skin can be thin and saggy, and not only in the face, but the rest of the body as well. The less elastic your skin is, the more that fat changes under the skin can become apparent, leading to more visible cellulite.
Other Factors That Can Cause Cellulite
By the way, your diet, size, and age are not the only determinants of which women will have cellulite. These other factors play a role as well.
- Genetics
Does your mother have cellulite? Maybe your grandmother too? If cellulite runs in the family, then it’s probably going to affect you regardless of your size. Should you have children, you very well may pass on the cellulite to your daughters as well (you also easily could not if the trait skips a generation).
- Accumulated Toxins
Bioaccumulation is the process of your body absorbing toxins like chemicals and pesticides. Your intestines flush toxins on the daily, but if toxins can build up faster than your body can process them, it can be dangerous for your health.
If you’re retaining accumulated toxins, you might notice these symptoms:
- Fecal and urine color changes
- Rashes and acne
- Muscle pain
- Constipation
- Fluid retention
- Yellow or white tongue
- Mood changes, including depression
- Weight gain
- Fatigue
Besides the above side effects, the waste and water from toxins can make your fat cells even bigger, thus pronouncing cellulite.
- Hormones
For many women, cellulite appears on their bodies when they go through puberty. One such change that puberty induces is the development of primary female sex characteristics, including breasts and widening hips.
Your hormones also change during puberty, not to mention at other times of your life as well. Catecholamines and insulin are two hormones in charge of how our body stores and breaks fat down. Studies such as this 2013 report in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology suggest that these hormones and possibly others could indicate your likelihood for the development of cellulite.
- Pregnancy
Growing and birthing a baby will cause lots of changes to your body. Between the weight gain and the new fat distribution, preexisting cellulite might be more pronounced. If you didn’t have cellulite before you got pregnant, you could end up with it. The hormonal fluctuations associated with pregnancy also drive up the rate of cellulite.
Can You Get Rid of Cellulite?
If you have cellulite and you’re like most women, then you hate it. You would love to make it just disappear. Well, unfortunately, that’s not how it works. You might be able to make the cellulite less noticeable, but you can’t get rid of it entirely.
The methods that have worked for some women to minimize their cellulite are to exercise, try topical treatments, and even go under the knife. Let’s describe these methods now as well as how effective they are.
Exercise to Reduce the Appearance of Cellulite
Since weight gain can lead to the development of cellulite, to you, it makes sense that losing weight would then cause the cellulite to disappear. Weight loss might make cellulite less noticeable, but not in all women.
What you can do when you’re at the gym is focus on leg exercises. By tightening the thighs and rear, your bottom half might look better. Incorporate fat-burning exercises into your routines such as walking, swimming, running, hiking, dancing, and cycling.
You should also prioritize doing side lunges, leg and glute kickbacks, step-ups, jump squats, and normal squats. Here is a quick explanation of how to do each move.
- Side lunges: Get into a side lunge position by spacing your feet to the distance of your hips. Outstretch one leg width-wise and bend it. Your hips should be back and your feet flat. Push with that leg until you’re back in the position you were when you started. Do a side lunge on the other side and continue to repeat on both sides.
- Leg/glute kickbacks: Kickbacks should start with you on all fours. Then kick back with one leg, focusing on your upper thigh and glute muscles as you do. Bring your leg down and do the same with the opposite leg.
- Step-ups: To do a step-up, you’ll need an exercise box, a short set of fitness steps, or a bench. Put one foot up on the box then come back down in rapid succession. Alternate between feet.
- Squats: During a regular squat, keep your feet at the width of your shoulders. Your toes should be out. Then bring yourself down but prevent your knees from going over the toes. Stand up slowly and repeat.
- Jump squats: Start in a squatting position to do a jump squat. Before you stand all the way, jump up and land firmly yet gently.
Topical Treatments
Skin creams and topical ointments might firm up and moisturize your skin so cellulite isn’t as prominent. Most cellulite skin treatments will have caffeine as a primary ingredient due to how caffeine will flush water out (it’s a diuretic) and boost blood flow.
Retinol is another main ingredient in topical cellulite creams. Your skin product must contain at least 0.3 percent retinol to be effective. Retinol might make your skin’s outer layer thicker so cellulite doesn’t show. However, it can take upwards of six months for this to happen and sometimes even longer.
No matter the cellulite skin cream or ointment you choose, topical treatments must be applied daily for results.
Medical Treatments
Outside of exercise and topical skin products, you can select from a whole laundry list of medical treatments intended for reducing cellulite. Their effectiveness varies.
- Surgery: Between specialized tools, blades, and needles, a surgeon can make a subcision into the connective tissue under your skin to push fat down. You can also request surgical fat grafting. These surgeries can work, but only for about three years. Then you’d have to go under the knife again.
- Endermologie: The deep massage known as Endermologie requires the use of a tool that can pull on your skin like vacuuming over the carpet. Bruises are common and the results are short-lived, lasting only about a year.
- Acoustic wave therapy: A technician uses a transducer during acoustic wave therapy that transmits sound waves. The sound waves are supposed to break down your cellulite. This treatment requires multiple appointments for results.
- Carboxytherapy: By injecting carbon dioxide right under your skin, you should have increased blood flow there for less cellulite.
- Cryolipolysis: Also known as CoolSculpting, cryolipolysis is another vacuum treatment that pulls your tissue up towards cooling plates to reduce your cellulite over a course of months.
- Radio or laser treatment: Non-ablative radiofrequency treatment requires regular appointments. Ablative laser treatments can destroy the connective tissue surrounding the fat so it’s less noticeable. However, you may only have less cellulite for about a year.
Self-Conscious About Your Cellulite as a Plus-Size Woman? Tips for Hiding It
You can’t believe that you’re unable to get rid of cellulite entirely and that even surgeries might not do anything long-term. You feel bad about your cellulite and you don’t want anyone else to spot it on your body.
Here are some tips for obscuring cellulite, especially in the summer when you’re showing more skin.
Wear Sarongs or Skirted Bikinis
We talked in another post about how sarongs are the perfect summertime accessory for women with cellulite. Your sarong can be sheer and patterned or opaque and in any color you want. If you’d rather go in the water, then a skirted bikini bottom will hide most of the cellulite around your rear and upper thighs.
If your cellulite is on the upper half of your body, please read our post on plus-size women and bikinis. We shared lots of short-sleeved and long-sleeved bikinis as well as other swim styles that cover up your arms and chest.
Get to Love Long, Flowy Skirts
You wouldn’t be caught dead in shorts with your cellulite, but what about skirts? Make sure that yours is flowy so your bottom half can breathe during those dog days of summer. A thigh slit is always chic and won’t show too much skin.
Try Shapewear
Women have had great results with shapewear when trying to shimmy into something tight-fitting such as a bodycon dress. You might like how shapewear flatters your curves and masks lumps and bumps, including those from your cellulite.
Own It
In a 2011 report from the Journal of Cosmetic Science, the researchers revealed that as many as 80 to 90 percent of women have cellulite. That means if you don’t have it, you’re in the minority.
It can definitely sometimes seem like you’re all alone with your lumpy thighs or stomach, but that’s far from the truth. Many women understand your struggle and feel your pain. Rather than stressing about your cellulite, own it! That doesn’t mean you have to like it, but you can at least accept it.
Conclusion
There’s a misconception that only larger women have cellulite, but that’s simply not true. Due to the fat distribution in women, smaller ladies can develop cellulite as well. Given that up to 90 percent of women have cellulite, there’s no definitive treatment that works, and cellulite never goes away, we once again remind you to put it into perspective. Cellulite is normal and doesn’t diminish how fabulous you are!
