Edited by Giuseppe Maria Mingrone
What is Cellulite?
The name "cellulite", in medical jargon, like all words ending with the suffix "-ite", indicates an ongoing inflammatory process of the subcutaneous tissue.
- PANNICULOPATHY: is the deepest layer of the skin, also called panniculus adipose or subcutaneous adipose tissue.
- EDEMATOSA: edema caused by an accumulation of liquids leaking from the vessels.
- FIBROSIS: increase in reticular fibers, characterized by an increase in connective tissue which increases the adipose tissue, contributing to the orange peel skin.
- SCLEROSIS: increase in elastic fibers and scar tissue, which becomes hard, causing pain and hypersensitivity to touch and cold.
Causes
PRIMARY FACTORS are those concerning natural aging, genetic predisposition and ethnicity.
The white woman is more subject to cellulite: it causes high levels of estrogen (in fact it decreases in menopause, except for hormonal treatments) and its pear-shaped silhouette that makes the lymphatic-venous return more difficult.
SECONDARY FACTORS are the menstrual cycle and the pregnancy that causes a liquid stagnation.
Prevent Cellulite
- Cellulite can be avoided by exercising at least 3 times a week. Long duration low intensity activities are preferred. The production of lactic acid produced due to too intense activity is an ally of cellulite.
- A healthy diet with at least 4-5 meals distributed throughout the day. The diet must be poor in salt, sodium is the enemy of cellulite; prefer water with low sodium levels and drink at least 1.5 liters per day to reduce fluid retention.
- Avoid foods rich in saturated fats.
- Sitting for a long time, especially with crossed legs, compresses the vessels and reduces the circulation of the buttocks, the area most affected by cellulite.
- Quick weight loss is to be avoided, the muscle tissue is yielding, making cellulite more visible. It is of fundamental importance to keep the muscle tissue tonic.
- Dress with comfortable, non-tight clothing, the vases must not be compressed by clothing, under penalty of poor circulation.
- Smoking increases free radicals worsening the microcirculation and promoting skin aging.
Cellulite and Footwear
See also: Heeled Shoes - Heels and Health
The use of low footwear is particularly important to counteract the stagnation of the microcirculation. The heart cannot pump blood into the lower body areas, this task is entrusted to the VENOUS SOLE OF LEJARS and to the TRIANGLE OF THE TIME, located under the foot.
These structures have an extremely important action: the foot exerts a compression action on the LEJARS SOLE, whose squeezing facilitates the lymphatic-venous return. The same happens on the TRIANGLE OF THE TIME which contains the most important deep veins. The squeezing of these veins, at every step or movement acts as a peripheral pump (heart), remembering that the lower districts cannot take advantage of a direct push by the heart.
Stiletto heels alter the natural function of the peripheral heart of these important structures, since they reverse the weight distribution between the forefoot and heel:
- With bare feet, the weight is 43% on the forefoot and 57% on the heel.
- Heels 2cm: the weight is equally divided between the forefoot and heel.
- Heels 4cm: 57% forefoot 43% heel.
- Heels 6cm: 75% forefoot 25% heel.
- Heels over: 6cm the weight is on the metatarsus.
As we have seen, the heels alter the structure of the foot and inhibit the "peripheral heart", which, being unable to "pump" the liquids upwards, inevitably produces a stagnation of the same.
In the next article I will deal with physical exercise to fight cellulite.
See you soon!
