Cellulite Creams and Procedures: What Changes It, and for How Long

Cellulite affects an estimated 80 to 90% of women, mostly on the thighs, buttocks and hips.¹ “Most women, even very fit women, have cellulite,” as the American Academy of Dermatology² puts it. It isn’t a disease. A 2023 review still concluded there is no fully effective treatment, and most improvements don’t last.¹

Why weight loss doesn’t settle it

In women in supervised weight-loss programs, most saw their cellulite improve, but for others it got worse, especially those who started at a lower weight, lost less, kept the same share of thigh fat or ended up with looser tissue.³ Liposuction removes fat but isn’t recommended for cellulite and can make the dimpling more obvious.² Building muscle in place of fat can make it less noticeable.²

What creams and devices do

Option	What the evidence shows
Caffeine cream	May make cellulite less obvious for a while; you have to apply it every day to keep the effect2
0.3% retinol	Some women see a little less; it takes 6 months or more to tell2
Aminophylline cream	Skip it if you use an asthma inhaler2
Massage-and-suction devices	FDA-cleared as low risk, but the FDA hasn’t said they work2
Radiofrequency	A minor, short-lived change after several sessions; bruising is common2

What procedures do

• Cutting the bands (subcision). In a study of 232 patients of one device, 99% said they were satisfied, with results lasting 2 years or more.²
• A collagen-dissolving injection was approved by the FDA in 2020. In two trials of 843 women run by its maker, a one-step improvement on both patient and clinician scales came in 37 to 42% of treated women versus 11 to 18% on placebo, measured at day 71.⁴ A two-step improvement was rare: 5.6 to 7.6% versus 0.5 to 1.9%.⁴ In December 2022 the maker stopped selling it, citing the extent and variability of bruising and possible lasting skin discoloration.¹

What this means

Cellulite goes in the “normal” column. If you want to try something, a caffeine cream is cheap and low-risk, as long as you expect a small effect that stops when you stop. For lasting change, the band-cutting procedures have the most behind them, at a cost and with bruising to plan for. For related marks, see old stretch marks.

Try: “I’d like my cellulite less visible for summer. What would you suggest, how long would results last, and what are the side effects?”

Skin, Head to Toe covers this in Chapter 8, “Marks That Stay,” in a section called “Cellulite, the Word and the Body” and the procedures section after it. Its Skin Sort puts cellulite in Normal, circulation creams and aminophylline in Skip, and caffeine creams in your own call. See the book.