TTG x Healthista – Cellfina, the cellulite refiner

This week for Healthista’s Transformation series, I am talking about Cellfina with Dr Tiago Guimares of the Sthetix clinic in Liverpool. He is an aesthetic surgeon who is treating cellulite in an entirely new way, with a procedure called Cellfina.

What is Cellfina?

Cellfina is a new type of cosmetic procedure that takes a rather more direct approach to treating cellulite dimples than the usual slew of creams and massage therapies. It is what you might call minimally invasive rather than non-invasive, but read on before you make your mind up as to whether it’s a good thing because the interesting thing is that the procedure does appear to work, and work well, for cases or moderate or severe celluilite.

How does Cellfina work?

‘Let’s try to explain cellulite as a sandwich,’ says Dr Tiago. ‘You can think of cellulite as a cheese sandwich, with elastic bands running vertically through all the layers.’  (If you can’t visualise this, take a look at the video in this post.)

‘These elastic bands contract with age or for other reasons, and as shorten, they make a dimple, a cellulite dimple. The Cellfina device guides us as to how to release those bands. That allows the skin to spring back up, and release the dimple, so it looks smoother.’

What you need to know at this point is that this ‘release’ is done by cutting the strands of fibrous ‘septae’ that are pulling the skin into dimples, with a tiny scalpel.

Is Cellfina painful?

Because Cellfina involves using a scalpel to slice the bands of septae that create cellulite dimples, the procedure requires a local anaesthetic. ‘It is working 6mm beneath the skin,’  says Dr Tiago, ‘and can go deeper to 10mm if needed.’

‘Once we have given the local anaesthetic, usually the patient is very comfortable.’ So it is not the painful procedure that it sound. The discomfort  comes later, after the procedure. There is a good deal of bruising, and the area is swollen from the anaesthetic, and the patient has to wear a compression garment for a few days. 

As for down-time – it is possible to go to work the day afterwards, though sitting down it may be uncomfortable, so bear that in mind.

What results do you get from Cellfina?

‘You begin to see some results after 14 days,’ says Dr Tiago, ‘once the bruising and swelling reduces. But you see the real results three to six months later.’  So this is a tweakment to do well in advance of any holiday where you might plan to show the results off.

Over on the Healthista website, there’s a great case study from a 50-year-old woman who had really impressive results from the treatment. Even better, the treatment appears to give lasting results. Merz, the company behind Cellfina, has done studies to show that the results from Cellfina treatment can last for years.

What does Cellfina cost?

Cellfina treatment costs from £2,500, depending on the extent of the cellulite that needs treating. Nikki, the Healthista case study, had treatment that cost nearly £4,000 but she says it was well worth it because it has achieved more than all the thousands of pounds she had previously wasted on lotions and treatments that did nothing for her cellulite.

Where can you get Cellfina treatment?

At the Sthetix clinic in Merseyside, or through the Cellfina practitioner finder

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