Does Cellfina Make Your Skin Sag?

"Talking a little bit about cellulite and the treatment thereof. There's a new device that a lot of people are calling about. We are one of the early treatment centers employing this device called, Cellfina.

Cellfina is really, a kit. A series of instruments that we use, and it really is based on an old technology called subcision, where there's a very uniform division right under the skin surface of the bands and the little fibrous septa we call them that pull the skin down and create the dimpling.

By dividing those bands, we're able to get a smooth surface to the skin for the long term, which is really what makes this technique exciting. It was based on work in South America that was done and really standardized by using a uniform level of division of these fibers bands, and the results are really quite exciting and good.

People need to understand that when you do Cellfina, there's expected to be bruising after the treatment, and obviously the bruising always resolves, but there is no wound care, no sutures and it's really a very minor surgical procedure that can be done in the office. One of the Cellfina questions people asked are "Well if I undermine the skin, is it going to make my skin more saggy?" And the answer is "no".

We're doing these in focal areas where cellulite exists, and the skin in general around the buttock and thigh area is very closely adherent to the underlying tissue, the facial layers, and so where we've divided those fibrous bands that hold it, the skin doesn’t just completely release, it just releases in the area of treatment.

One thing I will say is and that this is the specific to the technology and to the doctor treating. For us, we do not like to do overlapping areas, so wide local excision where you do several adjacent areas in our practice and in our protocols, we don’t advice, not because of skin sagging but this because of too gray of an area creating the risk for a collection of blood under the skin, which is not huge problem but one that really would delay the healing process and the good outcome. That's called the hematoma. So really, we don’t do large adjation areas but rather pick the more severe areas first, treat those completely, and they can be on both sides of the lower extremities and buttock area, and then if there are other areas we need to treat we'll come back and do those at the second session. So ultimately, we got the entire area nice and smooth. Cellfina's an exciting advance of a very old technology, a way of standardizing the treatments so that people can get expected results and we're really happy to have something new to offer people that historically, has had very poor or average outcome with all these different machines and devices that have been created ostensibly to treat cellulite.

This treatment again is called Cellfina, and if you have any questions about it please feel free to write me at DrMaas.com, send a picture or video along with it, you can talk about your candidacy for it or even schedule your appointment for a consultation.

As always I'm happy to talk to you and answer these questions. This is Dr. Corey Maas on Looking Your Best."