According to the Cleveland Clinic, between 80 and 90 percent of women past puberty have cellulite. If you’re one of them, you know how difficult it can be to rid yourself of that dimpled skin. Though weight loss can sometimes minimize the appearance of cellulite, it has been unclear if the current rise of weight loss medications has affected how many women struggle with it.
With NewBeauty’s The State of Aesthetics Summer 2025 report, powered by the BeautyEngine platform, we have a direct line to the most engaged members of the beauty community. That means we can see in real time what aesthetic concerns are dominating the conversation, and cellulite still tops that list.
Featured Experts
- Raman C. Mahabir, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Tucson, AZ
- Sylvia Kurtovic, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Tucson, AZ
- Mokhtar Asaadi, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in West Orange, NJ
- Christine Hamori, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Duxbury, MA
Real-Time Data Reveals Top Body Concerns
These days, the aesthetic market can feel dominated by the GLP-1 conversation. With rapid weight loss at the fingertips of so many, experts have seen a rise in demand for treating loose skin. While a part of the NewBeauty community is engaging with weight-loss medications, more traditional body concerns haven’t disappeared.
In this State of Aesthetics, two stories emerged from the data: the rise of concerns around loose skin (12 percent) and the persistence of those more traditional concerns like sagging breasts, flabby arms and the leading concern—cellulite at 18 percent.
What Is Cellulite?
Duxbury, MA plastic surgeon Christine Hamori, MD explains that cellulite mostly shows up in the lower trunk of the body. “These are skin irregularities in women primarily of the thighs and buttock,” she says. “The dermis of the skin is tethered to the fascia below like a mattress coil indentation.” That tethering causes the dimpling look.
“The fat deposits and connective tissue are pulling in opposite directions,” says Tucson, AZ plastic surgeon Sylvia Kurtovic, MD. “These distortions cause the surface of the skin to dimple, or take on a bumpy or cobbled appearance.”
Why Is Cellulite So Hard to Get Rid of?
“Cellulite is not simply excess fat—it’s a structural issue involving skin, connective tissue and fat,” explains West Orange, NJ plastic surgeon Mokhtar Asaadi, MD. “Diet and exercise can reduce fat volume, but they do not address the fibrous bands or skin laxity that contribute to its appearance. Genetics, hormones and age also play a role, making cellulite resistant to lifestyle changes alone.”
For a long time, there didn’t seem to be a worthwhile aesthetic solution either.
“The connective tissue from the skin to the underlying muscle has not one, but many connections,” says Dr. Kurtovic. “This makes treating cellulite very difficult. Surface treatments are almost completely ineffective, and even invasive techniques have limited value up until recently.”
Cellulite Treatments That Work
The change came with the introduction of Avéli, which is FDA-cleared for reducing cellulite.
“There’s an old saying that if there’s multiple ways to do things, there’s probably not one right way,” says Tucson, AZ plastic surgeon Raman C. Mahabir, MD. “Up until recently there have been 100 different ways to treat cellulite, none of which were very effective or efficacious. However, with the introduction of Avéli, there really is a safe and effective treatment for cellulite. It can also be done under local anesthetic in the office. And the results I have seen firsthand are very promising.”
“This treatment consists of a small hook device placed under the skin, after it is numbed up with local anesthesia,” explains Dr. Hamori. “The surgeon can see a light where the dimple is to be released and a small knife within the hook releases the dimple.”
According to Dr. Asaadi, it can also be helpful to add energy-based treatments like Morpheus8 or radio frequency to tighten skin and stimulate collagen, helping to create a smoother appearance.
