Dynamics of the ultrasonographic picture of the skin and subcutaneous tissue in the physiotherapy treatment of cellulite by compression microvibration: а non-randomized prospective study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Various methods are offered to effectively eliminate cellulite and improve skin appearance; however, its treatment remains one of the most difficult tasks in aesthetic medicine. The arsenal of tools that allow an objective assessment of cosmetic and esthetic therapeutic measures is very limited.

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of the compression microvibration method to treat structural and functional skin changes in women with gynoid lipodystrophy of different age groups.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-center, nonrandomized, prospective study of the effectiveness of the compression microvibration method (“Endospheres Therapy®”) was carried out in 27 women (40–69 years old) with mild-to-moderate gynoid lipodystrophy under the control of ultrasonographic skin examination before treatment, after 12 procedures, and after 2 months. After a course of therapy, skin ultrasonography was performed using a specialized high-resolution digital ultrasound system DUB SkinScanner (tpm GmbH, Germany) equipped with a 75 MHz transducer with a resolution of 21 µm and a scanning depth of 4–6 mm. Additionally, anthropometric parameters were measured, and the body mass index was calculated.

RESULTS: Changes in body mass index (BMI) revealed a trend toward weight loss in most of the participants. The circumference of the hips and waist in participants aged 40–49, 50–59 and 60–69 years decreased by 3.0±1.1 and 5.3±1.1, 2.2±0.9 and 4.1±1.3 and 2.5±0.9 and 6.3±1.5 cm, respectively. It was found that after the course of Endospheres Therapy in patients of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd age groups in the areas of the anterior, inner, posterior surface of the thigh and the anterior surface of the abdomen, the thickness of the dermis decreased by 15.6, 9.5 and 18.1%; 10.9, 10.5 and 19.3%; 6.1, 15.7 and 13.8%, 23.4, 14.7 and 14.5% (p <0.05), respectively; increased echogenicity of the dermis in the areas of the anterior, inner, posterior thigh and anterior abdominal surface by 2, 1.4 and 1.3; 1.2, 1.4 and 1.2; 1.4, 1.4 and 1.5; 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7 times (p <0.05), respectively. The echogenicity of the hypodermis decreased in the studied areas by 30.8, 27.6 and 31.2% (p <0.05); 20.1, 37.3 and 40.4% (p <0.05); 43.2, 57.8 (p <0.05) and 9.3%; 23.6, 15.2 (p <0.05) and 9.3%, respectively. The effect persisted 60 days after the course of therapy.

CONCLUSION: These results have convincingly demonstrated the effectiveness of Endospheres Therapy in women with mild-to-moderate gynoid lipodystrophy for body shaping and skin improvement in the long term without revealing any side effects.

Keywords

cellulite / physical therapy / vibrotherapy / body shaping / ultrasonography

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