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Anti-aging, body contouring and cellulite-reducing treatments are becoming vital to the spa and massage therapy industry. Lypossage is rapidly becoming the treatment of choice for most women.

Several years ago, I noticed an ad for Lypossage in a massage therapy publication. After looking into it, I found that Lypossage is a manual body contouring program that boasts the reduction of the appearance of cellulite, and as much as a cumulative loss of up to 11 inches of body mass. I wasn't convinced it had any merit at all. Haven't we all heard about "cellulite creams" and body wraps that make similar claims?

I cannot begin to count all of the women who would fall onto my table and plead, "Please rub this fat off!" Or "Can you massage this cellulite off my legs?" My response was always, "No, sorry; I wish I could. I'd be rich!" However, after laughing it off, I always went home and thought, "Why can't I do that?"

The ability to contour the body and smooth cellulite with massage made perfect sense to me. If I were to have enough visits with a client, and if I worked on said client with vigorous myofascial massage, deep tissue work, and a little lymphatic drainage, why couldn't it make a difference in at least the appearance of cellulite? Cellulite is something all women have. Unfortunately, though, these areas of the body tend to act as toxic waste disposal sites. When toxins are not expelled from the body, they have to be stored somewhere. If the "cottage cheese" look of cellulite is present, odds are that the body has stored toxins, and adequate circulation is necessary to get rid of them.

Massage therapist Charles Wiltsie, III developed the massage modality called Lypossage. This health-oriented modality was born from research done by Mr. Wiltsie titled, "Does Deep Tissue Massage Have an Impact on Dimension in the Hips and Thighs?" Thanks to his time and effort, Mr. Wiltsie took the guesswork out of body contouring with massage.

Lypossage is a very natural, non-invasive body-contouring program that reduces inches while leaving one's weight about the same. Lypossage is not for everyone, but most healthy women who have extra bulges and imperfections respond very well to it. Many women who look into liposuction as a means of body contouring prefer Lypossage because there is no surgery, no down time and no recovery involved.

The typical protocol for the Lypossage treatment is 18, 20-minute sessions (three times a week for six weeks). Its focus, according to the Lypossage Course Description found in the Lypossage training manual is "on structural integration through the manipulation of soft tissue, the lymphatic system, circulation, muscle tone and detoxification through the manipulation of soft tissue. It's also connected to Myofascial Massage and Complex Physical Therapy for Lymphoedema (CPT)."

Artevelde College and the University of Gent, Belgium, have done independent research on the effects of Lypossage. So far, Hilde Vandenbroucke, head of the research, has the following preliminary results: HDLs were elevated in the blood, LDLs were lowered in the blood, and total body mass was reduced by using Zone 1 in the study. Early results also show triglycerides elevated slightly.

Ms. Vandenbroucke stated, "I will start another research in February 2006. We will treat another 30 women during six weeks: 15 women only lypossage and 15 women only skin tonic. We'll take blood samples at the beginning of the research, after three weeks, after six weeks, after seven weeks and after eight weeks. The reason why we take a lot of blood samples is to get to know when triglycerides and HDL cholesterol in the blood start to increase and decrease and to get to know if lypossage or skin tonic have the same results on triglycerides and HDL cholesterol." This new research will also be done at the University of Ghent.

Lypossage can stand up to criticism. The massage modality is very successful, and if the protocol is followed properly, it achieves fabulous results. The training course is more than learning a modality; it's also a very good business, ethics, marketing and goal-setting course. The Lypossage body product line and the Esprit de Jeunesse skin care line are of very high quality and are cleanly manufactured with very few preservatives.'

Personally, I have never before seen one scientifically proven modality that is as effective at improving one's skin, fascia, muscles, cardiovascular system, lymphatic system and overall health as well as Lypossage. For more information, visit the official Lypossage Web site at www.lypossage.net.