In the never ending quest to find the ultimate cellulite buster, women are now searching for that cure-all vitamin or herbal remedy that will literally make the cellulite on their abdomen, buns and thighs disappear. But are these cellulite supplements even effective? If so, how do they propose to elminate or reduce cellulite?

With the purveying popularity of herbal supplements and natural remedies today, one would think that there had perhaps been some breakthroughs in breaking down that nasty thing called cellulite that invades every women's thighs and buttocks - even the skinny ones.

But alas, most of these cellulite remedies and herbal supplements have proven to be nothing more than a pipe dream that really didn't do all that much in the way of getting rid of your cellulite.

What these so called cellulite treatment supplements usually do, instead of actually attacking cellulite, is they act as a natural diuretic, which just means they make your body get rid of more water retention than it would normally. This diuretic effect may produce some sort of temporary results in reducing the appearance of cellulite that women may notice for a fleeting moment, but it usually is just that - temporary.

Unortunately, diuretic herbs really only make you lose a little water weight, they don't actually break down cellulite or anything like that (I wish I could report better findings here, but I can't).

There was one notable natural supplement which came out on the market in major drugstore chains and departement stores just a couple years back, called Cellasene. In fact, in doing a little research on the first supplement to claim it helped get rid of cellulite, I found that Cellasene actually has class action litigation pending currently. There are a band of individuals who apparently felt fooled by the advertising of Cellasene, which they said claimed to get rid of cellulite when it in fact did not produce the results it promised.

This class action lawsuit was seeking unspecified damages, but it is disheartening to see that the only highly marketed and touted cellulite supplement was apparently nothing more than a bottled herbal remedy that didn't help with cellulite the way it was advertised to.

I've seen other, smaller, and less widely marketed herbal and natural cellulite treatment supplements also, but they are very careful not to make outright claims that they can rid you of cellulite. Instead, most of them will tell you that they can "help rid the body of excess water retention" (the diuretic effect I talked about earlier), and "help strengthen the connective tissues that have broken down" and cause cellulite.

So what are we to do about our cellulite if these oral supplements have not been perfected enough to actually help put a dent in our cellulite? Well, thankfully, there are lots of options out there that are very effective at reducing your cellulite, or substantially eliminating it so that it is barely visible.

One, and my preferred method, is to buy a good anti-cellulite serum or cream with caffeine, seaweed, or some sort of stimulant in it. I prefer a cream with caffeine as this seems to work the best for me. The caffeine actually helps to rid the outer layer of the dermis of excess water which will relieve the "puffy" water retained look of cellulite.

The second is to actually use very vigorous, almost rough massaging in an upward motion toward your upper body. I actually like to take my knuckles and do it, fairly hard all the way up my thigh.

Sometimes I'll actually bruise slightly in the areas I've massaged, but it definitely helps to break up the bunched up connective tissue below the surface that is the cause of the spongy, puckered look of cellulite. There are other alternatives as well, although they are a little pricey and are not 100% infallible.

One is called endermology which uses the massage and lymphatic drainage technology via a large machine that simply rolls and massages the cellulite-ridden areas so that the collagen bands below the surface can be broken down.

Another very controversial cellulite busting method is called mesotherapy. This is a European import and currently has no clinical research to support it, but many women swear that the injections of natural ingredients they receive during the process has significantly improved their cellulite.

No matter what option you choose as your method to successfully combat cellulite, know that there is hope for more advanced procedures and methods coming down the pipeline. Also know that you can successfully treat and get rid of cellulite in the comfort of your own home. You just have to know which products to choose and how to employ the methods.