“Even if they felt much better after losing weight, they had somewhat the impression of having aged,” he told the American network CNN. “This was due to the loss of volume of their face.”
“The ozempic face”, this is how Dr. Frank designates the new phenomenon that he observes to grow day by day. This term has become popular on social networks to designate the skin relaxation and the hollow aspect which can accompany the use of GLP-1 drugs such as the Semaglutide (the active ingredient of brand drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy).
“In general, among people aged 45 and over, as soon as you start to lose more than 5 kg, you can have this kind of deflated aspect,” explains the specialist. “It is certain that people who lose 10 or 15 kg will have this problem.”
To date, more than 20 % of Dr. Frank patients use GLP-1 to operate a “longevity diet”. The treatments sought after their weight loss include injectable filling products to help restore the volume of the face, liftings and fat transfers, among others.
“You cannot indefinitely fill a deflated balloon, and surgery is often necessary,” he explains.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), causing an annual report on trends concerning surgeries, recently demonstrated that 2 patients out of 5 of its members treated with GLP-1 was considering undergoing cosmetic surgery, and 1 in 5 had already done so.
Among the patients who opted for a liftingwe find Kimberly Bongiorno, who was prescribed from Wegovy last year after a weight gain which she wanted to get rid of.
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Despite the “almost miraculous” effect of the drug, this 55 -year -old woman was concerned about her appearance. “I no longer felt like I had cheeks and I had a lot of loose skin under the neck,” she explains to CNN. “It looked like I had melted. It was horrible, ”she added. “It was so discouraging to see what my face looked like and how he had changed, I thought I looked much older than I am.”
After consulting a plastic surgeon, Ms. Bongiorno received a lifting who strengthened his skin and repositioned some of the deeper muscles and tissue.
“Before, I probably seemed to be almost 60 years old, or even more. Now, the people I meet recently think that I am forty, “said Bongiorno.
According to ASPS data, the number of liftings Made in the United States jumped 8 % between 2022 and 2023. The use of hyaluronic acid-based filling products has doubled, from 2.6 million Americans in 2017-the year when the Ozempic was authorized for the first time for the treatment of diabetes-more than 5.2 million in 2023.
The organization could not attribute these increases exclusively to the use of GLP-1, but its former president, Dr. Steven Williams, said that these drugs had “a global effect on cosmetic surgery”.
The term “ozempic face” is perhaps very fashionable, but its symptoms, caused by a decrease in subcutaneous fat, does not date from yesterday. Aesthetic surgeons have long been dealing with the side effects of significant weight loss.
In adulthood, “your body does not produce more fat cells,” said Williams. “When we lose or gain weight, these fat cells do not multiply and do not decrease; They grow or grow. Thus, when we lose weight, these fat cells decrease in volume, and the face seems less full. ”
Dr. Frank, the aesthetic dermatologist, noted that the “ozempic face” could be accompanied by a phenomenon which he called “body ozempic”. “One of the other major side effects of weight loss, especially when it is greater than one or two kilos per week, is muscle loss. And we observe this throughout the body. “
ASPS also notes the emergence of the term “ozempic makeover”, a series of interventions which can also include abs, liftings Tits, arms, thighs and buttocks.
For example, Ms. Bongiorno, the patient who suffered a liftingalso underwent several other interventions such as liftings arms and thighs, in order to treat his excess skin. She believes that after her neighbor lifting Breasts, fat transplant and lower eyelid surgery, it will have spent around 80,000 dollars in aesthetic interventions.
“The skin is heavy and uncomfortable,” she said. “I didn’t do this to become a model. It was simply to feel comfortable, to be able to dress without having the impression of dragging all this additional weight. ”
The long-term effects of GLP-1 drugs on aesthetic medicine are not yet completely clear. The hypothesis that they could reduce the demand for liposuction is not confirmed since aesthetic intervention is the most common in the United States.
It also remains to be seen what the effect of “rebound ozempic” will be (when patients are gaining weight after stopping treatment) on people who have used cosmetic surgery.