Around the world, many people are experiencing a way to shed pounds quickly to achieve their health and aesthetic goals with the help of semaglutide drugs like Ozempic. Losing weight and embracing healthy lifestyle choices is admirable, but sometimes rapid weight loss leads to less-than-desirable effects like the so-called “Ozempic Face” effect.

This term has exploded across social media platforms and newsfeeds. But what is Ozempic Face? It describes the rapid aging effect weight loss patients experience after losing significant facial fat and volume quickly, causing sagging skin and a hollow, older-looking appearance.

Here is information to help you understand more about Ozempic and how to prevent and treat Ozempic Face.

Understanding the Ozempic Face Effect: What Is It?

While semaglutide medications like Ozempic have made weight loss easier and more attainable for some patients, rapid weight loss can lead to rapid aging throughout the face due to volume loss, deep facial folds, jowls, and sagging skin. This leads to what has been termed “Ozempic Face.”

However, the term is misleading. Any sudden weight loss, whether achieved through a prescription intervention like Ozempic, healthy lifestyle changes, bariatric surgeries, or even severe illness, can cause the same changes in appearance. Nothing in Ozempic leads to aging or sagging skin.

While many people blame Ozempic for appearance changes, the real reason people look like they’ve rapidly aged after significant weight loss is simple. Stretched-out skin and tissues do not bounce back at the same pace as their weight loss, subsequently causing sagging skin, volume loss, and a deflated appearance.

How Ozempic Works: Mechanism and Uses

Weight loss can be a significant challenge for many people. Medications like Ozempic can be an effective part of the weight loss journey to help accomplish health and aesthetic goals. Combining Ozempic with a balanced diet and regular exercise program can help those with a BMI of 30 or higher lose weight and reach a healthier lifestyle.

Ozempic is an injectable semaglutide medication that helps regulate and suppress the appetite. It works by activating GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1, a naturally occurring hormone) receptors, lowers glucagon secretion, and stimulates insulin secretion when glucose levels are too high. In short, Ozempic reduces your appetite and slows gastric emptying, which helps you feel full quicker and for longer.

Identifying the Signs of the Ozempic Face Effect

Rapid weight loss, like that achieved with Ozempic, can be particularly noticeable in the face. The sudden loss of fat can impact youthful fullness and smoothness.

People who have lost weight rapidly may experience facial changes like:

• Hanging skin: Without support from facial fat, skin can become loose or sag, resulting in more prominent lines and wrinkles.
• Lines around the mouth: The nasolabial folds and marionette lines can become deeper and more noticeable after weight loss and aging.
• Loose skin or wrinkles at the neck: Neck skin can sag and crease, and the muscles can form bands.
• A gaunt or hollowed-looking appearance: Losing facial fat may cause the eyes to look deep-set, cheeks to lose youthful roundness, and temples to become more noticeable.
• Jowls: Loose lower facial skin can hang off the jawline and create a jowly appearance.

Factors Contributing to the Ozempic Face Effect

Facial fat establishes contours that protect the underlying structures and cushion the skin, creating a smooth, youthful facial appearance. During rapid weight loss, the skin may not shrink or bounce back at the same rate. As skin ages, collagen and elastin production levels decrease significantly, impacting skin elasticity and overall appearance.

Rapid weight loss also accounts for a more angular, hollow-looking appearance. Volume loss can create hollow cheeks, temples, sunken eyes, and sagging skin, which can compound other signs of aging.

Preventing and Managing the Ozempic Face Effect

Volume is an important aspect of maintaining a youthful face. The rapid weight loss achieved with Ozempic can decrease facial volume, resulting in loose skin, lines and wrinkles, or a hollowed appearance becoming more prominent.

There are a few factors to consider on your weight loss journey to help prevent Ozempic face.

• Dehydration can intensify the negative effects. Stay hydrated by drinking approximately 2 liters of water daily to hydrate and plump the skin.
• Increase protein intake as protein improves skin and muscle quality to help fight the effects of lost skin elasticity.
• Reduce dosage to lose weight more slowly and help prevent Ozempic face.
• Don’t skimp on skincare. Use medical-grade skincare products to help improve skin elasticity and overall quality.

If you’re already well into your journey and are experiencing sagging skin or a gaunt appearance, certain treatments and procedures can help reduce the effects of Ozempic face and enhance your appearance.

• Dermal fillers or fat grafting can help replace lost facial volume and restore more pleasing contours.
• Facial rejuvenation procedures, such as a facelift, neck lift, brow lift, can help reposition the soft tissues and eliminate sagging skin to relieve the effects of “Ozempic Face.”

Consulting with a Specialist: When to Seek Help

Weight loss is not just about reaching your aesthetic goals. It’s also about setting yourself on the right track to become healthy and feel good about yourself inside and out. Consult your primary healthcare provider before and throughout your Ozempic journey to ensure optimal health. Let your physician know if you experience undesirable changes in your face due to rapid weight loss and ask for their recommendations for a board-certified plastic surgeon and facial contouring treatments.

Selecting the right plastic surgeon is an important choice to achieve your aesthetic goals after your weight loss journey. Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Robyn Daugherty is an expert at facial rejuvenation procedures and will recommend appropriate treatments to address each patient’s unique experience with Ozempic face.

Choosing Dr. Robyn Daugherty as Your Baton Rouge “Ozempic Face” Expert

As an expert in facial rejuvenation treatments and procedures, Dr. Daugherty can help you address the Ozempic Face Effect to help you restore your confidence and achieve your goals.

Schedule your consultation by contacting Daugherty Plastic Surgery at (225) 235-3884 or completing our online form today!