How To Treat The Side Effect Of Ozempic Face

Forbes

13-05-2025

Ozempic face is a common side effect, acording to experts.
More people are turning to GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for rapid weight loss. But it doesn't come without its side effects. Roughly 60 percent of facial plastic surgeons are seeing an increase of patients with "Ozempic face" as a side effect of the Semaglutide drug, according to a survey from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Ozempic has helped so many people, as has Mounjaro and Tirzepatide, both approved by the Food and Drug Administration. But with rapid weight loss comes a depletion of facial volume and descent of tissues. The term 'Ozempic face' is used to describe facial sagging and a gaunt, sunken-in look, due to facial fat loss, which follows drastic weight loss.
''Ozempic face' is the rapid deflation of the facial structure attributed to weight loss,' said Dr. Lyle Leipziger, the chief of plastic surgery at North Shore University Hospital and the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. 'Any rapid weight loss may significantly decrease facial volume, which may result in significant sagging of the facial tissues leading to a prematurely aged look.'
In his own personal practice, Dr. Leipziger has seen a 30 percent increase over the past year in patients suffering from rapid weight loss, which results in facial volume loss and tissue sagging. While each case is individual, rapid weight loss, especially later in life (those aged over 50) may cause even more significant facial aging. 'Some of these patients are losing weight quickly, predisposing them to 'Ozempic face' in increasing numbers,' he said.
Dr. Leipziger suggests slowing down your weight loss process to avoid rapid skin sagging. 'People that undergo rapid weight loss may be happy when they get on the scale and buy new smaller clothes, but when they look in the mirror, they may discover their face aging prematurely,' said Dr. Leipziger. 'Patients that are newly on Ozempic and want to limit facial volume loss should have a discussion with their doctor prescribing Ozempic on how to lose the weight in a slow, but progressive pattern.'
Dr. Lyle Leipziger
Losing weight slowly helps maximize facial skin rebound and minimize facial sagging. If an Ozempic patient is losing weight slowly, the mild loss of facial volume can be improved with proper placement of fillers, over time. 'In this way, you are volumizing the areas of facial depletion as they are happening,' said Dr. Leipziger, who likes to use hyaluronic acid-based filler, like Juvéderm or Restylane products on the face. 'This helps maintain a youthful look while the slow weight loss is occurring. A dedicated plan should be followed to maximize the aesthetic results.'
Dr. Leipziger recommends Radiofrequency Microneedling, a cosmetic procedure that uses tiny needles and radiofrequency waves to rejuvenate the facial skin, with the procedure prompting the growth of new, healthy skin. As a minimally invasive procedure, the fine needles create micro-wounds in the skin, which triggers the production of collagen, elastin and capillaries. It helps target fine lines, wrinkles and facial sagging. 'It may help with skin tightening,' he said.
He also recommends this procedure combined with ultrasound therapy, better known as Sofwave. 'These combined therapies may produce a multimodality approach to improve mild volume loss and soft tissue sagging,' he said.
17 April 2025, Hamburg: A customs investigator holds a package of Ozempic (weight loss syringe) during the presentation of seized doping agents, drugs and assets such as cash and gold in a hall on the premises of the Hamburg Customs Investigation Office. Hamburg customs have broken up an illegal doping agent and drug distribution operation. Assets amounting to 189,000 euros in cash and gold worth 50,000 euros were seized. Photo: Marcus Brandt/dpa (Photo by Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Over the past year, he has seen a dramatic increase in facelifts, due to rapid weight loss leading to facial volume depletion of the face and neck. 'Significant sagging of the jawline, neck and lower face as well as deepening of the nasal labial folds and midface, are all indications that a facelift may be required to restore a youthful appearance,' he said. 'In my view, a key part of the modern facelift is the judicious restoration of volume with fat transfer, while also elevating, tightening, and repositioning the sagging facial skin. This results in a natural, refreshed, and rejuvenated appearance.'
'I approach facial plastic surgery with the goal of providing each patient with a completely personalized plan, designed to reveal their own natural, youthful self,' said Leipziger. 'A well-done face and neck lift with fat grafting remains the gold standard of facial rejuvenation procedures. No other operation can produce the equivalent of lifting, filling, tightening and anti-aging effects.'
Dr. Bianca Molina is a board-certified plastic surgeon based in New York City, specializing in aesthetic and cosmetic procedures, including facelifts, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, brow lifts, and facial fat grafting, among others.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 2: Bianca Molina attends The New York Women's Foundation (NYWF) Celebration Party Hosted By Jean Shafiroff at Private Residence on April 2, 2025 in New York. (Photo by Michael Ostuni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
'Ozempic face is a hot topic,' said Molina. 'I see this in younger patients who are looking older than they should. We know from general beauty standards that we need volume in the face. This is lost with your drastic weight loss and rapid weight loss, even weight loss surgery.'
Dr. Molina sees fat grafting to the mid-face, mid-cheek or cheekbone region. 'It helps smooth out and add some youthful volume,' she said. The fat is taken from the abdomen, the lower abdomen, or the inner thigh. 'For patients who have severe skin laxity or jowling, they are facelift candidates or surgical candidates.'
She also recommends lasers that resurface your skin, tighten the skin, and shrink the under-eye bags. 'There are varying levels of which you can get aggressive results with a laser,' she said. For lower face, like jawline, chin and neck sagging, she recommends radiofrequency microneedling for a few sessions. 'It can get some measurable skin tightening.'
She also recommends radiofrequency-assisted devices like Renuvion or J-Plasma, which tighten the skin. 'Sometimes, your skin doesn't bounce back,' said Dr. Molina. 'It really starts even in your 30s, so skin elasticity overall and skin quality is really hard to get back.'
BRIDGEHAMPTON, NEW YORK - JULY 10: Dr. Kenneth Mark speaks at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation Celebrates 17th Annual The Hamptons Happening at Private Residence on July 10, 2021 in Bridgehampton, New York. (Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Cosmetic dermatology expert, Dr. Kenneth Mark, has also seen the rise of Ozempic face. Mark, who leads multiple cosmetic dermatology practices located in Southampton, East Hampton, New York City and Aspen, suggests nonsurgical solutions includes taking oral collagen, which increases the collagen in the dermis.
Bags around the eyes are often an issue, but when it comes to fillers around the eyes, he suggests treading with caution. 'Bags around eyes are tricky and one needs to be very careful not to add volume with the wrong filler or too much filler,' said Dr. Mark.
He mentions that Ultherapy has been FDA-cleared to 'lift' the face and neck since 2012, and the results can last up to five years, lifting the neck, jowls and face. A layering technique, which he first published in 2001, uses various fillers in different depths and over time in different parts of the face to produce the most natural results. 'Now, with varying amounts of hyaluronic acid and different cross-linking of it, I literally approach patients as a 'work of art in progress,'' he said.
Dr. Mark uses Voluma, a type of filler that helps add volume to the face, to enhance the cheekbones for a lateral lift. 'It gives that makeup artist contoured look,' he said. 'It alsoit lifts the jowl up and out and it tightens the lower eyelid, especially laterally. It also diminishes the nasolabial smile lines by about 35 percent.' He then adds Volux filler to the jawline to help frame the face. 'The bonus of jawline filler is that it adds definition to the jawline, and it also lifts the neck, including the skin under the jaw and under the chin,' said Dr. Mark.
'Like most things, the key is moderation and perspective,' said Dr. Mark. 'Patients need to keep in mind that as we all age, we atrophy; we lose bone, muscle, fat and collagen,' he said.
'Some weight loss can be youthful looking, but there is a fine line between looking better and looking hollow, sunken, and even older,' he adds. 'I am not an expert in prescribing it, but that's my aesthetic expert analysis.'