Popular GLP-1 drugs may be driving a boom in cosmetic surgery, a byproduct of the rapid weight loss the effective medications produce.
Weight-loss and diabetes medications, like Wegovy and Ozempic, have become so popular that they have even resulted in shortages due to surging demand. Now, the highly-touted drugs appear to be driving another boom: cosmetic surgery.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, users of these drugs have complained about the resulting deflated faces that can accompany their use. Known as ‘Ozempic face,’ the phenomenon is a result of a drop in fat that previously filled out users’ cheeks.
Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank, founder of aesthetic health care brand PFRANKMD and the author of The Pro-Aging Playbook, says he has seen a noticeable spike in clients looking to address the side effect.
“Although they felt much better losing weight, in some ways they felt they looked older… And this was due to the loss of volume in their face,” said Frank, per CNN.
“Usually, with people from their mid-40s and above, once you start losing 10-plus pounds, you can get this kind of deflated look… Certainly, people losing 20 or 30-plus pounds are going to have this problem.”
Incredibly, around one in eight adults in the United States has used a GLP-1. While the drug is also used for managing diabetes, around two out of five users reported taking it exclusively to drop weight.
Kimberly Bongiorno, a local government land use administrator from Mount Arlington, New Jersey, says Wegovy was “almost a miracle” in its ability to help her shed pounds.
Even still, it came with a cost.
“Everything just kind of hung and was very loose… I no longer felt like I had cheeks, and I had a lot of loose skin under my neck,” said Bongiorno.
“It looked like I had melted. It was horrifying… It was so disheartening to see how my face looked and how it had changed. I thought I looked a lot older than I am.”
