Patients paying $10K for plastic surgery procedures to fix sagging ‘Ozempic face’

health

exclusive

by angela barbuti

Ozempic users are noticing changes in their faces that cause them to lose arms and legs.

Patients who injected antidiabetic drugs to lose weight noticed an “Ozempik face,” or thin, deflated cheeks and loose, sagging skin around the chin.

Affected people, trying to avoid plastic surgery for their newly droopy faces, are instead undergoing repeated medical procedures, paying up to $10,000 each.

“It’s very hard to say exactly when I noticed a change in my face,” said Ozempic user Quenby Erickson, who lost 45 pounds in seven months, according to the Post. told.

“It was gradual. You just think you’ve lost weight, and then you look in the mirror and think, ‘Wait a minute, now my skin is sagging, but it wasn’t like that before.’ You’ve aged a lot in the past few months. ”

Erickson, 51, a Chicago resident and dermatologist, started taking Ozempic in August 2022 to help lose weight after pregnancy.

In May, she was treated with Sofwave by the staff at Erickson Cosmetic Dermatology and Lifestyle Medicine. Sofwave is a $2,000 to $3,000 ultrasound treatment that reduces lines and wrinkles by heating and rebuilding collagen in the face.

Dermatologist Marina Peredo, who owns Skinfluence on the Upper East Side and Dix Hills, explained the causes of sagging skin.

“Weight loss happens so quickly that the skin doesn’t have time to catch up, which is why many people look haggard,” she says.

In addition to Sofwave, which must be repeated once or twice a year, Peled also treats Ozempic patients with: morpheus 8a microneedling treatment that stimulates collagen to tighten and smooth wrinkles.

“Think of it like a hot needle,” she said. “One treatment costs between $800 and $1,000, and three treatments are usually required.”

Those who are not yet ready for a facelift after the Ozempich treatment will choose the following three treatments. Accutite focuses on the upper face. FaceTite works on the jawline and neck. And the liposuction trio comes with a whopping $10,000 price tag.

Accutite and FaceTite use a metal probe that “gets under the skin and tightens the skin from within,” Peled said.

Patients combine these procedures with hyaluronic acid fillers, which cost between $3,500 and $9,000. “You’ll need filler in your cheeks, temples and jawline to fill out that sagging skin,” she said.

She advises patients to begin orthodontic work at the same time Ozempic begins.

“Otherwise, if you lose a lot of weight, you might have to go under scalpel,” she said.

Kathleen Colon, a longtime patient of Peled’s, started Ozempic in July 2021 after experiencing rapid weight gain due to menopause, and received Sofwave, Morpheus8, and AccuTite.

Colon, 57, who lives on Long Island, started having the surgery just a few months after starting Ozempic because she was worried about how her face would change.

“I’m really concerned about the lower half of my face,” said Colon, who lost 45 pounds in two years. “When you lose weight, you tend to age, so that was a concern.”

Since Colon is still participating in Ozempic, he has other weight loss goals in mind and will likely have to repeat the expensive procedure.

“I’d like to lose about 20 pounds,” she said. “Her daughter’s wedding is coming up, so I bought her a dress in Paris.”