PHILADELPHIA — Julia O'Reilly was 5-foot-2, 190 kilos, suffered from prediabetes and hypertension. Her only real exercise was chasing her little ones.
She met together with her doctors, who prescribed weekly Ozempic injections for O'Reilly. She lost 22 kilos.
But without the load, her face became saggy, her cheeks sunken and dark circles formed under her eyes, O'Reilly said.
“The goal was to lose weight,” O'Reilly said, “not to look gaunt and sickly.”
Those who take medications like Ozempic – whether for medical or aesthetic reasons – often find that weight reduction ends in what’s now called the “Ozempic face.” The result: Medical spas are seeing a rise in inquiries from clients who use medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound.
“I didn't want to radically change myself,” O'Reilly said. “But I wanted my face to match this better version of myself.”
After consultation with the medical and cosmetic team at Center City Med Spa Skin Care Clinic Body+Beauty Laboratoryshe decided that fillers were the perfect solution to restore the youthful fullness that she felt Ozempic had robbed her face of.
An old treatment for a brand new problem
According to a Gallup poll 6% of adults within the US, or 15.5 million peoplereport using drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy to drop a few pounds. When they work as hoped, doctors say they curb appetite and cravings. The downside: lack of muscle mass, which ends up in an aged face.
“It’s a protein problem,” explains Dr. Marc Neff, medical director at Jefferson Health New Jersey's Weight Loss Surgery Program. “Protein is important for skin elasticity, muscle tone and overall skin health. It's really important that people who start taking these medications work with a nutritionist to keep protein levels high.”
Aestheticians have been using synthetic hyaluronic acid fillers—Restylane, Juvéderm, Sculptra, Belotero—to plump and hydrate aging skin for greater than 20 years. When synthetic hyaluronic acid is injected into cheekbones, jawlines and under the eyes, it mimics the natural version—Mother Nature's secret to dewy, fresh-looking skin.
The regular injections have also helped cancer and HIV patients gain more self-confidence.
Over the years, nonetheless, fillers have come under the identical scrutiny as weight-loss drugs. Too much of them can result in a fake-looking face – see any reality TV star – not to say bruising, itching and swelling. And then there's the unfair pressure to all the time look young: the very proven fact that they exist sends the message to those that select to not have fillers that aging is just not an option, when in fact it's our only viable selection.
For patients who’ve lost weight with the brand new drugs, it will probably also seem to be they’re making an inconceivable pact with the evil beauty gods, or an unwinnable game. For many, it’s a game they’re comfortable to play.
“I deal with this topic every week,” said Sarah Sidiqian aesthetic nurse who sees about three “Ozempic Face” patients per week at Body+Beauty Laboratoryin comparison with once a month before weight-loss drugs became popular. “They all want to restore lost facial volume.”
A $4,000 solution
Before Linda Weller, 67, began using Mounjaro, her face looked pretty good for her age, she said. But after she lost 60 kilos in a 12 months, it began to “look like a landslide” — regardless that her A1C dropped and she or he was in a position to stop taking her blood pressure medication.
“I didn't want to spend money on a facelift,” Weller said. “So I got my cheeks done.”
“I look great and feel great,” Weller said.
Candice Reid, registered nurse and owner of a Mount Airy Med Spa Nurse Candiesaid she can be using more injectable hyaluronic acid, especially on clients over 40 who’ve lost weight.
In addition to the hyaluronic injections, Reid injects platelet-rich plasma or PRPinto clients' cheeks and jawline to stimulate collagen growth. Collagen is some of the necessary proteins our bodies produce to stop skin sagging. Production slows down as we enter our 30s and drops dramatically in our 40s.
“You can't see where you're going to lose weight,” Reid said. “But you can add volume to the areas of your face that have been affected by fat loss.”
On a recent Monday afternoon, O'Reilly was able to perk up. Five syringes of Restylane — greater than $4,000 in total — sat on the doctor's counter. After Sidiqi cleaned and numbed O'Reilly's face, he injected Restylane into each of O'Reilly's temples to provide her contour and under each of her cheekbones to lift her. Sidiqi injected Restylane into O'Reilly's chin to round it out, after which she had her lips plumped up, but not an excessive amount of, since the exaggerated pout is out.
The dark circles under her eyes were gone. The unwanted emaciation was gone. In lower than an hour, O'Reilly had her younger face back. The results should last a couple of 12 months.
“I like the way I look,” O'Reilly said. “I'm very happy.”
Will O'Reilly come back? She's undecided. Looking young isn't low-cost. Like weight-loss drugs, fillers may have to be an everyday a part of her beauty routine if she wants to maintain her looks. She's only 35.
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