How to Fix Ozempic Face

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Welcome to the Skin Report. Today we are going to talk about how to reverse Ozempic face or a lot of skin sagging after using drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, semaglutide for weight loss. And if you enjoy learning about beauty, skin, skincare, please follow us, like, and also ask us any questions in comments.
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Hey, Shaheera.

Shaheera:
Hi. Ozempic has become like an adjective.

Dr. Simran Sethi:
It has. Oh my God, I’m so surprised at how many people are on it and even my assumption of who should be on Ozempic has changed. But I will say that I actually think it is a fascinating drug and a fascinating thing that’s happening in the weight-loss space. But it has also been really fascinating to see its effects on the face. And we’ve done a video on Ozempic face before. We also have videos of showing when celebrities are on Ozempic, how their face has changed, and how we see a consistent pattern among celebrities, which is a really fun video. So those of you watching, if you get a chance, please look at that because it just visually demonstrates this further.

Shaheera:
Ozempic is controversial. I have opinions about that because I think that people should be able to do what they want with their bodies as long as they’re doing it safely. You mentioned consistency in what happens with someone’s face no matter what their ethnicity is too, because we all kind of age differently. We show symptoms of aging differently. But what are the consistent facial or body skin changes you see with somebody [inaudible 00:02:20]. And how long do you think they’ve been using-

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Yeah, that’s a good question.

Shaheera:[inaudible 00:02:25] Drug?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Yeah, drug [inaudible 00:02:28]. Yeah. Well, actually Ozempic I think is actually very safe if used properly. And unfortunately, being in the capitalist society that we live, there have been so many companies that have come out are offering it now online without monitoring. I mean, I’ve even seen doctors just giving somebody a vial of compounded semaglutide and saying, “Here, just inject this. These are the instructions. Bye.”

Shaheera:
The amount of Ozempic, when you and I were sitting together the other day after I ate a huge slice of pizza, and just because I’ve been looking at and researching and just wanting to know what to ask you, I saw literally every other Instagram story was some type of semaglutide.

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Semaglutide compound.

Shaheera:
Which I am so astonished by because you weren’t allowed to advertise that. I didn’t think you were able to advertise that as a brand because it was A, so sought after. I thought there was medical guidelines, advertising guidelines, because it is a very triggering thing for a lot of people to see that repeatedly. Is it super available now?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
The branded drugs, Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, they can go out of stock and they are first and foremost drugs for diabetes. So they should be first available to people with diabetes, not only for weight loss, which is why the compounded semaglutide tirzepatide have come out, which is great because it allows access to the mechanism of using these for weight loss. And a lot of journalists are covering this, which is perfect, but there’s also I think sometimes a lot of oversensationalized information about them, like it increases the rate of suicide, which it does not. Actually, it has lower rates of depression for people who are on semaglutide and so forth. But the one thing we do know, there is such a thing as Ozempic face, and today we’re going to talk about how to reverse it, but most importantly, what is it really briefly and how to prevent it, and then what can you do to reverse it now that you’re there?

Shaheera:
Especially in your medical spas, the increase of people who have a very accelerated fat-

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Fat loss, yes. So I’ve been in the medical aesthetic world for a long time and I’ve seen a lot of people who’ve lost weight. 50, 60, 100 pounds. But what’s interesting is this year, we’re in the middle of 2024, I’m for the first time seeing a different type of facial aging from fat loss. Why this is exactly going to help us understand how to prevent it and reverse? So when you are losing weight from using strength training, eating differently with more of a calorie deficit, more gradually, yes, you’re going to lose a little muscle mass, that’s natural, but you are triggering and you’re having an uptake in growth hormone, which is helping you build more bones, more muscle, skin, and so you are actually losing weight, but you’re keeping those growth hormone levels up. You’re always repairing, and that is going to prevent this more gradual approach. And weight lifting, the exercise involved in losing weight, will prevent that excess sagging.

Now, what’s happening in that semaglutide space is that people are rapidly losing weight and they are also rapidly losing a lot of muscle mass, up to 50% with semaglutide. And when this happens quickly, your body doesn’t have time to adjust its levels of growth hormones, because if you’re not exercising, there’s nothing triggering that. So if we know that, we know that Ozempic face is actually avoidable and can be reversed also to a certain extent, depending on how advanced it is. And when I say avoidable, it’s because you can avoid Ozempic face and that excess laxity by taking a more gradual monitored approach to weight loss with semaglutide. Work with a provider who is monitoring you on a frequent basis. When I say frequent, it could be anywhere from weekly, bi-weekly, monthly.

Shaheera:
And that they understand what you should be doing in addition to taking this medicine.

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Yes, exactly. You cannot just depend on a huge calorie deficit. You need to do a little more work here in addition to taking the medication, when you do eat high protein, healthy sources of protein, lean protein, then exercise. And when I say exercise, actually not cardio, really, really emphasize strength training.

Shaheera:
The muscle building, strength building.

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Strength build, because that is going to give us that trigger for growth hormone. That is going to prevent that laxity in the skin. It’s actually going to help with sustaining enough muscle mass so that when you go off the medication, you have a great metabolic rate. And if you continue to eat healthy, which you should be able to in most cases, you will do well, you will continue to lose weight. And I have seen examples of that in my patients, which is excellent. But they were very invested in it in the proper way to do things. This is, again, maybe I’m biased because I’m an internal medicine doctor, but this Ozempic and [inaudible 00:08:20] it’s not some benign drug. If it was benign, it would be available over the counter. It’s not like an allergy medicine. You need to be monitored, it requires a lifestyle change and you need to be educated.

Shaheera:
Exactly. And it doesn’t just affect you, it doesn’t provide great benefits for you just internally. And there is a superficial, there’s an aesthetic factor to it. The provider should also be able to address that skin laxity is important because that person is probably also using this medicine to feel better generally. But then if you have the added side effect of, “Oh, no, now my skin is right and my skin is sagging, what can I do to prevent that?”

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Exactly, prevent and reverse.

Shaheera:
What kind of skincare can they be using? When should they actually enter the medical aesthetic space for a little bit of like a boost or tightening?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
So just on average, most people should be trying to lose up to two pounds a week. If you’re losing weight faster than that, it’s too fast. But that means that when you’ve hit sort of the two to three-month mark, you are going to start looking like you have facial volume loss. So I think in that case around honestly, month number two of being on a semaglutide, come in, explore the options for skin tightening treatments like microneedling with radio frequency, all therapy. And I think that is going to start that whole process of rapid collagen induction.

Now, what happens once you have a Ozempic face, you’ve lost a lot of deficit in your face? My sort of go-to treatments for that, and they’ve worked very well, we’ve been doing this now for, I would say a little while because semaglutide has been in the market for weight loss for now almost a year and a half. Sculptra. I love the effects of Sculptra in the fact that it’s natural, it replenishes volume, and does it around your bone structure, and it causes a nice natural lift. And I like also using all therapy for this under chin area in the neck. That is a popular combination and I really enjoy using that.

Sometimes I will use some filler in the cheek area for some volume replenishment if the patient has some important event coming up, a reunion and all. There are some things we can do and then do Sculptra later. That is also completely, completely safe, great strategy. But do not, as you know, and we have episodes on this, use only filler to reverse Ozempic face. That is not going to lift you. It will definitely not help you look yourself.

Shaheera:
Yeah, because the goal is sustainable and prolonged results.

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Yes.

Shaheera:
The other thing is does Ozempic or a similar medicine, does it affect your actual skin renewal or collagen?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Yes and no. I don’t think it affects your skin renewal rate. I think it affects the quality of skin renewal. And you’re like, “Okay, well, how is that different?” Well, you in a calorie deficit, so you may not be ingesting the right nutrients needed to feed your renewal. So that means that in addition to good skincare treatments, also think about supplementation, vitamin B6, glutathione. I like liposomal supplementation. In our office, we actually offer IV bags of different types of antioxidants, supplements, minerals that you are missing out on because the volume of food you’re consuming has gone down. So that also-

Shaheera:
Again, you have, which I love that you have, that you offer, is it an IV that helps detect how much you’re actually absorbing [inaudible 00:12:19]?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
We do a test to see what you actually absorb in your gut, or what you’re deficient in, so that we can customize your IV and give you that nutrition. And these are all great ways to support that skin renewal because it’s like a car that’s running on really low-quality gas and they’re going to spoil their engine because of that versus using the higher grade gasoline. So I think that’s kind of how I think of it. There are ways to prevent Ozempic face and there are ways to reverse it. Sculptra, ultherapy, microneedling with radiofrequency. Beautiful options. And I have great examples of that in upcoming videos, but fillers, carefully. Do not depend on them for the entirety of that reversal.

Shaheera:
Is there an age range that you prescribe a medical aesthetic treatment? So someone in their 20s or somebody in their… What’s the determining factor?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
In normal weight loss, age range does matter. But in this case, honestly, you can have a thirty-something-year-old who’s had such rapid weight loss from Ozempic and so much facial sagging and fat deficit that they are better candidates for surgery, versus a fifty-year-old who has taken it gradual and can rely on non-surgical options. So in this case, I think age is not as much of a factor as much as the rate of weight loss, which is again, I urge you, if you’re going to use this, do it correctly and it’ll be an excellent, excellent result. Not done properly, that’s when you run into issues.

Shaheera:
This episode, this conversation, I think helped and I hope it helps guide people know what to ask a medical provider. It’s a full, comprehensive, not just weight loss, body stabilization, health stabilization, but-

Dr. Simran Sethi:
It’s an overall transformation.

Shaheera:
It is, it’s an overall transformation. It really changes people’s perspective and their energy levels. To close, what can they do at home to maintain that? Skincare is huge. What can they do to maintain the really, really huge investment in their new lifestyle?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Medical aesthetics is not all about procedures. It’s actually mostly about skincare, what you’re doing on a daily basis lifestyle.

Shaheera:
So retinol is great for collagen building.

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Right, retinol is great for skin cell turnover. And all of our videos and episodes on the optimal anti-aging routines and ingredients, this applies exactly. And collagen making, it applies in this case as well.

Shaheera:
While retinol cannot lift sagging skin, it can certainly help you maintain, rebuild, replenish skin, so it can be supple and firm.

Dr. Simran Sethi:
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Exactly.

Shaheera:
Is there anything else you think we’re missing?

Dr. Simran Sethi:
No, I think this is actually a really fun topic because it’s something a lot of people ask about, and we’re seeing a lot more of this Ozempic face question. So knowing more about it is important. And also, we have so many more videos addressing this in different ways.

And thank you for listening to us today. If you enjoy learning about aesthetic treatments, skincare, beauty trends, please subscribe, like, and ask us any questions in your comments.