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

Hi

exclusive

By Angela Barbuti

Ozempic users have noticed a change in their face – and it’s costing them an arm and a leg.

Patients who inject the anti-diabetic medication to lose weight have found themselves with “Ozempic face” – thin, deflated cheeks and loose, sagging skin around their cheeks.

Trying to avoid a plastic surgery fix for their sagging faces, sufferers instead undergo repeated medical procedures – paying up to $10,000 a pop.

“It’s really hard to say for sure when I noticed my face was changing,” Ozempic user Quenby Erickson, who lost 45 pounds in seven months using the drug, told The Post.

“It was gradual. You just think it’s weight loss, and then you start looking in your mirror like, ‘Wait a minute, my skin is saggy now and it wasn’t before.’ I aged a lot in a few months

Erickson, 51, a Chicago resident who is also a dermatologist, began taking Ozempic in August 2022 for post-pregnancy weight loss.

In May, he had his staff at Erickson Cosmetic Dermatology & Lifestyle Medicine treated with Sofwave, a $2,000 to $3,000 ultrasound treatment that reduces lines and wrinkles by heating and softening collagen in the face.

Dermatologist Marina Peredo, who owns Skinfluence on the Upper East Side and Dix Hills, explained what causes the skin to sag.

“Because the weight loss happens in a very short period of time, the skin does not have time to recover, so you have many people who look skinny,” he said.

In addition to Sofwave, which must be repeated once or twice a year, Peredo also treats his Ozempic patients with Morpheus8, a micro-needling procedure that stimulates collagen to strengthen and smooth wrinkles.

“Think of it as hot needles,” he said. “It costs anywhere from $800 to $1,000 per treatment, and you usually need a series of three.”

Those “who are not ready for a facelift” after Ozempic opt for three procedures: AccuTite, which focuses on the upper face; FaceTite, which works on the jaw and neck; and liposuction, a trio that registers a price of $10,000.

AccuTite and FaceTite use a metal probe that “goes under the skin and tightens it from the inside,” Peredo said.

Patients are also combining these procedures with $3,500 to $9,000 hyaluronic fillers. “We’re going to inflate that sagginess by putting filler in the cheek, temples and jawline,” he said.

She advises her patients to start corrective work at the same time they start Ozempic.

“Unnecessarily, if there is a lot of weight loss, they may have to go under the knife,” he said.

Peredo’s longtime patient Kathleen, who started Ozempic in July 2021 after rapid weight gain due to menopause, purchased Sofwave, Morpheus8 and AccuTite.

Kathleen, 57, of Long Island, was worried about how her face would change, so she started getting procedures just a few months after starting Ozempic.

“I’m very sensitive to my lower face,” said Kathleen, who lost 45 pounds over a two-year period. “When you lose weight, you tend to age, so I was worried about that.”

Kathleen will have to repeat the expensive procedures because she is still on Ozempic – with another weight loss goal in mind.

“I have about 20 pounds I’d like to lose,” he said. “My daughter’s wedding is near, and I bought my dress in Paris.”