Patients pay $10,000 for plastic surgery to fix sagging ‘Ozempic face’

Health

exceptional

By: Angela Barbuti

Ozempic users notice a change in their face and it costs them an arm and a leg.

Patients injected with an anti-diabetic drug to lose weight developed “Ozempic face” with sagging, saggy cheeks and loose, loose skin around their legs.

In an attempt to avoid plastic surgery for their newly slimmed-down faces, victims instead undergo multiple medical procedures, paying up to $10,000 per pop.

“It’s really hard to say exactly when I noticed a change in my face,” Ozempic user Quenby Erickson, who lost 45 pounds on the drug in 7 months, told The Post.

“It was gradual. You just think it’s weight loss, and then you start looking in the mirror like; I have aged a lot in a few months.”

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

In May, she had her staff at Erickson Cosmetic Dermatology & Lifestyle Medicine treat her to Sofwave, a $2,000 to $3,000 ultrasound treatment that reduces lines and wrinkles by heating and remodeling facial collagen.

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

“Because the weight loss happens in a very short period of time, the skin doesn’t have time to catch up, so there are a lot of people who are thin,” 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 tighten and smooth wrinkles.

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

“Those who are not yet ready for face lifting” choose three procedures after Ozempic: AccuTite, which focuses on the upper face; FaceTite, which works on the jaw and neck; and liposuction, a trio that costs $10,000.

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

Patients also combine these procedures with hyaluronic fillers costing $3,500-$9,000. “We have to exaggerate that weakness by putting filler in the cheeks, temples and jawline,” she said.

He advises his patients to start corrective work at the same time as starting Ozempic.

“Otherwise, if there’s too much weight loss, they could go under the knife,” he said.

Longtime Peredo patient Kathleen, who started Ozempic in July 2021 after rapid weight gain due to menopause, received Sofwave, Morpheus8 and AccuTite.

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

“I’m very sensitive about my lower face,” said Kathleen, who lost 45 pounds in two years. “When you lose weight, it ages you, so I was worried about that.”

Kathleen will likely have to repeat the expensive procedure as she is still on Ozempic with another weight loss goal in mind.

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