It seems like everywhere you look these days, you see references to the weight loss drugs Ozempic® or Wegovy®. Many women and men, from celebrities to the neighbor down the street, have jumped on the bandwagon and shed significant weight using these tools.
However, while finally finding a successful weight management solution is wonderful, weight loss injections like Ozempic®, Wegovy®, or Mounjaro™ and off-brand semaglutide or tirzepatide injections can result in side effects and unwanted changes to your physical appearance.
These injections work great for weight loss; however, they can lead to excess skin on your body or loss of volume in your face. This can happen when weight is lost quickly or even an expected sequela of weight loss.
At Town and Country Plastic Surgeons and MedSpa, we understand that excitement about losing those stubborn pounds can quickly turn to frustration when you’re left with excess skin and facial volume loss.
That is why we offer various surgical and non-surgical treatments to address these issues and help restore the confidence you deserve.
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How Does Semaglutide Work?
Ozempic® and Wegovy® are semaglutide, a drug that mimics a naturally occurring hormone in your body. This hormone is responsible for prompting the body to produce more insulin, helping to lower blood sugar. It also interacts with the parts of your brain that tell you when you are full and slows your digestion so you stay full longer.
These advantages, when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise, have helped thousands who have struggled with weight loss reach a healthy weight.
What Is “Ozempic® Face?”
While losing weight is a good thing, losing a large amount of weight or losing it too quickly can make it difficult for your skin to keep up. One of the terms used to describe this phenomenon is “Ozempic® face.”
Due to rapid and often significant weight loss, many Ozempic® and Wegovy® users develop sagging skin and a gaunt appearance. Instead of smooth, supple skin, you’re left with hollowed-out cheeks and more noticeable wrinkles.
Solutions for Ozempic® Face
If facial volume loss makes you look older, our surgeons and their skilled MedSpa experts have the solution.
Non-surgical Facial Rejuvenation Options
If weight loss has resulted in volume loss in your face, but skin laxity isn’t an issue, you may take advantage of fillers to smooth and round out the hollows in your cheeks and under your eyes.
- Injectable dermal fillers: JUVÉDERM® and Restylane® are hyaluronic acid fillers that add volume to depleted areas in the face. This type of filler is made of hyaluronic acid, which is a ubiquitous substance found in our skin. With age and weight loss, naturally occurring hyaluronic acid of the face is depleted, and sometimes at an accelerated rate. These products can restore facial volume loss by filling areas that have been depleted. Areas such as cheeks, temples, chin and jawline are common areas to be addressed. Most hyaluronic fillers last none to 12 months but some can improve volume for up to two years. They are fully reversible and can immediately improve the facial appearance.
- Sculptra® Aesthetic: This is a “biostimulant” filler which adds volume by allowing your body to create more collagen. This product is made of poly-L-lactic acid which, when placed properly, will allow your body to build facial volume. Sculptra® may require multiple treatments to reach a certain facial volume, but it can be used for global facial volume loss, or even for targeted areas. Sculptra® will not only add volume, which will fill out sagging skin, but it is also approved for fine lines and wrinkles as it is shown to improve skin texture. Sculptra® is growing in popularity because of its use with profound volume loss, of not only the face, but the body as well.
If you have minor to moderate skin laxity and aren’t ready for a surgery, we also offer several treatments to combat sagging skin:
- Sciton BBL® Photorejuvenation: A non-invasive treatment that uses light wavelengths to treat wrinkles and crepey skin.
- Morpheus8™: This non-invasive procedure utilizes microneedling and radiofrequency waves to improve skin texture and wrinkles.
Surgical Facial Rejuvenation Options
Comprehensive Facelift
If weight loss has caused the skin on your face to sag or existing wrinkles to deepen, it may be time for a surgical option. At Town and Country, we offer a comprehensive facelift to address your entire face and neck.
A facelift targets the cheeks, jawline and neck, which is a primary area of concern for many who have lost a significant amount of weight. If this is your primary area of concern, you may choose that option.
Additional targeted areas may be addressed, either in isolation or in addition to a facelift.
Neck Lift
For those with isolated fullness or skin excess in the neck, limited to below the jawline, a neck lift may be the best surgical option. A wobbly, wrinkly “turkey neck” can make you look older and heavier than you are. This procedure will contour the neck by sculpting the deep tissues, removing excess fat and tightening the skin.
Brow Lift
With age and weight loss, the eyebrows can descend on the face resulting in an angry appearance. This can present as deep horizontal lines in the forehead as the muscles attempt to pull the eyebrow up into appropriate position. This can also appear as excess eyelid skin because the brows can weigh the upper eyelids down. A brow lift will lift the eyebrows to their correct position, on the orbital bone, to give a rejuvenated look. There are many different types of brow lifts depending on severity of eyebrow droop. A limited brow lift will address the lateral tail of the brow and a more complete brow lift will target the entire eyebrow.
Eyelid Surgery
Drooping eyelids make you look older and tired and can even impair your vision. Adding an eyelid lift to your facelift gives you a refreshed look in minutes.
Fat Grafting
Also known as fat transfer, this procedure uses fat harvested from your body to restore volume to your face, including cheeks, temples, eyes, chin and lips. It is a more permanent option than dermal fillers because the fat will survive and live where it is transferred providing long lasting volume.
Whether you choose to undergo a facelift or a facelift in conjunction with one or more of the above treatments, you’ll emerge looking natural and refreshed.
What About Your Body?
Your face isn’t the only area of your body that can suffer with weight loss. Your body may also change — loose and sagging skin and volume loss are just a few sequela.
Like the face, there are both nonsurgical options:
Nonsurgical:
- Morpheus8™: Microneedling and radiofrequency can help target thin crepey skin or even stretch marks. Common target areas include the abdomen and knees.
- Sculptra® Aesthetic: This can add volume to depleted areas and also improve the texture and character of the skin. Sculptra® can be added to the buttocks and hip dips to provide volume augmentation to these areas. It can also be injected to areas of thin crepey skin such as the knees and chest for skin rejuvenation.
Surgical:
- Mini tummy tuck surgery: A less invasive tummy tuck option that removes loose skin and some fat pockets in the lower abdomen.
- A full tummy tuck: A comprehensive solution that removes excess skin and fat and tightens the underlying abdominal muscles above and below the belly button.
- An arm lift: Tightens loose skin and removes excess fat from the upper arms.
- A thigh lift: Tightens loose and removes fat from the inner and outer thigh.
- BodyTite®: A minimally invasive device that tightens loose skin and dissolves fat using radiofrequency (RF) energy.
- Fat grafting: Volume can be permanently restored with fat grafting. It may be used in combination with other surgical body procedures or in isolation.
Learn More About Post-Weight Loss Options in Houston and Jackson Lake
After you’ve lost the weight you’ve been struggling to let go of, you deserve to treat yourself to the next step in total rejuvenation.
Whether you choose surgical or non-surgical procedures, the board-certified surgeons and highly trained staff at Town and Country Plastic Surgeons and MedSpa are here to assist you on your journey to becoming your best self.
For more information or to set up a consultation, call our Houston office at (713) 467-0146, our Lake Jackson office at (713) 467-0146, or complete our online contact form.