Elizabeth Wellington | (TNS) The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — At five feet, two inches tall, Julia O’Reilly was 190 pounds, prediabetic, and her blood pressure was elevated. Her only real exercise was chasing around her little ones.
She met with her doctors, who started O’Reilly on weekly Ozempic shots. She lost 50 pounds.
But with the weight gone, O’Reilly said, her face sagged, her cheeks hollowed, and dark circles appeared under her eyes.
“The goal was to lose weight,” O’Reilly said, “not to look sunken in and sickly.”
Those who use drugs like Ozempic — either for medical reasons or aesthetic ones — often find the weight loss leads to something now called “Ozempic face.” The result: medical spas are seeing an uptick in requests from clients using medicines 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 me.”
So, after consulting the medical and beauty team at Center City med spa skin care clinic Body+Beauty Lab, she decided fillers were the best route to replace the youthful fullness she says Ozempic robbed from her face.
An old remedy for a new problem
According to a Gallup-up poll, 6% of US adults, or 15.5 million people, report having used medications like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss. When they work as hoped, doctors say they curb appetites and cravings. The downside: depleted muscle mass leading to older-looking faces.
“It’s a protein issue,” explained 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 when people start these medications they work with a dietitian to keep protein levels up.”
Doctors who specialize in beauty have been using fillers made from synthetic hyaluronic acid — Restylane, Juvéderm, Sculptra, Belotero — to…
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