Among the hyper-image-conscious elites of America, the drug Ozempic has become something of a miracle method by which to lose weight fast with almost no effort.
But, as with any other deal with the devil, the use of this drug has taken a toll on many celebrities’ appearances, sometimes leaving them looking almost worse than they did with excess weight.
Ozempic has given their faces a gaunt appearance from which most normal people instinctively recoil.
Doctors told NBC’s “Today” show that the effect — known as “Ozempic face” — results from rapid weight loss that the drug encourages, especially among older and middle-age women.
It also happens with Wegovy, a similar weight-loss drug with the same active ingredient, semaglutide, according to the outlet.
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The hallmarks of “Ozempic face,” according to Zero Hedge, are “a hollowed-looking face, wrinkles, sunken eyes, and changes in the size of the lips, cheeks, and chin” — all of which come together to make people look like Victorian tuberculosis patients.
Plastic surgeons warn ‘Ozempic face’ has taken over Hollywood https://t.co/8yzGJ0cLTx pic.twitter.com/EflfgY6f9z
— New York Post (@nypost) April 19, 2024
However, a fix might be on the way.
Would you ever take Ozempic to lose weight?
The CEO of skincare company Galderma announced a possible way to mitigate the dreaded “Ozempic face,” Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Flemming Ornskov said in an interview that the Swiss firm’s Sculptra skin treatment and other fillers “should be able to restore this” — meaning, a more youthful and healthy fullness in the face.
“I think that will be another growth wave in that space, which I will make sure to capture,” Ornskov said.
Bloomberg explained that Sculptra could help with Ozempic face because it increases collagen production, which helps diminish wrinkles and other signs of aging.
The fillers would help make people’s faces look less sickly.
Considering many of the celebrities who have turned to this drug for weight loss probably did so for aesthetic reasons, the aesthetic deficiencies would probably be what they most want to alleviate.
However, as “Today” reported, there are more side effects of Ozempic than just the Victorian invalid look.
“As the weight goes, your face does go, and you do get a gauntness.”
Significant weight loss with drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, prescribed to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, can lead to changes in facial appearance, doctors say. https://t.co/dGs5XjThhg
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 27, 2023
The drug can cause severe gastrointestinal issues, from vomiting to diarrhea to even — according to lawsuits filed against manufacturer Novo Nordisk — stomach paralysis.
Now, as anyone who has taken antibiotics can attest, modern medicine has done wonders for our society, including eradicating diseases that were once a death sentence.
However, many of the novel compounds and medicines have carried severe side effects — some of which were almost worse than the initial illness.
The main cause of the ever-increasing rates of obesity in the developed world (especially the U.S.) has been a diet overfilled with mass-manufactured, low-nutrition, high-calorie foods, coupled with a lack of physical activity.
Ozempic’s status as a “miracle” weight-loss drug, then, has only served to encourage lifestyles that were not healthy.
Nothing comes without a cost.
Drugs that allow people to accomplish something ordinarily quite difficult with almost no effort usually carry gnarly side effects down the road.
In other words, beware of making a deal with the devil.
