Transcript
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Face Value with Modern Aesthetics
Breanna Clark: Welcome to Face Value with Modern Aesthetics. I’m your host, Breanna Clark. And today, we are joined by Chris Bustamante, a nurse practitioner and aesthetic practice owner in Manhattan, to talk about Ozempic face.
Chris, thank you for joining us. The concept of Ozempic face is not new, but how would you describe it specifically in terms of the issues that you’re seeing from patients in your practice?
Chris Bustamante: Yeah, I think that Ozempic face is more than just the idea of volume loss. I think it’s more rapid weight loss that we tend to see in some people. And it can happen, obviously, without any GLP-1s, right?
So if someone, you know, all of a sudden wants to start losing weight rapidly, and they go from zero to 100, and they’re working out a lot, they’re dieting really intensively, and they’re kind of losing more than one to two pounds per week, then they can also experience Ozempic face.
So, with that rapid weight loss, the face deflates very quickly. We’ll notice that it’s no longer as plush. The skin looks like it has more laxity to it. And so people kind of feel like they lose a lot of their facial features that they’ve become accustomed to, such as, you know, high, plush cheekbones. And they kind of feel like there’s maybe some laxity around the jawline and neck area.
And so, you know, we are seeing more of that because of GLP-1s—people not knowing, actually, how to effectively manage their weight loss while they’re on a GLP-1 if they’re not being guided appropriately. If you are being guided appropriately, you’ll know to have a high protein intake, and you’ll want to still lose weight gradually but consistently.
Breanna Clark: Before we get into using fillers to treat Ozempic face, tell me about how filler fatigue has impacted your practice previously.
Chris Bustamante: Yeah, I mean, my practice is very multidisciplinary, so luckily, it does not rely entirely on facial filler. We do a lot of, like, male sexual enhancement procedures, and so that keeps things flowing. But we definitely did notice a drop in facial filler, and I think it’s very multifactorial.
So I think that every, you know, outlet will push one agenda as to why it’s happening, but I think that it’s for multiple reasons.
In 2020, we saw the big boom in facial filler. That was, like, once COVID happened. Everyone wanted work done because, for the first time, really, ever, we were accustomed to switching to working basically how we’re doing right now, on video, right?
So no one was ever used to seeing their face so close to the camera, seeing all the things that they didn’t like about themselves, such as, like, them scowling and frowning. So they wanted Botox for that. They’re seeing their facial features up close, feeling that they need more, like, jawline definition or cheek definition. And so that was the big boom in facial filler.
That caused, eventually, a delayed response where some people became overfilled, and they kept pushing and pushing and pushing, and they hit that phase of being overfilled and then having to go through the dissolving process.
And so, just like the facial filler boom was being pushed on social, and lots of people were, you know, pushing out there the things that they were getting done, a lot of those other people had to push out when they were getting things dissolved.
So that caused a lot of consumer fear, and people who maybe hadn’t really entered the market yet and were considering it then decided to pull back because they saw all the dissolving.
In addition, I think that there were also a lot of celebrities that get kind of pushed into that as well, where it’s like, once people start talking about, “Oh, everyone’s dissolving their filler now,” they start highlighting more and more celebrities who feel like the public feels like they look overdone. So, again, they’re pushing this narrative that filler is bad.
And the reality is that it’s always been the same MO: not every treatment is for every patient, and you have to be intentional with every treatment that you do do.
So, you know, someone comes in for a little bit of chin filler and jawline filler, and maybe they need a touch in the cheek. But, like, keep it a touch in the cheek. Like, not every area needs a full redo.
So I think that that is a multifactorial thing. And now that we’re seeing that sort of rebound from that with people losing weight on GLP-1s, they are coming in very recessed looking. There’s a lot of volume deficiency. And so we are using filler strategically in order to help sort of rebalance their features, and that way, they look more restored and healthy.
Breanna Clark: And how much exactly has it rebounded?
Chris Bustamante: Yeah, I mean, we saw, like, a 75% increase this last quarter, which is historically one of the lowest quarters for us. So we saw a really nice increase there. And it was, again, a lot of people coming in with weight loss from GLP-1s.
I think that that’s also definitely because things have started to quiet down with everyone kind of talking about filler fatigue and, again, dissolving. Like, you know, the press, you know, plays a role in this as well, right?
So, like, things are happening behind the scenes, and then how they get reported will cause a reaction. We all kind of, you know, know that that’s what happens. I think that reaction has kind of calmed down a little bit.
And so we are seeing people whose sort of fear and hesitancy with filler have sort of calmed down, even if they haven’t lost weight on a GLP-1. And so we’re definitely seeing people coming in, again, wanting the same things that were happening before in the 2020 era.
Breanna Clark: Do you have any specific tips or tricks for treating Ozempic face with filler?
Chris Bustamante: So, when it comes to treating it with filler, I would say go slow and be conservative and kind of, you know, work your way up.
But then, from the patient side of things, too, I think that, before I even start treatment, I always like to gauge, like, where the patient is at. So I ask them, you know, “Are you done losing weight, or are you going to continue to lose more weight?” That might change how we approach your treatment plan.
You know, some people lose a lot of weight. You know, like we’re talking about, some people lose 15 or 20 pounds or so. Great. They’re probably a perfect candidate for some filler.
But then there are people who lose, you know, 100 or 150 pounds—you know, like, really drastic weight loss cases. And we have to be honest with patients all the time.
And a lot of times, these patients, yeah, they still can benefit from filler, especially probably in the midface area. But then, when it comes to their neck and the laxity that they experience there, a lot of times, they’re surgical candidates already, even if they’re super young.
So we have patients who are in their, you know, mid- to late 30s, early 40s, who really, honestly, already need face and neck lifts because they’ve lost so much weight. And treating them with filler is, quite honestly, I think, just not the best plan for them. I think it’s a waste of their money and their time because they’ve lost so much weight that they need more support than just some filler.
So I think it’s just seeing where the patient is at in their journey and having open and honest conversations about what it is that they’re looking for. That way, you can give them the best recommendation possible.
Breanna Clark: Are there any measures that can prevent Ozempic face for people on weight loss drugs? Or is this something that aesthetic practices are going to continue to need to treat for the foreseeable future?
Chris Bustamante: There are definitely ways to prevent it. I think—I mean, you can’t ultimately change the fact that you will lose some volume in your face as you progressively lose weight.
But the rapid weight loss that really changes the presentation of the skin and sort of that sort of deflated look that people can really have is going to be managed by losing weight at a more modest pace and also implementing lots of protein into your diet.
You know, when you’re on a GLP-1, those are fantastic medications. By the way, I’m a huge supporter of people being on them if it’s managed appropriately.
But you have to remember that everything that you do consume, because you are consuming less food overall, has to be very nutrient-dense. So you have to make sure that you’re still getting all your protein, all your micronutrients, you know, like, and all your fiber. That all has to be in the small little meals that you’re having. It needs to be in there.
So high protein is going to really help you to have a more stable weight loss journey and also prevent sarcopenia, which is like muscle wasting. We really want to make sure you preserve as much muscle as possible in your weight loss journey.
And really, just aiming for around, you know, like, a pound and a half to two pounds a week is nice and slow and steady. You won’t have any sort of crazy changes.
For people who are losing weight a little bit faster than that, they will see more changes aesthetically. And we will have to kind of manage that, you know, as we see fit in terms of fillers, lasers, tightening procedures, and surgical intervention. It really depends on the patient presentation.