Shortly after the 'trend' of taking the diabetes drug Ozempic to lose weight began, many people, including celebrities, started to notice an unexpected side-effect known as 'Ozempic butt.'
While many official side-effects that can occur from Ozempic use were listed, such as vomiting or nausea, and even pancreatitis, among others, 'Ozempic butt' wasn’t officially mentioned.
"My dad said, 'You don’t have a butt anymore'," shared 39-year-old Jess Loren, whose weight has dropped by more than 75 pounds.
"I try on bathing suits and I’ve got 'ghost a**', or what people online call 'Ozempic butt'," she added.
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Ozempic butt occurs due to both a rapid and a massive loss of fat and muscle
According to Dr. John Burns, a board-certified plastic surgeon and the president of Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute, 'Ozempic butt’ is connected not only with rapid weight loss but also to people experiencing massive changes in their weight, typically losing at least 100 pounds, or more than 40% of one’s excess body weight.
“Think of a balloon that’s losing air,” explained Dr. Samuel Lin, an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and a Boston-based plastic surgeon.
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“As the balloon deflates, you notice wrinkles and extra material where the air once filled," he added, noting that 'Ozempic butt' particularly occurs in older people since the proteins collagen and elastin, which promote elasticity, diminish as we age.
In short, the younger people are, the more elastic their skin is and the more likely it is to bounce back like a rubber band, while the older they are, the more likely their skin is to sag.
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A flatter and more poorly-shaped butt is the result of a combined loss of fat and muscle.
"Patients on Ozempic or Wegovy lose both fat and muscle while on these medications,” said Dr. Iman Saleh, director of obesity medicine in the bariatrics department at Northwell Health South Shore University Hospital.
"If you lose a significant amount of muscle and fat from the buttocks, the sagging skin can appear even more pronounced,” she explained.
In many cases, it’s impossible to avoid 'Ozempic butt’ completely, but it’s still possible to minimize this unwanted side effect
Image credits: Haberdoedas/unsplash
Image credits: Huha Inc./unsplash
Some doctors advise losing weight slowly, at a rate of two to four pounds a week, and not neglecting exercise, which makes it easier for the skin to adjust.
Focusing on strengthening the large muscles in the legs, hips, and buttocks can help to increase the muscle volume and compensate for the fat loss in these areas, while maintaining a nutritionally dense diet can help to improve the appearance of the skin.
Dr. F. Clarissa Yang, a dermatologist-in-chief at Tufts Medical Center and a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, also advises taking enough omega-3, calcium, potassium, selenium, biotin, magnesium, vitamins K, E, D, and B vitamins to minimize a loss of volume.
Netizens mostly seem to be against the "quick fix" offered by Ozempic
