Plastic surgeons are reporting a surge in women going under the knife for Brazilian butt lifts after weight-loss from Ozempic left them with deflated backsides.
One plastic surgeon in New York City said BBL appointments have ‘doubled’ over the past year, while a second doctor in Las Vegas said his office has seen a ‘massive 50 percent spike’ in bookings.
Surgeons and med spas in Florida also said they are seeing a ‘noticeable uptick’ in enquiries of Ozempic users looking to restore their behinds.
Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs like Wegovy have surged in popularity, with 15.5million Americans now having tried them as a way to shed pounds.
But the rapid weight loss people experience has left them with sagging buttocks — termed ‘Ozempic butt’ — and led them to sign up for a cosmetic procedure to restore their plump behinds.
The above from Dr Christopher Costa shows before (left) and after (right) images of a BBL performed on a woman who had used a popular weight loss drug
These images, also from Dr Costa, show another woman’s backside when she came in after using a weight loss drug (left) and following her BBL (right)
Dr Christopher Costa, who runs Platinum Plastic Surgery in Las Vegas, told DailyMail.com: ‘Many of these individuals are dealing with “Ozempic butt,” where the quick loss of weight and muscle leads to a sagging, flattened appearance [of the buttocks].
‘They often lose significant volume in their buttocks and see less definition in their waist and hips, making the buttocks appear deflated, droopy and out of proportion with the rest of their body.’
He added: ‘I’m seeing a lot of patients who are ecstatic about their weight loss but discouraged by the impact it’s had on their buttocks, leaving them feeling less confident.’
In most cases, surgeons say their patients are range from 20 to 40 years old and have typically lost more than 20lbs using weight-loss drugs.
Mostly, their weight loss has not been proportional and the women coming in for a BBL seem to have lost most of the weight around their hips, buttocks and thighs, but are still carrying excess weight in their abdominal area.
The backside is one of the main areas where subcutaneous fat — or fat directly beneath the skin — accumulates, which is quickly lost during weight loss.
It also contains a group of three large muscles, called the glutes, which may shrink if someone takes weight-loss drugs without exercising and eating a high-protein diet.
Dr Derrick Antell, a plastic surgeon in New York City, also reported the surge in appointments, saying: ‘We are seeing a lot of these patients where they were on Ozempic but then they get a saggy, hangy, butt, so to speak. A BBL is like a facelift for a butt, and it’ll help to restore its appearance.’
He said his clinic was normally only doing 50 BBLs per year, but this year the number has doubled to a hundred.
There are two main operations that plastic surgeons use to restore volume to weight-loss drug users’ backsides.
In cases where the patient still has abdominal fat, the fat cells from this area are removed and placed into the buttocks to restore its volume.
In the second procedure, known as a butt lift, surgeons make an incision along the bottom of the buttocks, remove a ‘croissant shaped’ area of excess skin and then pull it up to lift and tighten the area.
This procedure may also involve fat transfers to the buttocks from other areas of the body to help restore its shape.
BBLs typically cost between $8,000 and $15,000, the surgeons said.
In a number of cases, Ozempic users are also opting to have filler injected into their backsides to restore its shape.
Filler is a liquid injected under the skin to add volume. It is often used in the face to minimize wrinkles and give patients a younger look.
It costs about $6,500 for 20 syringes, with medical spas saying patients tend to be in their 40s and 50s and have already lost at least 50lbs.
However, patients who get filler into their buttocks will need to get more injections every six months to two years because the body naturally absorbs filler over time, whereas a BBL is considered a permanent fix.
Marlee Bruno, who owns the medical spa Mind Body & Soul Medical in Pensacola, Florida, told DailyMail.com the number of patients coming in for filler have doubled over the past year and a half at her med spa.
BBLs hit a record high in 2023 while butt lift surgeries also appear to be rising
Popularized by celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Iggy Azalea, BBLs rose to fame in the mid-2010s.
And surgeons are now suggesting the procedure may be receiving a new fanbase thanks to the Ozempic boom.
About 1.7 percent of Americans — or 5.6million people — were prescribed a weight loss drug in 2023, according to a data analysis by healthcare company Epic Research.
This was up 40-fold from five years before, when they estimated only a few hundred thousand Americans were on the drug.
Surveys from this year suggest that six percent of US adults — or 15.5million people — have now tried a weight loss drug.
Dr Michael Jones, from Lexington Plastic Surgeons in New York City, added: ‘The assumption was that as patients lost weight on their own through Ozempic, they might not need treatments like liposuction.
‘However, what we are actually seeing is a new trend: Patients who were previously too obese to qualify for surgery are now using Ozempic to lose enough weight to bring their BMI into a safe range for cosmetic procedures.’
Last year, a record 29,400 people got a BBL in the United States — up three percent from the year before and 20 percent from 2018, when weight loss drugs first became available.
There was a dip in 2020, with 21,000 BBLs being carried out, although surgeons said this was linked to the Covid pandemic and people being reluctant to leave their homes.
Surgeons are also reporting uplifts in other procedures related to loose skin caused by weight loss, including tummy tucks and arm lifts.
Dr Smita Ramanadham, a plastic surgeon in New Jersey, told this website: ‘BBLs have remained relatively stable for me, but I am seeing an uptick in arm lifts and tummy tucks, as well as breast lifts due to weight loss.’
In addition to losing weight in undesirable locations, Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs have been linked to a whole host of bad side-effects.
As well as nausea and vomiting while using the shots, patients have also reported the medication had caused their hair to ‘fall out in clumps’ and there have been reports of users suffering from poor mental health and suicidal ideations.
