Plastic surgeons are reporting a rise in the number of women going under the knife for Brazilian butt lifts after Ozempic weight loss left them with deflated behinds.
A New York City plastic surgeon said appointments for BBLs have “doubled” over the past year, while a second doctor in Las Vegas said his office has seen a “massive 50 percent increase” in bookings.
Surgeons and medical spas in Florida also said they are seeing a “notable increase” in inquiries from Ozempic users looking to restore their buttocks.
Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs, such as Wegovy, have gained popularity and 15.5 million Americans have tried them as a way to lose weight.
But the rapid weight loss people are experiencing has left them with sagging buttocks, dubbed “Ozempic butts,” and has led them to sign up for a cosmetic procedure to get their plump backsides back.
The image above by 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 by Dr. Costa, show another woman’s bottom as she arrived after using a weight loss drug (left) and after her BBL (right).
Dr Christopher Costa, who runs Platinum Plastic Surgery in Las Vegas, told DailyMail.com: ‘Many of these people suffer from ‘Ozempic bum’, where rapid weight and muscle loss leads to a sagging, flattened appearance.
‘They often lose significant volume in the buttocks and see less definition in the waist and hips, making the buttocks appear deflated, droopy and out of proportion to the rest of the body.’
She added: “I see many patients who are excited about their weight loss but disheartened by the impact it has had on their buttocks, which makes them feel less confident.”
In most cases, surgeons say their patients are between 20 and 40 years old and have typically lost more than 20 pounds using weight-loss drugs.
For the most part, their weight loss has not been proportional and women who come in for a BBL appear to have lost most of the weight around their hips, buttocks and thighs, but still have excess weight in their abdominal area.
The buttocks are one of the main areas where subcutaneous fat—or fat directly under the skin—accumulates, which is rapidly lost during weight loss.
It also contains a group of three large muscles, called the glutes, which can shrink if someone takes weight-loss drugs without exercising or eating a high-protein diet.
New York City plastic surgeon Dr. Derrick Antell also reported the increase in inquiries, saying, “We’re seeing a lot of patients who were on Ozempic but then have a flabby, saggy butt, so to speak. A BBL is like a facelift for your buttocks and will help bring back their appearance.”
He said his clinic normally only performed 50 BBLs a year, but this year the number had doubled to 100.
There are two main operations that plastic surgeons use to restore volume to the buttocks of weight loss drug users.
In cases where the patient still has abdominal fat, fat cells are removed from this area and placed in the buttocks to restore their volume.
In the second procedure, known as a buttock lift, surgeons make an incision along the underside of the buttocks, remove a “croissant”-shaped area of excess skin, and then lift 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 their shape.
BBLs typically cost between $8,000 and $15,000, surgeons said.
In several cases, Ozempic users also choose to inject filler into their butt to restore its shape.
Filler is a liquid that is injected under the skin to add volume. It is often used on the face to minimize wrinkles and give patients a more youthful appearance.
It costs about $6,500 for 20 syringes, and medical spas say patients tend to be in their 40s or 50s and have already lost at least 50 pounds.
However, patients who receive filler in the buttocks will need to receive more injections every six months to two years because the body naturally absorbs the filler over time, while a BBL is considered a permanent solution.
Marlee Bruno, The owner of Mind Body & Soul Medical spa in Pensacola, Florida, told DailyMail.com that the number of patients coming in for fillers has doubled in the past year and a half at her medical spa.
BBLs hit a record high in 2023, while butt lift surgeries also appear to be on the rise
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 gaining a new following thanks to the rise of Ozempic.
According to an analysis of data from healthcare firm Epic Research, about 1.7 percent of Americans (or 5.6 million people) will be prescribed a weight-loss drug in 2023.
That was 40 times higher than five years earlier, when it was estimated that only a few hundred thousand Americans were taking the drug.
This year’s surveys suggest that six percent of American adults (or 15.5 million people) have tried some form of weight-loss drug.
Dr Michael Jones, of Lexington Plastic Surgeons in New York City, added: ‘It was assumed that since patients were losing weight on their own through Ozempic, they might not need treatments like liposuction.
‘However, what we’re 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 underwent a BBL in the United States, up 3 percent from the previous year and 20 percent more than in 2018, when weight-loss drugs first became available.
There was a drop in 2020, when 21,000 BBLs were performed, although surgeons said this was linked to the Covid pandemic and people’s reluctance to leave their homes.
Surgeons are also reporting improvements in other procedures related to sagging skin caused by weight loss, including tummy tucks and arm lifts.
Dr. Smita Ramanadham, a plastic surgeon in New Jersey, told this website: ‘For me, BBLs have remained relatively stable, but I am seeing an increase in arm lifts and tummy tucks, as well as breast lifts due to weight loss.’
In addition to losing weight in unwanted areas, Ozempic and other similar weight loss drugs have been linked to a number of negative side effects.
In addition to nausea and vomiting while using the injections, patients also reported that the drug had caused their hair to “fall out in clumps” and there were reports of users suffering from poor mental health and suicidal thoughts.