“Mounjaro Face”: Why Your Face Can Change After Weight Loss – and What Can Help
With medications such as Mounjaro and other GLP-1 based weight-loss treatments becoming increasingly common, I am seeing more patients who are delighted with their weight loss but feel that their face suddenly looks a little different.
You may have heard this referred to online as “Mounjaro face” or “Ozempic face”.
But what does this actually mean – and is the medication itself ageing your face?
What is “Mounjaro face”?
Firstly, “Mounjaro face” isn't a medical diagnosis.
It is a term that has become popular to describe facial changes that can become noticeable following significant weight loss.
When we lose weight, we don't get to choose where that weight comes from. Alongside losing fat from the body, we can also lose some of the fat that provides volume and support to the face.
This can make existing age-related changes more apparent.
Patients might notice:
Hollowness through the cheeks or temples
More prominent under-eye hollows
Deeper folds around the mouth
Reduced facial volume
Increased skin laxity
Early jowling
A more tired or drawn appearance
These changes can occur following any significant weight loss, not just weight loss achieved with medication.
Does Mounjaro actually age your face?
Not in the way the phrase “Mounjaro face” sometimes suggests.
Rather than the medication directly damaging or ageing the skin, rapid or significant weight loss can reduce facial volume.
Age is important too.
When we are younger, our skin generally has more collagen and elasticity and may adapt more readily to changes in facial volume.
As we get older, natural collagen loss and changes in the deeper facial structures mean that significant weight loss can sometimes reveal laxity or volume loss that wasn't as noticeable before.
Should you treat your face while you're still losing weight?
This is something I assess individually.
If your weight is still changing significantly, your face may continue to change too. In many cases, it makes sense to allow your weight to become relatively stable before embarking on significant facial volumisation.
That doesn't necessarily mean we can't do anything for your skin in the meantime.
We may instead focus on maintaining skin health, collagen and skin quality while your weight settles.
Is dermal filler the answer?
Sometimes, but certainly not always.
Dermal filler can be very effective when used carefully to restore specific areas of lost volume.
The important word here is restore.
If somebody has lost volume through the midface, for example, strategically replacing a small amount can help refresh the face as a whole.
The aim shouldn't be to create large cheeks or change your natural facial shape.
Equally, trying to correct every area of post-weight-loss change with increasing amounts of filler can result in an unnatural appearance.
This is why I prefer to assess the face as a whole rather than treating individual lines in isolation.
What about Sculptra?
Sculptra is something I particularly like discussing with appropriate patients who have experienced more generalised changes in facial ageing and collagen loss.
Unlike traditional hyaluronic acid dermal filler, Sculptra is a collagen-stimulating injectable treatment.
Rather than simply placing volume into one particular area, it works gradually by stimulating your own collagen production.
Results therefore develop over time.
For the right patient, this can be a lovely option where the aim is a gradual, natural-looking improvement rather than an obvious change.
Can Morpheus8 help with loose skin after weight loss?
Where skin laxity is part of the concern, we may consider Morpheus8 radiofrequency microneedling.
Morpheus8 combines microneedling with radiofrequency energy to stimulate collagen and remodel the skin and underlying tissue.
It can be useful when someone is noticing changes in firmness or early laxity rather than volume loss alone.
However, Morpheus8 cannot replace lost facial volume, just as filler cannot necessarily correct poor skin quality.
This is why identifying the cause of the concern is so important.
What about polynucleotides and skin boosters?
Treatments such as polynucleotides may form part of a plan when we're focusing primarily on skin quality.
For example, following weight loss a patient may notice that the under-eye skin looks thinner or more crepey.
If the issue is skin quality rather than significant hollowing, I may favour a regenerative approach rather than automatically reaching for tear trough filler.
Do you need to treat “Mounjaro face”?
Absolutely not.
Losing weight can have significant benefits for health and wellbeing, and developing some facial volume loss doesn't mean you need aesthetic treatment.
But if you're happy with your weight loss and simply feel that your face looks more tired or less like you, there are options.
The key is not trying to “fill” every change.
At Dr Emma Medispa in Hale and Knutsford, Cheshire, our medical team assesses facial volume, skin quality and laxity separately before recommending treatment.
Depending on the individual, we may discuss Sculptra, carefully placed dermal filler, Morpheus8, regenerative skin treatments, or simply good skincare and time.
Our aim is always the same: to help you look refreshed and healthy without changing what makes you look like you.
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