‘Ozempic face’ driving surge in facial cosmetic surgery procedures, clinicians say

Side effects from weight loss drugs, including ”Ozempic face”, are behind a surge in facial cosmetic surgery procedures in the UK, surgeons have said.

New data from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) shows procedures including facelifts and eyelid surgery are on the rise, while breast augmentations and abdominoplasties, known as tummy tucks, are falling.

Surgeons said one reason behind the surge is a rising awareness of the side effects of weight-loss medication, including the gaunt or aged appearance that can be caused by rapid weight loss through GLP-1 drugs, often called “Ozempic face”.

Former BAAPS president Rajiv Grover, who compiled the audit, said a “new era of openness” on social media has also helped change perceptions of facial surgery.

Despite a sharp decline in demand, the data shows breast augmentation remains the most popular form of cosmetic surgery in the UK, with 4,761 procedures in 2025. But it is now closely followed by breast reduction surgery, with 4,673 procedures last year.

Surgeries for superficial gluteal lipofilling (SGL), a safer alternative to traditional Brazilian butt lifts (BBL), also plummeted by 38 per cent over the last year.

Surgeons said the data shows demand for an exaggerated hourglass silhouette may be falling in what they called a “growing shift towards comfort and natural proportions”.

Meanwhile, face and neck lifts rose by 11 per cent, brow lifts by 27 per cent, and eyelid surgery was up eight per cent.

But the 26,840 cosmetic procedures performed in 2025 is an overall two per cent drop from the previous year.

Dr Grover said: “Social media has allowed people to see what modern facial surgery really looks like with subtle, natural and restorative results, driven by the newer techniques of deep plane facelift and deep plane neck lift surgery.

He added that patients are “increasingly” seeking longer-term solutions, which they have often seen promoted by celebrities on social media.

“Awareness of the side effects of weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic face have also driven medical reasons for patients seeking facial aesthetic procedures,” he continued.

Doctors have previously warned about unwanted side effects such as facial ageing from GLP-1 drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy. Speaking to The Independent, Dr Sebastian Bejma, advanced aesthetic doctor at the Dr Bejma Medical Clinic in Leeds, explained the sheer speed of weight loss using GLP-1s can make it hard for skin to shrink back the way it usually does with diet and exercise-focused weight loss.

Rapid weight loss can also negatively impact levels of collagen, which Dr Bejma says “provides rigidity and strength to the skin”, and elastin, which “allows it to be flexible and retract back to shape”.

Mr Naveen Cavale, consultant plastic surgeon at Real Clinic, said the skin acts like a deflating balloon during rapid weight loss, causing accelerated ageing. “If you let the air out gradually, it probably has time to shrink back down almost to the size that it was when it first came out of the packet.

“And if people lose weight gradually, your skin [and] its elasticity has time to recover. Your skin can regenerate.” But if not, you can end up with “excess hanging skin”.