After finally shedding those stubborn pounds with the help of a miracle drug—only to look in the mirror and hardly recognize your reflection. That’s the unexpected twist many users of Ozempic, the wildly popular weight-loss and diabetes medication, are now facing. From Hollywood red carpets to everyday clinics, this injectable GLP-1 drug has become the go-to for quick body transformations. But there's a catch—while your waistline may shrink, your facial features might too. Say hello to “Ozempic mouth,” a bizarre new side effect that's raising both brows and concern. As more patients report sagging skin, hollow cheeks, and deep mouth wrinkles, the question arises: Is the cost of weight loss more than just financial?

Originally designed as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, the drug's active ingredient, semaglutide, mimics the GLP-1 hormone to regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. But as its off-label use for rapid weight loss explodes in popularity — especially among celebrities — so do the concerns about its unintended consequences.

The latest? A perplexing and increasingly common condition dubbed “Ozempic Mouth.”

Much like its predecessor “Ozempic Face”, which made headlines for causing gaunt, hollowed facial features, Ozempic Mouth refers to a very specific set of cosmetic changes — sagging skin around the mouth, deepened folds at the corners of the lips, increased vertical wrinkles, and drooping along the chin and lower face. The result is a prematurely aged look that’s difficult to reverse without cosmetic intervention.

What is ‘Ozempic Mouth’?

The popularity of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy has surged across the US and globally. Recent 2024 data suggests that as many as 1 in 8 Americans have tried a GLP-1 agonist — a number expected to climb as these medications become more accessible and culturally normalized.

But as weight comes off quickly, it doesn’t always do so evenly — and therein lies the problem. Semaglutide doesn’t distinguish between fat deposits. It targets subcutaneous fat — the layer just beneath the skin that gives the face its youthful plumpness. While shedding belly and thigh fat may be welcome, losing fat in the delicate perioral region (around the mouth) leads to a sunken, drawn-out appearance.

The skin becomes thinner and more wrinkled, with what many are calling ‘lipstick lines’. Patients come in alarmed by how aged their face suddenly looks — particularly around the lips and chin.

Celebrities like Sharon Osbourne, Whoopi Goldberg, and Rebel Wilson — all of whom have openly discussed their Ozempic use — have been spotted with increasingly pronounced facial changes. Fans have noted visible differences: sharper jawlines, sagging cheeks, and tight-lipped smiles that hint at underlying volume loss.

This rapid facial transformation has made “Ozempic Mouth” a buzzword in dermatology offices across the globe, with patients urgently seeking remedies to counteract the unintended side effect of their newly slimmed-down physiques.

To combat the effects of Ozempic Mouth, many are turning to dermal fillers — injectable treatments that restore volume, reduce wrinkles, and add subtle plumpness to the skin. According to experts, filler procedures have tripled in the U.S. in the past decade, with 5.3 million performed in 2023 alone, up from 1.8 million in 2010.

Fillers can smooth the appearance of wrinkles and add fullness back to areas like the lips, nasolabial folds, and chin but these fixes don’t come cheap — with treatments ranging from $700 to $2,000 per syringe, depending on the provider and location.

Another alternative growing in popularity is Thermage, a non-invasive radiofrequency treatment that tightens the skin by stimulating collagen production. While not immediate, the results typically become visible in four to six months and can last up to two years.

Thermage works best when used as a preventative, ideally, people on Ozempic should start the treatment early in their weight-loss journey to minimize skin laxity.

Other Strange Ozempic Side Effects

“Ozempic Mouth” is just one of several strange new phenomena reported with GLP-1 medications. The broader term “Ozempic Face” describes the sunken appearance seen in the cheeks, under eyes, and temples — and now “Ozempic Feet” and “Ozempic Butt” are entering the lexicon.

Ozempic Feet refers to skin laxity and thinning skin on the tops of the feet, sometimes making bones more pronounced and shoes uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Ozempic Butt describes the sudden disappearance of fat from the buttocks, leaving some users self-conscious about their drastically altered silhouettes.

"I can feel every bone in my backside now,” one user confessed on a social forum, echoing a growing concern among rapid weight-loss patients.

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic have revolutionized weight-loss treatment, giving hope to many struggling with obesity and related health conditions but as the aesthetic consequences of these medications become more visible, especially among public figures, experts are urging caution.

This is a medical therapy — not a beauty shortcut, warn experts. Rapid weight loss always has a physical cost. Understanding how it affects your body, especially your face, is key to setting realistic expectations.

As with any medical intervention, the decision to start a GLP-1 drug should be made in consultation with a licensed healthcare provider — with full knowledge of both the benefits and the very real, sometimes bizarre, side effects.

Washroom visits do not raise big alarms for people, sometimes it may feel like you are urinating a lot or not urinating enough. However, frequent bathroom visits can be a big issue. While you may believe that your bathroom visits have been caused by too much fluid intake, it could be due to your high blood sugar levels. According to Mayo clinic, if you are having symptoms like being very thirsty, frequent urination, fatigue, blurry vision and unexpected weight loss can be a sign of diabetes.

Testing for diabetes is also important for anyone experiencing early symptoms of the condition. However, these symptoms can be subtle and develop gradually, meaning people may have type 2 diabetes for several years before receiving a diagnosis.

Many individuals live with diabetes without realizing it. Because of this, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends routine diabetes screening for most adults starting at age 35. For those who are overweight and have additional risk factors for prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, the ADA advises earlier screening.

How Frequent Urination Is A Sign Of High Blood Sugar

The Mayo Clinic explains that experiencing greater thirst and needing to urinate more often are common indicators of diabetes. In individuals with diabetes, excess blood sugar, also known as glucose, builds up in the bloodstream. This forces the kidneys to work harder to filter and absorb the extra glucose.

When the kidneys can't keep up with this overload, the excess sugar is excreted into the urine. This process draws fluids from the body's tissues, leading to dehydration and a sensation of intense thirst. Consequently, drinking more fluids to satisfy this thirst results in even more frequent urination.

How Your Body Reacts To Excess Insulin

Diabetes.co.uk explains that normally, the kidneys can filter and reabsorb glucose from the blood. Frequent urination due to high blood sugar levels is also known as polyuria. It is a key indicator of diabetes mellitus, which is a condition that affects kidneys and hormones that interact with them. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreas, impairing its ability to produce insulin. In type 2 diabetes, the body may develop insulin resistance, where it no longer responds effectively to insulin, causing blood glucose levels to rise.

Normally, the kidneys filter blood to produce urine and reabsorb all the sugar, returning it to the bloodstream. However, in diabetes, blood sugar levels are abnormally high. The kidneys can't reabsorb all this sugar, so some of the excess glucose ends up in the urine, drawing extra water along with it. This leads to increased urine production.

Polyuria can be a symptom of undiagnosed diabetes. It can also occur in people already diagnosed with diabetes if their blood glucose levels become too high. When blood sugar levels are excessively high, the body tries to get rid of the extra glucose through the kidneys. This process also causes the kidneys to filter out more water, resulting in the need to urinate more frequently. Keeping this in mind, if you are also experiencing frequent urges to urinate, reach out to a healthcare professional for help.

Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby's lip or mouth do not form properly. As per the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the lip forms between the fourth and seventh weeks of pregnancy. During development, body tissue and cells from each side of the head grow towards the center of the face. They join together to form facial features like the lips and mouth.

So, How Does Cleft Lip Happen?

A cleft lip happens if the tissue making up the upper lip does not join completely before birth, leaving an opening. The opening can be small, or it can go through the lip into the nose. A cleft lip can be on one or both sides of the lip. It can also be in the middle of the lip. Children with a cleft lift can also have a cleft palate.

A cleft palate happens if the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth, which is the palate does not join together. It could be the front and back part of the palate which remains open, or partially either of them remain open.

Together, these birth defects are called orofacial clefts.

To know more about this condition and whether it is necessary to get it fixed surgically, we spoke to Dr Niranjan Kumar, Consultant, Plastic Surgeon, and Vice-Chancellor of SDM University.

Is Surgery Necessary?

Dr Kumar pointed out that if cleft lip or cleft palate is not fixed through surgery, then it could lead to problems in feeding, leading to nutritional deficiencies and growth retardation. There will also be a delayed in speech, delayed eruption and malocclusion of teeth. It could also lead to recurrent chest infections, frequent middle ear infections and then lead to defective hearing.

" If neglected, this defect adversely affects the social life of child due to the inferiority complex associated with the appearance and defective speech. This leads to the retardation of the child's overall personality development," said Dr Kumar.

SDM Craniofacial surgery and Research Center has also started its own program in collaboration with Dharwad and The Smile Train, New York, USA of free treatment to fix these conditions in children.

Dr Kumar pointed out that in India, this happens to 1 on average of 550 live births. This means that there are more than 10 lakhs cleft children in the country.

What Causes It?

"There are no definite causes for cleft deformity. But, genetic factors and changes in the fetal environment have been implicated as possible causes. Illness during the pregnancy, nutritional deficiencies, ingestion of harmful medications and exposure to contagious diseases during pregnancy may also be the contributing factors," the doctor explained.

Available Treatments

Dr Kumar points out that affected children if treated at early age, have a better chance of leading a normal life like any other normal children.

"Surgical treatment is the only solution. The surgery for cleft lip and palate can be performed from 6 months of age. However, it depends on the growth and development of the child at that particular age. For the effective treatment of the defect, it may require 2 to 3 surgeries and this depends on the severity of the defect," he explained.

Steps to be followed by the parents of a child with cleft lip and palate deformity: When a child is born with a defect, the parents should not get disheartened. They should consult the concerned doctors and follow their instructions. As far as possible breast feeding should be encouraged.

Being on flights can make some people nervous. As the plane gains momentum and speeds off the ground, some people feel an unexplained pressure in their stomach. The phrase ‘butterflies in stomach’ perfectly summarizes this feeling, as it is a mixture of excitement and anxiety. However, going through the entire flight with built-up gas and the bloated feeling can be one of the most uncomfortable experiences.

Why Do Flights Cause Bloating?

Airlines often caution people about how changes in cabin pressure during takeoff and landing on long-haul flights can lead to health problems. The air pressure inside the cabin is lower than at sea level. As the cabin pressure decreases during flight, gases in the body expand, which can cause pressure and bloating in the stomach and digestive system. Bloating often occurs when food isn't properly digested, leading to gas production by bacteria in the intestines. They echoed the advice to eat light, probiotic foods before flying and avoid gas-producing foods and carbonated drinks during travel.

Tips To Avoid Bloating

The best way to find lasting relief from bloating depends on what's causing it. Sometimes, getting a professional diagnosis is necessary to understand the underlying issue. However, if you're looking for home remedies to ease bloating today or prevent it tomorrow, here are some options you can try. According to the Cleveland Clinic,

Peppermint, Chamomile, Ginger, Turmeric, and Fennel Teas: These can aid digestion and help your body process gas more effectively.

Dandelion Tea: This tea may help reduce water retention, which can contribute to bloating.

Regular Exercise with Core Strengthening: Focusing on exercises that strengthen your core muscles can help improve digestive function and reduce abdominal bloating over time.

Should You Avoid Certain Foods Before Flight?

To help avoid gas problems and have a more comfortable flight, avoid certain things. Expert explains that the day before you fly, have a meal with seasonal vegetables. These foods contain fiber and help you avoid any gas build up on the day of the flight.

On the morning of your flight, make sure you do things like drink warm lemon water, avoid caffeine or choose herbal tea and limit carbohydrates. Doing things like walking around the airport while waiting, using the bathroom before boarding and avoiding oily and salty foods during the flight also helps.

Some other things you should do is to not eat things like fruits, legumes, and vegetables, or dairy products because they can contribute to bloating. Try only consuming non-alcoholic and non-carbonated drinks.

To avoid feeling anxious and stressed during the flight, move around the cabin every two hours on long flights, keep doctor-approved pills for digestive issues and consult a doctor if you have significant discomfort before or after flying.