A recent article in Allure.com interviewed a number of US board-certified plastic surgeons who shared their prediction of top cosmetic surgery trends of 2024.
‘Menopause makeovers’
Menopause, of course, is nothing new, but there is a growing uptick in women seeking to address physical changes associated with shifts in hormones. Just like breast and body surgery after pregnancy, there’s no one procedure specific to menopause, but a patient who has long entertained the idea of a breast reduction or lift, or a change of implants, or body surgery such as liposuction or abdominoplasty, may see it as an ideal time to investigate cosmetic surgery options.
‘I was incorrectly taught that as estrogen goes down, breasts tend to shrink a little bit,’ Dr Steven Teitelbaum, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, told Allure.com. ‘But instead, many women tend to put on a little bit of weight in the upper chest, in front of the armpit, and in the upper arms — there’s a thickening of the torso even in women who are continuing the same diet and exercise routines.’
‘More people were blaming it on themselves in the past. Now there’s much more recognition of, ‘Hey, nothing I can do about this in the gym.’
New facelift techniques emerging for ‘Ozempic face’
US plastic surgeons have reported an increase in patients seeking treatment for ‘Ozempic face’ and ‘Ozempic body’ – the loose, sagging skin caused by rapidly losing weight after taking Ozempic and Wegovy.
Semaglutide drugs themselves do not cause loose skin, but it can cause patients to lose weight faster than other forms of weight-loss methods, including bariatric surgery. There is also the risk of malnutrition while using the drug. It has been reported some patients have lost elasticity and collagen in the muscles of the face, which may be due to malnourishment.
New York plastic surgeon Dr Ryan Neinstein, who regularly treats patients seeking treatment for loose skin after bariatric surgery, told insider.com that he’s increasingly seeing people with the same issue, or ‘even stretchier, looser skin than bariatric patients’, after taking Ozempic – due to ‘muscle mass and fat decreasing so quickly’.
Perhaps even more interesting is that semaglutide drugs are seemingly changing the skin itself in unprecedented ways.
‘I have seen a number of patients for facelifts who are on Ozempic, and the way their tissue behaves is not the same,’ Dr Julius Few, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Chicago told Allure.com.
‘The skin has more of a doughy consistency, and I think it is going to dramatically change how we approach facelifts next year.’
He explains that this kind of change to the skin is not something he’s seen after rapid weight loss due to gastric bypass surgery, and for now he’s ameliorating it by reinforcing the skin during a facelift.
‘I’ve always done internal stitching to anchor the skin down to the lining of the muscle, but now I’m doing even more extensive work in that regard because I don’t trust that the skin is going to stay there,’ he explains. ‘I think that’s going to be a huge game-changer for plastic surgery in 2024.’
Dr Few, who does not advocate or prescribe Ozempic for weight loss in his own practice, added: ‘I met with a representative for one of the big three [pharmaceutical companies] that make aesthetic injectables, and he shared that the number one cosmetic treatment in the Midwest is Ozempic — more than the aesthetic injectables [like hyaluronic acid fillers].
‘It certainly has affected my world. I think there are going to be a lot more neck lifts and facelifts next year, because people are losing weight very quickly, and they’re losing 50 pounds; 50 pounds is a lot. Of course, you see it [as laxity] in your face.’
Patients don’t want ‘their breasts defining them’
Smaller breasts continue to dominate cosmetic breast surgery. According to ASPS, the number of breast reductions increased by 54% over the past 4 years, and smaller breast implant sizes are now the most requested.
‘Patients might say they want a more “athletic-looking” body, want to be able to go braless, or “want a small curve that’s more manageable – they don’t want their breasts defining them,’ Dr Few told Allure.com.
Breast lifts are on the rise, and have been one of top 5 cosmetic surgical procedures for the past 2 years, according to ASPS. (Previously, breast lifts never made the list.)
‘It’s typically the woman who has had children. The kids are getting ready to go to kindergarten or preschool, and they’re ready to have more ‘me time’,’ says Dr Few. ‘This is a patient who “100% would have said ‘I want to do an implant’ five years ago.’
Breast lifts are also being used to better fit how a patient views their body.
‘I have a lot of patients who come in now who want to be androgynous, and want a breast that is beautiful and can be very feminine, but could also be hidden when they want it to be,’ Dr Melissa Doft, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City, shared with Allure.com.
‘They’ll say, ‘Sometimes I like to feel more feminine, and sometimes I kind of want to hide my femininity.’ … ‘I did the reveal of taking off [a patient’s] bandages and she started crying and said, ‘I never thought my body could fit how I feel.’’
