‘Ozempic Finger’ And ‘Wegovy Butt’: Two New Names For Weight Loss Effects
Let’s face it. “Ozempic face” wasn’t going to be the only possible effect of rapid weight loss from taking semaglutide, which is a component of Ozempic the medication marketed by Novo Nordisk for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The bottom line is that your butt may be affected as well as other parts of your body such as your fingers and wrists. That’s because the big “but” with taking Ozempic injections for weight loss is that you can’t really control where exactly you may lose body fat and weight. As a result, people have been combining the medication’s name and various parts of your body to form names such as “Ozempic butt” and “Ozempic finger.”
Yep, various Ozmepic terms have been trending for a while after key results from a Phase III randomized clinical trial emerged. These results showed that once-weekly subcutaneous injections of semaglutide along with lifestyle modifications led to an average 14.9% loss in body weight. That was significantly higher than the average 2.4% loss among those taking a placebo combined with lifestyle modifications, as described in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2021 and Nature Medicine in 2022. Such findings put a lot of weight behind the use of semaglutide for weight loss.
Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus are three different medications that contain semaglutide. They are different in various ways, including their dosages, delivery devices, and most importantly their U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved indications. While Ozempic and Rybelsus have received approval from the FDA for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, only Wegovy has received FDA approval for chronic weight management in adults. So when Ozempic or Rybelsus are used for weight loss rather than diabetes management, that use is occurring off-label.
Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. Semaglutide can stimulate your pancreas to produce more insulin, which in turn can lower blood sugar levels. But one key weighty action of semaglutide is that it can also make you feel full of it, so to speak. It may delay the rate at which food leaves your stomach so that you feel fuller and thus end up consuming fewer calories. It could potentially suppress your appetite in other ways. All of this can lead to fat and weight loss, potentially very rapid fat and weight loss.
Some of that fat loss can occur in your face, leading to a gaunt, hollowed-out, and aged appearance with sagging, wrinkled skin that’s earned the unofficial term “Ozempic face” on social media. It may be difficult to prevent such a possibility unless you were to separate your face from the rest of your body, which would bring other problems. Some have recommended reducing the dosage of semaglutide, which may reduce the amount of fat and weight loss that you experience in general. Drinking more water and increasing your protein intake could help. Of course, there are always dermatological fillers and various types of cosmetic surgery. But that’s a whole other ball of wax.
In hindsight, another possible effect of rapid weight loss is what’s been deemed “Wegovy Butt” and “Ozempic Butt.” It’s where your butt looks deflated and looser. Not in an emotional or moral way but in a physical appearance way. This can be deflating emotionally if you like big butts and cannot lie. In general, such rapid weight loss can throw you a curve ball of sorts by making you lose some of your curves. Again, this can occur with any type of rapid weight loss and is not specific to Wegovy or Ozempic. That’s why the labels for these medications do not say, “May cause butt loss.”
