Can wegovy / ozempic / mounjaro get rid of cellulite?

Ozempic and cellulite

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• Can ozempic, mounjaro or wegovy be anti-cellulite drugs?

• BTW, a full list of all current GLP-1 receptor agonist medications

• Ozempic, wegovy and mounjaro can improve some, but not all, aspects of cellulite

• Mounjaro, ozempic and wegovy lead to the appearance of skin looseness

• Ozempic, wegovy and mounjaro can worsen or improve cellulite, depending on pre-existing skin firmness

• Can ozempic, mounjaro wegovy et al reduce lipoedema?

• Check our professional consultancy in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

Can ozempic, mounjaro or wegovy be anti-cellulite drugs?

Wegovy, the stronger version of the drug semaglutide, has recently been approved in the UK.

Semaglutide injections, in the form of ozempic, are prescribed for diabetes, while in the form of wegovy they are prescribed for obesity.

Both drugs have led to serious weight loss, at least in the cases where its sometimes severe side effects did not inhibit their use.

The recently approved mounjaro, the commercial name for the drug tirzepatide, acts in similar ways and is purported to be even more effective for the treatment of diabetes and weight loss.

As fat is the most important aspect of cellulite, the obvious question is: can ozempic/wegovy/mounjaro also be an anti-cellulite drug?

BTW, a full list of all current GLP-1 receptor agonist medications:

At the time of writing this article, the following GLP-1 agonists are available, with several to follow in the next few years:

• Semaglutide (wegovy, ozempic, rybelsus)

• Tirzepatide (mounjaro)

• Liraglutide (saxenda, victoza)

• Exenatide (byetta)

• Dulaglutide (trulicity)

• Lixisenatide (adlyxin)

Ozempic, wegovy and mounjaro can improve some, but not all, aspects of cellulite

Cellulite is an aesthetic condition comprising:

1. Hypodermal fat accumulation

2. Skin laxity

3. Water retention

4. Fibrosis

5. Chronic, low grade inflammation

6. Glycation

7. Oxidative damage

A fat loss medication can only affect the first aspect of cellulite, fat accumulation.

Indirectly, perhaps ozempic and wegovy can potentially affect other factors, due to the reduced chronic low grade inflammation, glycation and free radical damage in the body, all of which are to some extent caused by obesity and insulin resistance.

However, the already very established skin laxity and fibrosis that accompany cellulite cannot be removed by a mere weight loss drug.

Specialised treatments such as deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, high-power ultrasound cavitation (and, to a lesser extent, strong-cellulite-specific massage) are necessary to address loose skin and fibrosis, in addition to fat reduction and circulation enhancement.

Plus a concentrated cellulite cream, to affect oxidative damage, low grade fat tissue inflammation and all other aspects of cellulite.

So it can be said that mounjaro, ozempic and wegovy (and all future versions and clones of semaglutide that are about to appear in the pharmaceutical market soon) may help somewhat with cellulite reduction, but not a lot.

Mounjaro, ozempic and wegovy lead to the appearance of skin looseness

In fact, wegovy, mounjaro and ozempic can lead to the appearance of loose, saggy skin, due to the removal of excess fat volume, which before weight loss used to keep the excess skin taut.

Furthermore, sudden weight loss due to those drugs also leads to skin and muscle loss, further leading to saggy buttocks and loose skin in other parts of the body.

People already have created new phrases such as ‘ozempic butt’, to denote a saggy bottom after the removal of fat on that area, and ‘ozempic face’, to describe saggy cheeks and jowl, after the removal of fat on the face.

Ozempic, wegovy and mounjaro can worsen or improve cellulite, depending on pre-existing skin firmness

So semaglutide/tirzepatide and other GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs may help with the fat accumulation component of cellulite but actually it makes the skin laxity component of cellulite worse.

The end result of the increased skin laxity could be:

• Either worsened cellulite appearance for people with naturally loose skin (the majority of cellulite cases)

• Or improved cellulite appearance for people with naturally firm skin (the minority of cellulite cases)

So the final answer to the question whether ozempic/mounjaro/wegovy could reduce cellulite is:

It depends on pre-existing skin laxity and in the other components of cellulite. If you already have loose skin, those drugs will make your cellulite worse. If you have firm skin, most probably your cellulite will be better after taking those medications - with nothing of course being set in stone.

The only certain this is that tirzepatide or semaglutide cannot “get rid of” cellulite, especially given that this drug is prescribed on heavily overweight or obese individuals who already have quite progressed - even severe - cellulite.

And as we mentioned multiple times on this blog, progressed/severe cellulite - and in fact even moderate cellulite - can never be eliminated, with any method of any kind.

However, it can be reduced considerably, and that is the point of anti-cellulite treatments and creams.

Can ozempic, mounjaro wegovy et al reduce lipoedema?

That’s a good question millions of lipedema sufferers are asking: if GLP-1 agonists can help you lose fat, can they also help you lose lipedema fat?

Unfortunately the answer seems to be “no”.

Lipedema is a special type of inflamed adipose tissue that does not respond very well to literally anything other than lipedema liposuction surgery - quite often several rounds of it.

As GLP-1 agonists can help reduce inflammation and consequent pain (two side effects of extreme adiposity and of lipedema), ozempic, wegovy, mounjaro etc can be helpful in that way.

However, lipedema sufferers report that GLP-1 agonists do not seem to reduce lipedema fat on the arms and legs and that there is no point postponing surgery while waiting to see what is going to happen with GLP-1 agonist treatment, because it just doesn’t really help much.

(Of course, this is just an informational article and does not comprise medical advice. For medical advice, always consult your doctor.)

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