While Ashley Judd is busily writing about AIDS, proffering bracketing tips and promoting her new TV series, "Missing," the celebrity's reps and gossip mags are in a heated debate as to what's going on with her weirdly puffy face.
RadarOnline.com threw out the first salvo with a March 13 story that declared the actress's newly chubby cheeks were caused by some type of over-the-top plastic surgery. One of Judd's representatives quickly countered with an alternative explanation. The actress has been "battling an ongoing, serious sinus infection and flu," they told E! News.
Medication, they claimed, had caused the facial puffiness.
Dr. Vincent Chan, a Seattle ear, nose and throat doctor specializing in sinus disease, says steroids (commonly used for sinus infections) can cause puffiness, but only when used long term.
"Generally, when steroids are given for sinus infection, they're given for 10 days to two weeks," he says. "Usually those types of regimens - steroids for sinusitis - don't cause that sort of problem."
Chan says that when he prescribes steroids such as prednisone to his patients for sinusitis, he never counsels them about possible facial puffiness.
"It takes several weeks to a month to get that kind of puffiness," he says. "And it will be accompanied by generalized water retention. You'll be puffy everywhere."
As it happens, though, Judd has talked (well, tweeted) about her sinus infection -- and the weight gain she's suffered, thanks to the steroids her doctors are using to treat it.
"Steroids r dramatic," the actress tweeted to a fan who'd written Judd about her own prednisone-related weight gain. "My clothes don't fit right, hard on a girl's self esteem, so lots of positive self talk & love."
Other sinus-related tweets from Judd talk about how long the infection's been around (three weeks) and how she's had "2 rounds" of the drugs.
According to plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn, Judd's explanation regarding her puffy puss could certainly be true.
"If she says she started taking [steroids] five days ago and that's why she's puffy, that doesn't sound likely," he says. "But if she says 'I've been on steroids [for a while] and gained weight, I think that's a very reasonable explanation."
Youn says if it's not steroid use, his best guess would be that Judd is suffering from something he and his plastic surgery colleagues call "pillow face."
"There's a new trend in plastic surgery in Hollywood to over-plump people's faces," he says. "If it's not steroids, my guess would be that Ashley Judd has plumped her cheeks with Sculptra injections, which have caused her to have a pillow face and caused her cheeks to look almost chipmunk-like."
Youn quickly adds that the steroid story could also be true.
"It's possible either way," he says. "My feeling is that obviously it looks like she has a pillow face, not a steroid face. But her story definitely has some potential credibility to it."
As for Judd's fans, most don't seem to care about the facial filler rumors circulating the web one whit.
"Ashley Judd is still the sexiest woman in Hollywood," tweeted one.
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Photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg/Getty Images. If this all feels like deja vu, that’s because something similar happened in 2012. In an article in the Daily Beast, Judd wrote about media outlets speculating that she’d undergone plastic surgery. “When I am sick for more than a month and on medication (multiple rounds of steroids), the accusation is that because my face looks puffy, I have ‘clearly had work done,’ with otherwise credible reporters with great bravo ‘identifying’ precisely the procedures I allegedly have had done,” she wrote at the time. “The conversation was pointedly nasty, gendered, and misogynistic and embodies what all girls and women in our culture, to a greater or lesser degree, endure every day, in ways both outrageous and subtle,” Judd added. Plenty of folks retweeted the Daily Beast op-ed in response to the negative comments under Warren’s video. Then people began posting comparison photos of their faces when they are and aren’t taking a corticosteroid drug, using the hashtag #Prednisone. “Since #prednisone is trending, I thought I’d share how much my face swells when I’m on it,” one user wrote. “I truly believe that it saved my life back when my #IBD [inflammatory bowel disease] almost killed me. It’s a miracle drug, yet has horrible side effects! Pls be kind & empathetic to those who are going through this.” Another user wrote: “I guess it’s as good a time as any to talk about my chronic illness. Yes, #prednisone took my face from the way it looked in the first picture to the way it looked in the second.”
Prednisone — and drugs like it — are used to treat many conditions, including rashes, lupus, and asthma, according to the Mayo Clinic. Common side effects including fluid retention that can cause swelling, and weight gain in the face, abdomen, and the back of your neck.
Judd hasn't yet addressed the most recent comments about her appearance. Refinery29 has reached out for comment.
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Ashley Judd’s weight gain is trending on the internet as questions like ‘did Ashley Judd gain weight’ have become commonplace. People have been speculating that since they observed the actress’ face looked swollen and puffier-than-normal in recent appearances. Ashley Judd didn’t respond to those comments but had previously revealed that she had experienced unfun weight gain because of the side effect of a medication she was taking for siege migraine, and her puffy face was also due to this.
Ashley Judd is an American actress and political activist who is recognized for starring in several critical as well as commercially hit films such as Ruby in Paradise, Heat, Norma Jean & Marilyn, A Time to Kill, Double Jeopardy, Frida, High Crimes, De-Lovely, Twisted, Olympus Has Fallen, Divergent, and A Dog’s Way Home. She is related to the Judds, the country music duo; daughter of Naomi Judd, and half-sister of Wynonna Judd.
The Golden Globe-nominated American star is also known for her philanthropic activities. As her acting career has spanned more than three decades, she has also become increasingly involved in global humanitarian efforts and political activism.
But currently, it’s not her career or activism that she is in the spotlight for. It is because of Ashley Judd’s weight gain speculations that she is on lots of minds. So, is it true that she gained weight? Let’s find out!
Previously, we touched on the weight gain stories of Jazz Jennings and Rob Kardashian.
Ashley Judd’s Weight Gain: Has The Actress Already Started Working for Weight Loss?
So, did Ashley Judd gain weight? Questions like that regarding Ashley Judd’s (@ashley_judd) appearance were trending on the internet after her latest public appearance, which was at an event for a memorial service in honor of her recently deceased mother the country legend Naomi Judd, that aired on CMT.
Ashley took a few moments to share a few words in tribute to her mother with the crowd gathered at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, during which it seems that people didn’t take notice of her words, but instead, her appearance and how her face looked swollen because sure enough, most of them are asking did Ashley Judd gain weight.
This is not the first time, remember how Ashley Judd’s plastic surgery was trending after her less recent appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame when her mother’s name was being inducted for her contribution to country music as a tribute. So, like mother, like daughter in that like Noami Judd had been unable to escape the speculations of plastic surgery, Ashley couldn’t either. In fact, now Ashley is targeted with speculations of weight gain as if being targeted with rumors of plastic surgery were not enough. That seems to be more about people than them, but still.
Anyway, the actress hasn’t bothered to address these speculations and the curiosity of the people. But a similar thing had happened in the past which she had responded to when she revealed the reason for her weight gain. Circumstances had not been the best for her because Ashley Judd’s weight gain was trending then as well, and she spoke out because she was tired of being criticized for her physical appearance, more specifically, her face, which many people said was bloated and all puffed up.
Ashley Judd had just made an appearance in a campaign video for Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Elizabeth Warren to support her when she gained a lot of traction and hatred for the way she looked. The politics of it was lost with the accusations of plastic surgery and weight gain amidst the sea of comments like falling victim to a bad bee-sting, and not being able to resist that Snickers bar.
In response to those uncalled-for disgusting comments on her appearance, the 54-year-old who was all too familiar with activism (she is also known for her activism with the #Metoo movement), wrote a lengthy op-ed and shared it on Facebook. And it was then that the public came to know the reason for her weight gain.
In the post, Ashley Judd revealed that she had been suffering from siege migraines, an ailment of which standard treatment is Botox. So, she had been receiving 31 injections every twelve weeks paid for by her union insurance. That had certainly changed the way she looks. But along with that, it had also caused weight gain. As she wrote and I quote,
Earlier this year, my neurologist pain specialist banned me from anything but mild walking exercise. My last siege migraine lasted a grueling four and a half months. Along with medication, and the inevitable laziness that gathers around forced inertia, I have experienced some un-fun weight gain.
So, I guess the answer to the question ‘did Ashley Judd gain weight’ is: yes, she definitely did. The ‘puffy‘ and ‘bloated’ face that people so hate in spite of the fact that they are not affected by it in any way, is due to Botox and weight gain which is the side effect of the medication.
Back in 2012 as well, Ashley Judd was speculated of having fillers after she made an appearance on a Canadian talk show to promote her new television series Missing. People believed that the reason for her puffier-than-normal face was injectable fillers.
But that turned out to be a side effect of medication as well because as her rep revealed, she had been on a heavy dose of medication she had been taking as she was battling an ongoing, serious sinus infection and flu. She had also been taking prednisone which is known to cause a bit of weight gain, especially on the face.
Anyway, Ashley Judd has been working to reverse the side effects that is the weight gain. In that Facebook post, she also shared that,
Just recently, my doctor gave me medical clearance to return to exercise. It has been joyful to resume running, yoga, and vigorous hiking, and I am already benefiting from everything that comes with movement. I’ve made a date with my favorite half-marathon in early June.
After knowing all this, maybe people will kindly stop comparing her pictures of the past pre-weight gain with her pictures, especially her face of now.
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