The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS) released results from a consumer survey asking 1,000 women about medical spas. Findings revealed that millennials (those born between 1976 and 2001) are the primary customers of these facilities. Yet half of those women are compromising their safety by visiting a nonphysician-supervised medspa facility. Women ages 18–34 were more than three times as likely as women ages 35–64 to undergo a noninvasive cosmetic procedure such as BOTOX^® at a medical spa.

Conversely, from 2002 to 2007, the mean age of patients seeking the top ten most-performed invasive procedures increased by two years, making the baby boomers the driving force of liposuction and facelifts. AACS President Steven Hopping, MD, FACS, commented that the younger the patients, the more likely they are to visit a medical spa to undergo a noninvasive procedure such as BOTOX.

The survey confirms that younger patients are less vigilant about safety at a medical spa. Two-thirds of those surveyed indicated that they would hope to be treated by a physician when visiting a medical spa. However, among women who had an opinion, more than half (52.3%) indicated they would be comfortable if the physician were not present during a noninvasive cosmetic procedure performed at a medspa.

"This consumer survey is a chance to once again emphasize the importance of patient safety, and to educate the public on these facilities," said Dr. Hopping. "There are good and bad medspas out there and we want the public to be aware, ask questions and always make sure there is a qualified physician doing the procedure. If not, don't have it done."

THE SKINMEDISPA, as part of the North Shore Center for Facial Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery, earned the prestigious AAAHC accreditation. All procedures in the medical spa are performed by a qualified medical esthetician under Dr. Geroulis’s supervision. “It is not that the physician sits on some remote board as a symbolic figure or, as with many medical spas, is not even involved in any aspect of daily patient care. There is a physician physically on the premises at all times, so patients with a question or concern can see the doctor immediately. Furthermore, all dermal injections such as BOTOX, Restylane^® and Radiesse^® procedures have always and will always be administered solely by a qualified physician.

THE SKINMEDISPA prides itself on adhering to the strictest patient safety regulations set by national standards, one reason the center has consistently been awarded and recognized for its high standards of quality control.

Source: Medical News Today, June 25, 2008