Fat-melting injections are under the scrutiny of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA wants patients to know that  Lipodissolve injections have not been proven safe or effective.

Basically  Lipodissolve injections are popular because they are offered as an alternative to cosmetic surgery to remove fat from the body. So instead of liposuction, Lipodissolve injections are "supposed to be" dissolving small fat deposits around the stomach and also around the arms and legs. But the FDA hasn't cleared these lipodissolve injections yet and so their safety and effectiveness cannot be proven.

The agency issued warning letters to a half-dozen spas that offer the injections, citing them for making unsubstantiated claims about lipodissolve therapy. All spas that are marketing and selling this treatment have been warned by the FDA to stop claiming these benefits.

FDA reports that patients who've gone through these treatments have complained about scarring and skin deformations.

Moral of this story is that patients need to be very careful when evaluating cosmetic procedures. Patients should also always, always, always choose board certified doctors for any cosmetic procedure they are considering. Also beauty spas are not medical facilities and may not always have a board certified physician on staff. To ensure proper care during and post-procedure, be sure to visit a qualified cosmetic surgeon. You'll be glad you did.

A botched butt augmentation surgery in Queens, New York highlights the growing epidemic of unsafe procedures done by unqualified individuals.

The news article reported that an individual who went to a Queens spa to get a butt augmentation procedure done developed infections and almost died from the procedure.

Any invasive cosmetic surgery is dangerous. But when a cosmetic surgery procedure is done in a sterile office with a board certified surgeon, the risks are minimized or managed. A plastic surgery procedure has to be done meticulously to ensure successful results and also to prevent surgeries. Most spas are not staffed with certified, medical doctors who may not understand how to properly do a procedure.  Also, most surgeries, even the simple ones, require good post-op care. Most salons and spas are just not equipped to do so.

So beware of the dangers of going to a spa to get a cosmetic procedure done. Are the cost savings (if any) really worth putting your life in danger?

Cosmetic treatments to enhance beauty may seem attractive but here's a story that is really worth mentioning because it highlights the need for due diligence when looking into any cosmetic procedure or treatment. It is critical that people be aware of treatments or procedures that can harm them.

There are two websites that are selling lipodissolve treatments. These web sites are zipmed.net and mesoone.com.The FDA has issued a warning to the Brazilian company selling these products through these websites because the treatments contain phosphatidylcholine, or PC, and sodium dioxycholate, or DC. The FDA warns that although these chemicals naturally occur in a human body, they are not safe. That's because they are not meant to be extracted and mixed with other ingredients.

The main purpose of this blog is to convey to our patients one message and one message only:

Be careful when considering ANY cosmetic procedure and always consult with trained, board-certified cosmetic physicians to make sure that you receive treatments which are safe and closely supervised.

The April issue of the Journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery had a very scary study. About 1876 cosmetic practitioners from the San Diego to the Los Angeles area were examined and it was found that less than 500 of them were actually trained in plastic surgery.

It appears that primary care physicians were the ones who provided the most liposuction treatments but even dermatologists and otolaryngologists provided those treatments. That's mind-boggling.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons warns that by going to non-cosmetic surgeons for services such as liposuction and filler injections, patients expose themselves to a greater risk. That's because on-cosmetic surgeons are not trained to perform these procedures. Botox may not seem as scary but getting liposuction from a primary care is definitely scary.

To improve patient safety perhaps there's need for legislation to prevent non-trained practitioners from performing these surgeries. But what's most important is that there appears to be an ongoing need for education which will make sure that patients have all the facts before they make any decisions that put themselves at risk.