From nbc6.net

The lighting is tastefully dim, and the person treating you may suggest that you get a foot massage along with your Botox injection, laser hair removal or chemical peel. Welcome to the world of the med spa, a fast-growing industry that combines the pampering of a resort, with a host of cosmetic procedures that promise to leave you appealingly attractive, or looking younger than your years, as long as you’re willing to spend the money.

The business is so big it now has a trade group: the International Medical Spa Association, which reports almost a 1,000 percent increase in growth in just five years. In 2002, there were 25 medspas nationwide: by last year, more than 2,000 such outlets dotted the country. And now, Illinois regulators are closely scrutinizing the med spa industry, as some patients tell horror stories about getting treatment with barely any medical supervision. Chicagoan Steve Perez was impressed when he went to a Chicago medspa a few years ago, with plans to have laser hair removal.

“It was a very beautiful place, and everybody was wearing lab coats, and you just kind of felt really safe. I felt like I was in a doctor’s office, ” he said.

But when the procedure began, he immediately “noticed it was really hurting, the pain was just unbelievable.” “I noticed, like smoke coming off my chest you know and I asked her, ‘Is this OK?’ And she said, ‘It’s normal — that’s just your hair follicles.”

Perez continued, gritting his teeth against the pain, which lasted for a week. What stayed with him longer, was the scarring, which he’s now trying to repair by going to dermatologist Dr. Carolyn Jacob. Jacob said devices like lasers were “created for physicians, by physicians, and they should be used under the direction of a physician.” She recommends a dermatologist or plastic surgeon who is an expert in lasers, if you’re interested in such procedures.

But med spa owners, and even some doctors, believe that well trained and experienced aestheticians or laser technicians are perfectly competent. They are concerned about a proposed new rule in Illinois, which would require a doctor’s exam for every patient undergoing such cosmetic procedures and would also require that a doctor be present while treatment is in progress.

They say the proposed rule won’t guarantee a decrease in complication: it would only guarantee a huge increase in costs to patients. It’s poor training that leads to uneven results, and they believe that’s what really need scrutiny. Roslin Jerome says she never saw a doctor when she went in for laser hair removal. She counted on some pain as she prepared for the treatment, but she says she couldn’t believe how much it hurt. After paying more than $4,000, she endured it, even though she says, ” I could literally feel my skin burning.”

Several days later, she took pictures showing the blisters and burns up and down her legs — marks that she’s now having treated at the office of dermatologist Dr. Brooke Jackson.

Like many dermatologists, Jackson believes the problem with med spas is that “many of the places may be ill prepared to handle any kind of complication that may occur.” She’s among those who support the proposed new rule. Current Illinois regulations are vague about the medical director’s responsibilities, they call for someone with an medical degree to supervise the staff, but that can mean anything from regular visits, to phone calls from out of state. That leaves technicians and aestheticians at the helm, whether the procedure is routine or requires more medical knowledge. And that’s what the proposed rule aims to change.

But at Schaumburg’s Halo Spa Life, Heather Walker said her technicians have gone to school for these procedures, and had additional days of training for specific devices. She she said there have been no complications, although they’ve only been open a few months. In addition, regulators admit they have seen no increase in med spa complaints here in Illinois. They say they’re responding proactively, to a reported surge of complaints nationwide.

The American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, for example, recently polled its members and found that in the past two years, one in four of its doctors reported a substantial increase in complications with patients who went to non doctors first. For Jerome, it was a painful lesson learned. Even though she got her money back, she’s had to spend a lot of it for treatments to fix the problem. And now, as with state regulators, she believes it’s a case of better safe than sorry. “If there’s no doctor overseeing the treatment, don’t do it,” she says. As for the proposed rule, it will go through a period of public comment, and then it’s expected to go into effect later this summer.

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