Botched beauty

More and more women want to look younger and more attractive. So they're heading to medical spas; places where you can get facials and massages, and some minor cosmetic procedures. But some women are leaving these medspas anything but beautiful. 7Healthcast reporter Dr. Deanna Lites has more.

The pictures tell a terrible story.

Women who've gone in for minor cosmetic procedures and who've left with major and sometimes irreversible damage...

Dr. Min Ahn says, "I've seen superficial burns, and deeper burns from chemical injury."

Dr. Ahn is a facial plastic surgeon at Aesthetic Wellness Center in Worcester. He's treated many patients after their beauty treatments went bad, including Wendy Bergeron of Worcester. She wanted fuller lips so she went to a medical spa for restylane shots.

She says, "It was uneven. There were a lot of lumps."

And Wendy says her injections were performed by a registered nurse, not a doctor.

Dr. Ahn says, "In the state of Massachusetts, only physicians are allowed to perform filler treatments such as the use of restylane for lips and wrinkles."

Beth Brooks of Holden says, "It's supposed to be relaxing and a nice soothing treatment."

But that wasn't the case. She went to a traditional spa for a hot stone massage. But she says she ended up with these second and third degree burns on her back because the stones were way too hot.

Beth says, "Immediately after there were about 6 red welts on my back."

Two weeks later her back still isn't quite healed, and Beth is taking antibiotics to fight off infection.
"I wish I would just have spoke up," says Beth.

Beth also wishes she would have checked the massage therapist's credentials. That's something Dr. Ahn says is even more important when you're going to a medspa for a medical treatment. He recommends asking a few simple questions. "Is there a physician on site...is that physician board certified, and who is performing the procedure?" he says.

A mistake that Wendy won't make again.

It's important to remember that when it comes to medical spas regulations vary from state to state.

And before you get that chemical peel or botox injection find out if the spa has a medical professional on call after hours in case you run into a problem.