Botox-To-Go. Really?

It's a little bit funny - I was just chatting with a patient this afternoon about how crazy it is that there are folks out there who will let anyone touch their faces. And we weren't talking about your monthly facial or whatnot; we were talking about injecting Botox.

As my patient put it, gesticulating wildly about her face, "There is an awful lot of stuff I like going on here!" We agreed - we wouldn't let just anyone even begin to approach our precious faces with a needle and neurotoxin in their hands.

Which is why I was amazed by this news article, which landed in my inbox this afternoon. A piece in the online version of the Tampa Tribune, it describes taking cosmetic enterprise to a whole new level, almost like Botox-To-Go. A company envisioning bustling storefronts in busy shopping malls is set to capitalize on shoppers who happen to wander by and decide to pop in for a little Botox on a whim. One location is already doing business, "tucked between a Chico's and, yes, a LensCrafters."

If that doesn't make you squeamish, maybe this will do it: "Licensed technicians" will be performing your medical procedure.

Seriously? Will they do my mani/pedi when they're done injecting my Botox?

It is absolutely serious. Botox Cosmetic (and its counterpart, Dysport) is a neurotoxin, a FDA regulated medication, and despite so many attempts to downplay it, injection is a medical procedure that is not suitable for everyone who walks through the door.

No offense to the many talented nail technicians out there, but I definitely want someone who knows what they're doing if they're putting a needle to my face. I want someone with solid medical training, like a nurse or a doctor. And when push comes to shove, I want someone who is intimately familiar with every intricacy of facial anatomy and what Botox can do to it - like a surgeon who has been inside the face and understands what's going on.

And so does my patient.