Once ubiquitous only in Chinatown, minor surgical procedures are now popping up in popular “medical spas” all around town. Offering minimally invasive treatments like laser hair removal and Botox are amongst the package places like Tribeca Med Spa offer to keep up with customer demand. Most city med spas do indeed have M.D.’s on staff to perform medical treatments, but currently no regulative legislation exists to ensure medical spas are keeping up to snuff - medically, legally and otherwise. After a fatal liposuction case at a medical spa in Florida last year caused concern across the country and indicated a need for stricter regulations. Proposed legislation aims to regulate who can own a medical spa, which procedures are allowed, the training and credentials the person performing those procedures must have, etc.

In New York City, reputable medical spas include Tribeca Med Spa, Sensitive Touch in Midtown East,  GemVie Medispa, and Cosmetic enhancement can include Mesotherapy, Lypodissolve, (which is a Level I liposuction technique), vein removal, Botox, Restylane and Juvaderm. Each of these medical spas offer consultation and treatment performed by the supervising M.D., but other medical spas in the area do not. Medical spas are attractive because they offer competitive price points for services that were once luxury options. While we haven’t personally been to the above medical spas, for what it’s worth Dr. Gerald Ginsberg, a cosmetic surgeon and medical director at Tribeca Med Spa was highlighted by the New York Times.

Our advice, as always, is to research, research, research because when you have a bad facial, the worse thing that happens is a little redness or an allergic reaction. When you have a botched Botox job, it’s going to look a little worse. We found a site called Medical Spa MD, which appears to be a blog for the medical spa community and might be a good start to research the inner-workings.
Emma Dinzebach

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