Which Cosmetic Procedures are Safe, and Which Are Best Avoided?
People always ask me—whether in person, on my blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter—what the safest cosmetic procedures are. Here are my thoughts on some of the most common and popular cosmetic procedures, just in case you were considering any of them!
Botox, Liposuction, and Lasers: My Botox Warning
According to a recent U.S. review (published in Dermatologic Clinics), the following procedures are considered safe and effective:
- Injections of Botox to smooth wrinkles
- Liposuction to remove fat
- Lasers to treat broken blood vessels and rosacea
- Lasers to remove brown spots and hair
Revised June 8, 2012: Please note that after publishing this post, I received several comments from people who have been seriously harmed by laser treatments. Therefore, I’m adding a “red flag” here to warn customers—please do your research, check with your doctors, and be sure laser treatments are right and safe for you before moving forward, as side effects can be lasting and disfiguring. Also realize that laser treatments vary, depending on what outcome you’re looking for. Fractional laser resurfacing, in particular, which wasn’t mentioned in this review but was mentioned by our readers, may present particularly serious risks.
I have some cautions on Botox, however. Made from a bacteria that produces botulinum toxin, which is then processed and purified, Botox has a paralyzing effect on muscles, helping to smooth wrinkles.
The non-profit advocacy group “Public Citizen” petitioned the FDA in 2008 to increase its warnings and directly warn patients and doctors about the use of botulinum toxin—available as Botox and Myobloc—because of serious adverse reactions, including deaths. In some cases, the toxin spread to other parts of the body with serious consequences, such as paralysis or other muscles that can result in difficulty breathing and swallowing. Even Dr. Oz has warned about potentially unsafe practices.
If you decide to go ahead with Botox, make sure you check the doctor’s credentials, and ask for before and after pictures of his former patients. Verify his experience and make sure he’s qualified to perform the treatment—I would recommend a dermatologist. But remember that botox is a toxin. We’re already surrounded by so many potentially harmful chemicals. Do you really want to add more to your body? If you’re trying to reduce your overall toxic load, avoid this treatment.
Injectables: I Say Stay Away
Used to decrease the appearance of wrinkles and acne scars, injectables or facial fillers are another popular cosmetic procedure, as they don’t require surgery. Juvederm, Radiesse, Restylane, Sculptra, Captique, and more are all treatments in this category. This is another treatment I would recommend you avoid. Here’s why:
- They can cause skin reactions resembling a skin rash
- Some can cause “clumping” over time, which may be irreversible
- Over-correction can make one side of your face look different from the other
- These treatments are still relatively new—Juvederm was approved by the FDA in 2006, for example—which means that we don’t yet know how these injections will impact other health conditions like high blood pressure; we have no long-term studies
Sclerotherapy: Be Cautious
This treatment for varicose veins and spider veins has helped a lot of people to feel more comfortable and confident. Doctors inject a solution directly into the affected vein, and it causes the lining of the vessel to swell, stick together, and eventually turn to scar tissue that fades from view. This procedure has been safely used since the 1930s, but like all procedures, may cause complications.
Potential side effects from this treatment may include the following. Talk to your doctor about your risk:
- Some patients require repeated treatments before the veins fade sufficiently
- As a rare occurrence, dark patches of skin may appear across the treated area; this hyperpigmentation may be permanent
- There is a slight risk of deep vein thrombosis—in which a blood clot forms inside one of the deep veins, and may travel to the lungs or brain
- Allergic reactions to the injection may cause itching and swelling, but are rarely serious
Procedures That Appear to be Safe
Other than these three procedures—Botox, injectables and sclerotherapy—I feel that most other procedures are mostly safe. Here’s a quick run-down.
- Microcurrent facials: As long as you have an experienced technician, microcurrent facials, which use low currents of electricity to help tone and tighten skin, can be a safe way to upgrade your look.
- LED light therapy: Using infrared light, technicians re-energize aging and damaged skin by stimulating cellular renewal.
- Microdermabrasion: This exfoliating treatment use a minimally abrasive instrument to gently remove dead skin cells, treating light scarring, discoloration and sun damage. Though usually considered safe, if you have sensitive skin, skin struggling against cancer treatments or medications, or skin prone to broken blood vessels, this treatment isn’t for you
- Cool sculpting: This procedure works well for people looking to lose fat around the abdomen—you know, things like the muffin tops and love handles. A targeted cooling process kills the fat cells underneath the skin, freezing them to the point of elimination. All results so far give the green light on this procedure
- Spray tanning: Sunless tanning products use DHA, which is safe on the outside of the body, but you don’t want to inhale it—just be sure to use nose plugs and protective eyewear at the tanning salon, confirm the room is well ventilated, and choose organic versions when possible.
Bottom Line
No matter what procedure you may be considering, think first and foremost about your safety. Psychologist Vivian Diller, Ph.D., recommends you think about these four issues (SAFE):
- Safety: Do your research, find qualified people, make sure the procedure is FDA-approved, and make sure the professionals answer all your questions.
- Affordability: Make sure you understand the long-term costs—some procedures require more than one treatment to show results. Also realize that as you see improvement in one area or your face and/or body, you may be inclined to see more faults in others. Set limits before you begin to avoid falling into the financial trap of multiple procedures.
- For Whom: Who are you doing the procedure for? Make sure you’re not just following someone else’s suggestion. Findings show that surgical changes are most satisfying when they fulfill clear, personal goals. Think carefully about why you want to undergo the procedure.
- Expectations: Be realistic about the results you can expect. Before and after pictures may exaggerate the benefits, and if you’re wanting to feel better about yourself, cosmetic procedures aren’t necessarily the answer. Talk with your doctor and/or a trusted friends about your feelings before moving forward.
Have you gone through any of these procedures. What did you think of the results? Please share your experience.
Photo courtesy LaVida Massage Johns Creek via Flickr.com.
Sources
“Cosmetic Procedures Compared for Safety,” UPI.com, January 9, 2012, http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2012/01/09/Cosmetic-procedures-compared-for-safety/UPI-27861326160471/.
“Sclerotherapy,” Cleveland Clinic, November 2010, http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/vascular/sclerotherapy.aspx.
Vivian Diller, Ph.D., “Thinking About Cosmetic Procedures? Think S.A.F.E.,” Psychology Today, August 27, 2010, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/face-it/201008/thinking-about-cosmetic-procedures-think-safe.
LASERS ARE NOT SAFE! High heat applied to a face can have HORRIFIC consequences! FDA approved does NOT mean safe, far from it! There are thousands and thousands of MAUDE reports of people who have been severly harmed by cosmetic lasers. If anyone needs further info or links to the FDA’s maude reports, please message me.
Here is a link to read the experiences of many people harmed by laser: http://iplandlaserdamagesupport.prophpbb.com/forum14.html?sid=4330b6937fb46188f90c9c38b5287a35
Realself is also definitely worth checking out when researching.
I would highly dissuade anyone from having a cosmetic laser touch their face, however, if you decide to take the risk, PLEASE make sure they use the proper eye protection and that they fits snugly. Do not let the technician remove the goggles to treat around the eye area.
Laser Resurfacing is dangerous. Sadly what comes 1-3 years later is worse than even the bloody face pictures you’ve probably seen on google. Burned and degraded collagen, as well as necrotic fat and dermal tissue, add up to a prematurely aged face (via DNA damage) and diseased skin that can’t function as it once did. My face caved in (depressions and inversions) due to fat and tissue necrosis and collagen atrophy, ultimately resulting in the shrunken size of my whole face, like radiation that causes tumors to shrink. The R in LaseR stands for RADIATION. I lost hair, eyelashes, had allergic reactions (hives) to the sun for the first two years after, and chronic dermatitis persists today. One side of my face lost more fat and skin than the other side, I suspect due to uneven heating and calibration issues within the laser, such that my facial muscles can be seen in detail as they flex, through the left side of my face. Fat and skin tissue used to hide this from view. My skin is so thin, it is now translucent. This same side is covered in linear scarring from the path the laser travelled over my face.
When laser doctors advertise “collagen stimulation”, what they are NOT telling you is that the collagen (after laser stimulation) is now scar tissue ( fibrosis). How do you think the skin tightens or creates the “result”? Its not magic. Its damage. They don’t mention that in the ads because you wouldn’t pay thousands for it if they did. Nor did the doctor disclose it in the consent. Tragically, nobody is regulating this industry. When you read “research” saying lasers are safe and effective, do your own research. Are the researchers on the payroll for the laser manufacturer? Yes, and its legal, and nobody has to inform you. Even if your doctor is a paid consultant for the laser company (like mine was), it is NOT your right to know this information. Should they tell you? Yes. Do they have to? NO. I would also later find out via documents from the SEC that the laser company knew there was no proof of safety or efficacy when they released the laser to market. This is not unusual. Also due to the 510k rushed approval process, my laser was never evaluated directly to be safe by the FDA. They passed it through as “substantially equivalent” to the prior model, so the one that injured my face, went through ZERO inspection or testing.
I went to a dermatologist with a mild case of adult onset cystic acne, expecting Retin-A or antibiotics just as a cancer patient would go to an oncologist for help. So not all people who end up in this situation were seeking “cosmetic” procedures. The Dr. prescribed this as “the best treatment option for my situation” and his practice claimed to have “done more procedures worldwide than any other practice”. His explanation sounded reasonable. You trust that your doctor (in this case a skin specialist) knows best since the options for your medical treatment are literally his “business” to know. And most of us don’t have the medical background to question the doctors clinical judgment.
PUVA, another light based treatment popular years ago, and dermatologist recommended for Psoriasis, was later linked to cancer just like many dermatologist recommended sunscreens are now showing to have cancer linked ingredients. In my opinion and based on my experience with a laser, it won’t be long before lasers are linked as well. Research is now starting to link laser burns to cellular apoptosis (or progressive programmed cell death) and DNA damage. What I saw my skin go through, I would not wish on anyone. And that’s what I could see; imagine what I could not see. I saw and felt firsthand what oxidative stress in the cells looks and feels like. I know what chronic smoldering inflammation feels and looks like because I wore it on my face for the last 3 years. I don’t believe that will all go by without long term consequence. If inflammation is the so called “mechanism” through which lasers work, and its also known to be a huge factor in aging and disease …you do the math.
I had no signs of age, pre-laser. No wrinkles or sun damage. I was young and healthy. My face aged 15 years and I cringe when doctors now say I have “sun damage”. That “sun damage” came from the laser. I have hundreds of before and after photos that prove it. Permanent and irreversible damage to my one and only FACE. My eyeballs retracted into my skull from burned orbital fat above, below and all around my eyes. I still have chronic full face dermatitis 3 years later. I have chronic pain in my face due to nerve damage and especially around my eye sockets. This is serious business. It should not be reduced to, or underestimated as, a merely “cosmetic” procedure. It forever altered my life and my opportunities in it.
Your identity and health are the two most tragic losses you can have from this one time laser “treatment”. It was NOT worth it. Not one “result” as advertised turned out to be true long term. Photos you see at 3 months out (when swelling is disguising what’s really going on) are not representative of “results” that will come. Brown spots that vanish in the “after” pictures, come back over a few months time; darker and more resistant than before.
I went to a board certified dermatologist and “laser expert” and paid 3 times the going rate at the “BEST of San Diego”. The MD who recommended it, saying it would “make my skin better” and that I could “do it multiple times” since my skin was “so healthy”, was a graduate of Harvard and Columbia. I did my homework. Searched out “the best”. This was an experimental procedure with no long term studies done before the FDA approved it. The doctors didn’t understand what they were doing, thus had no clue how to fix the damage or help me. I was, and continue to be, on my own to figure out a solution. Trying to recover all this time under the fear of the unknown, and having no viable solutions or way out, are the consequences of being a human experiment. This is the reality and current climate of cosmetic “medicine”. The doctors in this field are well aware that you are in this vulnerable situation because they know how the system works, but they have to make a living nonetheless. That’s where you come in. Buyer Beware.
Several hundred people have shared this horrific experience and numbers are ever-increasing (doesn’t matter what type of laser, many are represented in our group, even the so called “safe” and “benign” lasers). http://iplandlaserdamagesupport.prophpbb.com/
Hands down, the most painful event of my once healthy and joyful life.
I was so severely burned by a fractional laser that I suffered disfiguring fat atrophy throughout my entire face. I required reconstructive surgery with fat from my abdomen grafted into my deflated face.
My eyes and thyroid were also damaged by this laser. Lasers are NOT SAFE! I don’t think botox is safe, but I think it’s about 100 times safer than laser. At least.
By the way, just because most of the medical community won’t admit to this type of serious damage from lasers, that does not make it untrue.
There are some times in life when you just have to admit—you were caught off guard. This is one of those times.
I take great pride in the amount of research that has gone into the 500+ posts on this blog, into my book, When Cancer Hits, and into my new skin care line, CV Skinlabs. For all of my projects, I have worked with doctors, toxicologists, dermatologists, natural formulations chemists, dieticians, therapists, scientists, advocates, naturopaths, cancer survivors, and more, and have reviewed scores of studies and tons of scientific literature to be sure Cinco Vidas is always bringing you balanced and supported information so you can make the best choices for your health.
For this particular, post, however, entitled “Which Cosmetic Procedures are Safe, and Which are Best Avoided?”, I have to admit that I underinformed my readers. Here’s the thing: I was focused on one of my main goals, which is to help readers reduce the toxic load in their lives. Therefore, my main point was to inform about the potential hazards of Botox and injectables, as both of these can subject you to chemicals that may lead to serious side effects. In addition, there is a chance that these chemicals can get into the bloodstream, potentially creating more health risks.
At the beginning of the post, however, I mentioned a review published in “Dermatologic Clinics” that listed laser treatments—when used to remove hair, brown spots, and broken blood vessels—as generally safe. I used this review as a launching point to go into my main concern, which was Botox. Looking back, I realize now that I neglected to delve into the whole subject of lasers. At the time, I wasn’t focused on laser treatments, but now I realize that by including the review in my post, readers understandably got the idea that I agreed with the review, and was endorsing laser treatments as completely safe.
Well, I was obviously in error, as you can see from the comments above. Several of our readers took the time to write in about their experiences with lasers, and these experiences are not pretty. Unfortunately, these treatments, which are advertised as safe, have caused many people to experience lasting skin damage. Susan Williams, for example, invites us to read reports of people harmed by lasers to be sure they’re informed of the risks, and I thank her for that reference.
My heart goes out to “LaserFace,” who wrote in about how fractional laser resurfacing thinned and disfigured her face, leaving behind scarring, unevenness, inflammation, and more. I also feel horrible for Liesl, who writes about how a fractional laser caused disfiguring fat atrophy through her face that required reconstructive surgery. Fractional laser resurfacing was not listed in the review I mentioned as safe, and is actually a more involved process than using lasers to remove hair or brown spots, but I can understand how readers might infer that if lasers for hair removal are safe, then lasers for skin resurfacing must be too. I definitely would not want to mislead readers into thinking that all laser treatments are 100% safe, only to have them go through such difficult experiences as these ladies have had to go through.
I want to thank everyone who commented and shared their stories. These readers don’t want anyone else to suffer what they have suffered, and are compassionate enough to take their time to write in these warnings. I want you to know that as best I can, I understand the struggles you’ve faced. Though I’ve never gone through disfigurement because of laser treatments, I did go through chemotherapy and had to watch my hair fall out, my eyebrows and eyelashes thin, my skin get dry and flaky, and my body puff up like a marshmallow. I also watched my father go through radiation treatments, surgeries, and multiple chemotherapy treatments, which ravaged his skin, to say the least. So I definitely feel compassion for individuals who are marred by medical treatments that are supposed to help, and my heart goes out to you.
I also want to express my deepest apologies for offending anyone, and for my oversight in addressing laser treatments. Because of the comments I’ve received, I’ve added an amendment to the post alerting people to the potential dangers and to the stories written in by readers. I also plan to work with a dermatologist to do a follow-up post addressing laser treatments, and to delve more deeply into this subject, which is obviously of concern to many people.
Lastly, let me say that I love that Cinco Vidas readers take the time to write in about subjects that are important to them. That’s what I was hoping this blog would be—a forum for exchange between people about important topics. I thank you for being honest and in bringing up this oversight, and please understand that I never meant to make light of anyone’s pain or suffering. My goal in all my work has always been to try to help and protect people, in the hopes that they may escape pain and enjoy happier, healthier lives. I hope that my blog, book, and skin care line serve as testimonies to my genuine desire to do just that.
All my love and light!
Beautifully handled Britta. You are a class act and we are ALL learning all of the time. I really appreciate your resolve and honesty in this matter that came up for those harmed from laser and I personally will continue to recommend your products.
- Dedicated Dietitian/Nutritionist
Thank you! Bless your good heart. You don’t know what that means to me because I struggled for a long time to get doctors to admit that it was the laser that damaged me. I keep trying to get the word out so that other people won’t find themselves in the same boat. I’d never experienced anything this traumatic before in my life, not even close.
I am sorry that you and your father battled cancer and cancer treatments. I ended up on the receiving end of that laser because I had sunspots and my face and father was dying a painful death from skin cancer. I thought I was making a smart decision for my health.
Thanks for writing back, Liesl! I felt so bad when I heard about your experience. It just broke my heart. And I’m very glad that you wrote in and that you’re spreading the word about your experience. Your response and those of the other readers inspired me to dig into this subject, and I have another post about lasers coming out soon. It sounds like you and I have a lot in common, what with your father passing away from cancer as well. It’s such a painful experience, isn’t it? I’m sure you thought you were doing what was right, as far as your treatment was concerned. Sometimes we just can’t predict all the possible outcomes, and we have to rely on the experts to guide us. I’m so sorry your treatment didn’t go well, and I wish you the best of luck in continuing your recovery. You are still you, and that person is obviously very strong and committed. Best of luck!