Botox plastic surgery article from Plastic Surgery of Southern Connecticut

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Home > In the Media > A New Face on the Party Scene - BOTOX®

A new face on the party scene - BOTOX®

A series of BOTOX® parties have been occurring across the country, mostly in urban settings where people are predisposed to cosmetic surgery and have disposable income to pay for expensive procedures.

The guests seemed nonplused by prying reporters, nurses applying numbing creams to foreheads and between eyebrows, and office assistants, adorned with "Ask me about BOTOX®" buttons.

"BOTOX® takes half a second to inject, is painless except for the needle prick and most people are happy with it," said Dr. Joseph B. O'Connell, chief of plastic surgery at Bridgeport Hospital and spokesman for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "Collagen can be messy and painful, and so it seems for like a medical procedure."

Before F.D.A. approval, plastic surgeons, dermatologists and ophthalmologists were using BOTOX® without fanfare. The F. D.A. approved BOTOX®, or botulinum type A, in 1989 to treat medical conditions involving muscular spasms or twitches, like uncontrollable eye blinking. Since then doctors have been using a diluted and refined form to smooth foreheads, reduce crow's feet and eyebrow lines.

The approval changed the way doctors operate. Now they could invite potential patients to a BOTOX® party....

There are still pre-existing medical conditions where BOTOX® shouldn't be used.

But generally, it is safe, effective and has almost no downtime, Dr. O'Connell said. The common side effects are minor, including headaches, which affect about 13 percent of BOTOX® recipients, according to Allergan. Other side effects include respiratory infections, eyelid droops, nausea and flu-like symptoms. Of the 850,000 who received BOTOX® injections last year, fewer than 4 percent reported these side effects.

But as safe as it is reported to be, use by an unqualified physician or someone without knowledge of the facial muscles can make it unsafe, Dr. O'Connell said. He referred to a recent news article in "Plastic Surgery," a monthly magazine, citing the growth of cosmetic boutiques, where paramedical personnel often perform nonsurgical procedures, without a supervising physician.

"Flying is generally pretty safe, but if you put a bus driver behind the controls of a 747, bad things will happen," he said.

A new face on the party scene - BOTOX®

Plastic surgery and summer excerpt featured in The New York Times, by Kathleen Kiley.

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