December 5th, 2009
Discount Medspa: Do It Yourself Botox Site Shut Down by FDA
Do it yourself botox? Yikes. There are so many things that could go wrong with this, I don’t even know where to begin. So I’ll go to Pat, a self-injecter who posted this comment after using the illegally sold Botox-imitation product: “Unfortunately, I can’t read those little hash marks on the syringe too well and over injected above the brow on one side. A week later I’m now sporting a half closed and swollen eye, and look ready for Halloween!” Pat seems much more cheerful about the situation than I would be; perhaps the drug has hallucinogenic effects as well.
Laurie D’Alleva is the creator of the website called Discount Medspa, which had been selling a drug similar to Botox, as well as some other questionable cosmetic treatments, before the FDA found out and the site was recently shut down. The drug, Dysport, has also been dubbed “the Freeze.” Imagine ordering something that literally promises to freeze your face, without the security of a doctor’s knowledge and supervision. No, it’s all in your hands. But Ms. D’Alleva has kindly videotaped herself sticking a needle into her own forehead and put it on YouTube, to help direct all of those shaky-handed new customers who want to try freezing their own faces. One customer blogged her own instructions of how to put a smile on her face: “The trick to this is to hold a pencil just at the corner of one side of your mouth and inject two units of Freeze at the very bottom of your chin. This will cause your [sic] very end of your mouth to turn up. Then do the other side the same way. If you don’t get it even you may have a crooked smile so be very careful that the injection is placed in exactly the same place as the other side.” Another wise suggestion of hers is to “watch YouTube.com and you will learn a lot of some of the Doctors [sic] secrets to recreating your face the way you want to look.”
Dysport is actually a legitimate drug, cleared by the FDA in the U.S. a few months ago, but it, like Botox, is a prescription medication, and cannot legally be prescribed by anyone other than a doctor or a nurse practitioner. Dysport is the first competitor for the famous Botox, which is the most popular cosmetic treatment in the U.S., according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In 2008 alone, doctors performed more than 2.4 million Botox procedures.
I’m sure many people out there would argue that if they have gotten Botox before, they will know what they are doing, that the risk is their own and they are willing to take that risk, etc. And even though Discount Medspa has been shut down, people are determined and will probably find another way to get the drug. But if there is even a possibility that if you don’t do it just right “then you may have a crooked smile,” or you may over inject and end up with a puffy, swollen, and then frozen face, then ask yourself: Is it really worth it?