During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in drive-thru offerings from longer lines at fast food restaurants to nonprofits holding drive-thru food pantries and, of course, the drive-thru coronavirus testing. While these options keep social distancing and safety in mind, there are other services that should never be ordered in a drive-thru manner, and one of those is medical aesthetic treatments like BOTOX.
Yet, you may have read about Dr. Miami and others recently offering drive-thru BOTOX or heard about the upswing in BOTOX parties. These options might seem like quick and easy fixes to the treatments you were missing during the COVID-19 lockdown, but they are actually dangerous, and in some states, illegal.
The practitioners at Greenwich Medical Spa highly discourage both BOTOX parties and drive-thru BOTOX treatments.
It’s important to remember that BOTOX is a medical treatment that needs to be administered by an experienced provider in sterile and controlled environment. The patient – you are still a patient, even at a party – must first receive a full medial assessment from the medical provider. All the risks and benefits of the treatment should be explained in advance, and an informed consent should be obtained before administrating the treatment. And unlike what happens after you drive off or leave the party, the medical provider should be available afterwards in case there is a complication.
We have seen the negative effects of not following medical protocol firsthand. We had patient who came to us with a severe eye ptosis (droop) after receiving a BOTOX treatment at a BOTOX party. She didn’t know the qualifications of the injectors, and no follow-up was offered to her. She was extremely upset, and rightfully so. Although BOTOX results are not permanent, she had to live with that ptosis for months.
Real safety comes not from limited contact with your BOTOX provider, but from assessment of your aesthetic goals, the experience of your injector, sterilization of the environment, and post-treatment follow-up. Safety, which should be the No. 1 concern whenever BOTOX and injectables are administered, is compromised when the treatment is provided at a party or a drive-thru.
