One case recently in the news was a woman, nicknamed the “Beauty Bandit”, who received over $3,000 worth of Botox and dermal fillers in a Fort Lauderdale cosmetic dermatology center and then disappeared after saying she had to get cash at an ATM.

The suspect was arrested recently and is just one in a line of “cosmetic criminals” who undergo beauty treatments and then leave without paying, according to msnbc.com. Others such crimes have been reported in Newport Beach, Calif.; Port St. Lucie, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Brisbane, Australia and Kenton, England.

A spokesman for the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, Jeff Karzen, says that from talking with their doctors, it’s a problem that’s occurring from coast to coast.

Some surgeons speculate it’s the bad economy and the perceived “necessity” of procedures like Botox that are the motivating factors behind these crimes.

“Botox is no longer a luxury,” says Dr. Jon Grazer, a Newport Beach plastic surgeon who was hit by a beauty bandit last year. “It’s something people have to have, and if they can’t afford it because of the economy, I think it’s going to push them to get it by whatever means they can.”

Cosmetic surgeon Dr. Samir Pancholi says that  it’s happened three times at his cosmetic surgery practice in Las Vegas. He recounts: “The first time, it was a woman in her 50s who came in and got treatment, then said, ‘My purse is in the car, I’ll go grab it and be right back.’ Then she was gone.”

These “beauty bandits” have forced some cosmetic centers to change payment rules—one now requires all new patients pre-pay.

A few months ago a blog post explained Botox’s potential to work as a migraine treatment, and now the U.K.’s drug regulator has become the first in the world to approve Botox for the use of preventing chronic migraine headaches, Allergan announced last week. While best known as a cosmetic wrinkle treatment, Botox can now be used on migraine patients in the U.K. who have headaches at least 15 days a month, including migraines on 8 days.

Allergan’s clinical trial PREEMPT (Phase III REsearch Evaluating Migraine Prophylaxis Therapy) involved almost 1,400 adults with a history of migraines and who experienced 15 or more headache days of which at least 50 percent were migraine or probable migraine during a baseline 28-day period. At the end of the period, patients were randomized to receive either Botox injections or placebo.

Patients in the Botox group averaged 8.2 fewer migraine days by week 24 following treatment, which was significantly greater than the change from baseline observed in placebo treated patients of 6.2 days.

Lee Tomkins, director of Migraine Action, said, “We have been following these studies really closely and the evidence is really pretty solid. These people spend half their lives in pain. Even if they get half the attacks, it can really improve their quality of life.” Migraine Action says one in seven people in the UK suffer from migraine, affecting twice as many women as men.

The U.S.’s Food and Drug Administration is likely to decide this month whether the product can be sold for migraines, Aaron Gal, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst in New York, said in May.

Botox is still the most popular minimally-invasive cosmetic procedure in the U.S., according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ most recent statistics, which showed that the procedure was performed 4.8 million times in the U.S. in 2009  for cosmetic purposes. 

A study found that patients with thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS)—a debilitating and painful nerve compression disorder—who received a single, low-dose injection of Botox in a neck muscle reported a significant reduction in short-term pain.

This suggests, the researchers say, that Botox could be an alternative to the invasive rib-removal surgery that is used to treat the syndrome as a last resort.

“There haven’t been many alternatives to the use of surgery to treat this syndrome,” says the study’s lead author Paul J. Christo, M.D., M.B.A., an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Botox seems to be an effective treatment that avoids surgery’s obvious drawbacks, such as its invasive nature and long recovery time.”

As with treating wrinkles, the effect from Botox on TOS patients lasts only a few months, so repeated injections would be necessary to maintain the results. Dr. Christo says some patients could develop antibodies to the compound with excessive use, which would mean the toxin would no longer block pain.

Botox’s use as a cosmetic procedure shows no signs of slowing. In the latest statistics from the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery it was the number one less-invasive cosmetic procedure performed in the United States in 2009. Dr. Frenzel performs Botox in his Arlington, Texas office.

For the full release on how Botox eases nerve pain in TOS patients, visit the Johns Hopkins Medicine website.

According to writers on Bloomberg news, pharmaceutical company and Botox manufacturer Allergan Inc, applied for FDA clearance to market Botox as a headache treatment.  However, researchers say they cannot fully explain how Botox works to relieve headaches. One co-author of the study, Rami Burstein says, “it may block the signals in sensory nerves located on the outside of the head.”

• Read more about the study on Bloomberg news and Archives of Dermatology
• Read more about Botox in Dallas and Arlington

For most people, the average age to pursue an injectable treatment likely depends on when they attain a certain level of income and when they begin to notice prominent frown lines or wrinkles. But does that mean you need to be past a certain age?

According to Bay Area plastic surgeon Sirish Maddali, “many [of his] patients understand that using Botox at a younger age can be preventative and therefore start earlier.” But how many 20 or 30-somethings actually take these steps to maintain their appearance?

According to statistics from the ASAPS:

2,464,123 Botox treatments were performed in 2008*

• 0.3 percent of patients were 18 and under
• 15.4 percent of patients were 19-34 (379,582 procedures)
• 49.1 percent of patients were 35-50
• 27.3 percent of patients were 51-64
• 7.9 percent of patients were over 65

*2009 stats aren’t available yet

We sincerely hope nobody in Texas (or elsewhere) has attempted this kind of thing.  Injectable treatments might seem easy and quite comfortable in our office, but attempting to perform them yourself is very unwise.  When the person administering treatment doesn’t know proper injection techniques, the risks are much greater and the cosmetic result will probably be very poor.

You’ll be in much better hands if you see a qualified cosmetic or plastic surgeon for your injectable treatments.

While we don’t endorse ageism, prejudice/discrimination based on a person’s age, you’d be naive to think it doesn’t play a role in the general public’s perception.  Consider how it hindered John McCain in last year’s election.

If you’re seeking a new career, you’re probably in competition with young adults fresh out of college, who often accept a much lower wage.  You might need a slight makeover to present yourself in the best possible light: If your hairstyle is dull and outdated, see your stylist; if wrinkles are detracting from your facial appearance, see a cosmetic surgeon.

Many Americans are using some of their extra time to get a little touchup, with injectables like Botox, a wrinkle filler, or even eyelid surgery.  Botox is by far the most popular non-invasive cosmetic procedure, with millions of treatments performed each year.   The cost of a single treatment will vary, and it pays to keep an eye out for monthly specials and events.

If you are going for treatments prior to a job interview, give yourself at least 7 days to heal and let the treatment take effect. Remember, doing well on an interview is not only about how you look, but whether you exude confidence about yourself and your ability to do the job.