With med spas popping up in seemingly every town, it’s almost as easy to get a Botox injection as it is a mani-pedi. The market for minor cosmetic procedures, including laser hair removal and wrinkle filling, is up 750 percent in the past decade, according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. And everyone from podiatrists to hairdressers is cashing in. But it’s easy to forget that many of these treatments are still medical procedures. Put a laser or needle in the hands of someone without the right training, and things can get ugly fast.

“I have patients coming to me virtually every day regarding a complication, scar, or other adverse event as a result of a procedure delivered by nonmedical personnel in a medical spa without physician supervision,” says Mitchel Goldman, M.D., a clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California in San Diego. Many other doctors told us the same thing. A 2007 survey of physicians  by the American Society for Dermatological Surgery found that more than half of them reported an increase in treating patients with complications as a result of procedures performed by someone other than a doctor in the previous two years.

The problem is that the industry is growing too fast for regulators to keep up, so many med spas operate with little or no oversight. Depending on where you live, the spa may not even be required to be supervised by a physician or to employ medically trained staff. What’s even more scary is that not all advertised procedures are safety-tested or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. And some treatments have been approved despite the risk of complications.

Of course, many people who have a little work done are pleased with the results. The way to avoid a bad experience is to find a spa with skilled doctors who can advise you about safe treatments. Here are eight things you should know before you sign up for even minor cosmetic procedures.

This article first appeared in the August/September 2008 issue of ShopSmart.