Medical spas are developing across the country with lightening speed. With massages, botox, acupuncture and laser treatments on the menu, it's easy to forget there is anything medical about these types of spas - giving consumers the best of both worlds.

A medical spa is a facility that offers non-surgical cosmetic procedures under the full-time, on-site supervision of a licensed health care professional. Some examples of medical spa services are: laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation, photofacials, vein therapy, brown spot removal, non-surgical skin tightening, chelation, holistic dentistry, herbal wraps and lymph drainage.

According to the International Medical Spa Association, there are for different types of medical spas: beauty/skin, therapeutic, medical centers and wellness centers. In a beauty/skin facility services are provided by a licensed health care practitioner or medically-trained aestheticians and therapists. Therapeutic spas use licensed health care practitioners to focus on a specific medical issue such as weight loss or diabetes. On the other hand, a hospital or medically-based spa combines provides services using both eastern and western evaluation and treatments with traditional spa services. In these spas, advanced diagnostic procedures are administered by licensed health care providers. In contrast, health care practitioners at a wellness spa primarily provide eastern and alternative therapy treatments.

Medical spas have gained momentum because many now want to enhance their looks without going under the knife. So high is the demand for medical spas that more and more medical facilities are converting their practices into these medical spas in an attempt to capture some of profits of the growing multi-billion dollar spa industry. Even though these spas are growing, consumers should practice caution when choosing a medical spa.

"There are four important considerations when choosing a medical spa," explains Skyler Evans, COO of Destinations Medical Spa in San Diego. "The variety of available services, the skill and expertise of the practitioners providing the services, the state of technology used, and the quality of products delivered."

For more information on medical spas, visit the International Medical Spa Association.