Call it plastic surgery for the masses.

While chemical peels, laser vein removal and Botox injections were once only available at doctors’ offices, weary shoppers are now sitting down for the medical procedures during trips to the local mall.

A growing number of so-called “medispas,” which meld spa services with cosmetic medical procedures, have opened over the past year in malls and shopping centers on the West Coast. The trend is also pushing east all to the consternation of traditional plastic surgeons.

“You need to practice medicine in a medical setting, and a spa is certainly not one of them especially these mall shops,” said Dr. Jack Bruner, chairman of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

The potential profit that medispas can generate, however, seems to overshadow concerns in the medical profession, which is divided on the safety and appropriateness of the shops.

Over the past few years, spas operated by Nuvo International have opened in the Beverly Center in West Hollywood, the Westside Pavilion and elsewhere in Southern California, among 32 locations nationwide. The Henderson, Nev.-based company plans to be in 60 malls by year-end.

The spas offer everything from facials and manicures to laser vein- and hair- removal as well as injectable treatments such as collagen, Botox and Restylane, most of which are used to reduce wrinkles and signs of aging.

They don’t offer full surgical procedures, such as face lifts that require general anesthesia. Those still need to be done in doctors’ offices.

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The full version of this story

is available in the March 28 edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal.