Who Can Inject Botox?

Botox can be injected by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or registered nurse depending on what state you reside in. Different states have different regulations in regards to that state's medical board. Just make sure to whomever you choose for Botox injections that they have been properly trained, licensed, and advanced certified with a lot of experience in Botox.

Depending on which state you live in, Botox injections may be done by registered nurses, physician’s assistants, or nurse practitioners along with licensed physicians. At my practice, only our board-certified, licensed dermatologists perform Botox or other types of injectable treatments. Botox requires experience and excellent technique in order to achieve the best and most natural looking results, so I would advise you to find a board-certified dermatologist in your area who performs Botox injections him or herself.

In our changing
healthcare system the question of who’s qualified to inject botox is going to
be asked more and more frequently. The answer is dependent upon how you define
qualified.  Does qualified mean
licensed, or does that mean something more?

If qualified
means licensed in a broad spectrum of individuals should be able to inject botox.
These may include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, medical
doctors, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners ,and a variety of
technicians. Unfortunately, within this group many individuals including
physicians may not have adequate training or in the case of non- physicians
adequate supervision. This is especially true in some medical spas where non-M.
D. injectors are supervised in name only.

For these
reasons it's extremely important to understand your provider’s qualifications.
Licensure is only a starting point. Providers of this service need to have an
understanding of facial anatomy and facial aesthetics to properly perform these
maneuvers.

In most cases
this requires a background in plastic surgery, facial plastic surgery, cosmetic
surgery, occulo plastic surgery, or dermatology. Even within these groups it's
important to check experience, qualifications, and certification. It's
important to remember that not everyone who injects botox
is equally qualified.

Healthcare professionals who are qualified to inject Botox include Physicians, Physicians Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, and Registered Nurse Injectors.  Physicians Assistants and Registered Nurse Injectors must be under the supervision of a Doctor or Nurse Practitioner to inject Botox.  The person who is best qualified to inject you with Botox would be an injector that has had proper training and has experience with injecting Botox. 

Although any doctor or their health care delegate may be allowed to inject Botox, why would you not want an expert who is properly qualified and credentialed to do your treatment? Board certified Plastic, ENT and Oculoplastic Surgeons as well as most Dermatologists have the training and knowledge to decide when and how to optimize your treatment. You deserve the best!
Dr. Mosher

Any physician can purchase Botox, since its a medication. There are many marginally trained physicians injecting Botox because it is a fee-for-service practice.
However, you should seek out a clinic staffed by board certified plastic surgeons and does a lot of Botox injections. In these busy plastic surgery clinics, there are often a few RNs and PAs injecting under the direct supervision of a plastic surgeon. Like everything, injectors get better with multiple patient contacts per day.
Seek out a clinic that does over a dozen Botox injections per day. More than likely, such a clinic has some very experienced injectors with a physician on-site supervising their work.

For best results and consistency of results, Botox should be administered by a core trained physician. This means surgeons trained in effects of Botox around the eyes and the brow: a Facial Plastic Surgeon, Plastic Surgeon, Dermatologist, or Occuloplastic surgeon.

The most important criteria in selecting a physician or any professional for cosmetic procedures is does the person have the expertise to minimize complications and if a complication were to happen, does the person know how to treat it. You are better off getting consultation from a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon.

Hi there-
The law says that any licensed MD can inject Botox. It is important to realize, however, that the law (as Dr. Beraka has stated) is a truly minimal standard.
If you want a reliable good result, with minimal risk (yes, there ARE risks to Botox treatments- all of which can be reduced by having the treatment performed by the right provider), you should absolutely be certain you see a Board Certified Dermatologist or Plastic Surgeon.

In all states, Botox is a drug requiring prescriptive authority to purchase; in other words, you have to be a doctor to buy Botox. However, most states allow the doctor to delegate injections to a licensed practitioner suxch as a nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant under the doctor's supervision. This does not necessarily have to be on-site supervision, though examination by the doctor is often required first. There are 2 schools of thought on who should be doing injections: One camp believes that it should always be the doctor, the other recognizes that there are highly skilled nurse injectors who actually do more of it that many doctors doing the supervising.