Namita Rao - Rao Dermatology

Our Non-surgical Anti-aging Treatments

No matter how hard we try, we cannot avoid the aging of our skin. It is an inevitable part of life that is worsened by many factors such as UV exposure, our environment, daily routine and, most of all, the passage of time.

Our skin is not only the largest organ of our body, but also an expression of our identity, lifestyle and choices we made. This explains why many of us try our best to keep it looking as good for as long as possible and to deflect the endless attacks of the biological and environmental forces on its youthfulness.

There are many ways aging can affect our skin including wrinkles, volume loss, sagging, dull skin tone, age spots and spider veins.

What Causes Aging Skin?

Skin ages due to various environmental causes and biological variables:

Genetics
Genetics and family history play a big part in how each person ages. If your genetic history includes individuals who aged noticeably faster, there is a good chance the same thing will happen to you but we offer a number of treatments that will help slow this process down.

Life Style
Our skin’s health can be directly tied to our internal health. Leading an unhealthy lifestyle is eventually going to leave a mark on our physical appearance.

Sunlight
Sun exposure is responsible for most of the visible aging of your skin – far more than all other factors combined. Sunrays are harmful to our skin and cause damage in the form of pigmentation, volume loss and texture problems.

Facial Movement
Wrinkles at the corners of the eyes (crow’s feet) or between the eyebrows (frown lines) are caused by small muscle contractions. Over a lifetime, regular facial expressions like frowning, smiling, or squinting leave their mark on our skin.

Dilated Blood Vessels
Tiny vessels in our face and body can become more visible when exposed to trauma as we get older. areas of the skin, particularly around the cheeks and nose, may become reddish or you may notice small veins on your face.

Decrease in Collagen or Hyaluronic Acid
As we age, our skin loses the ability to produce its own collagen and hyaluronic acid, resulting in many skin imperfections like volume loss and a lack of firmness and elasticity.

How We Can Help Treat Aging Skin

We understand that each individual is different and requires different treatments. We offer multiple skin rejuvenation options for all of your cosmetic needs. A long-term comprehensive skincare program involving prevention and protection of healthy skin, treatment of imperfections, and maintenance strategies are paramount to ensure that your skin health and structure is optimized. Our aging skin treatment options include:

Laser Treatments
Our range of effective laser treatments includes IPL, Nano Laser Peel and Laser Genesis. Our laser treatments help correct the conditions typically associated with early skin damage and aging, stimulating the body to generate new collagen, which strengthens the skin and reduces unwanted redness and wrinkles without any side effects.

Dermal Fillers
At Rao Dermatology, we can offer a variety of facial fillers such as Juvederm, Emervel, Revanesse, and Radiesse. With the expert skills of our luminary injectors, we can give you a natural soft lift and fullness that will instantly refresh your look and reverse the signs of aging.

Neuromodulators
Our neuromodulators treatments use a chemical called botulinum toxin type A which is injected into muscles. The chemical reduces the repeated muscle contractions from frowning and squinting over the years

Thermi
Our range of TermiRF treatments delivers radiofrequency heat to provide solutions for a variety of cosmetic concerns including aging skin without any social downtime.

Book Your Free Consultation Today

Book your free consultation with us today. Dr. Rao will take the time to address your specific needs and answer any questions or concerns you may have about the various anti-aging procedures offered at Rao Dermatology. He will also make specific recommendations as to the best treatment plan for achieving your desired results.

How We Can Smooth Out Forehead & Frown Lines

Forehead or frown lines can present a frequent problem for both men and women at as the year’s rolls by. As we age, our skin starts to lose tightness and cannot return to the same place it was in our younger days.

When the effects of aging begin to affect our skin, it’s not because of some uncontrollable element. Instead, it is because we start to lose the collagen that once flowed through our skin to keep it smooth and protect it from external factors.

Collagen has a diverse set of responsibilities within our bodies, one of which is renewing old and damaged skin cells with newer and vibrant ones. As levels of collagen are reduced, so too is the natural process that replenishes the skin, leaving us with forehead wrinkles and folds that only serve to make us appear older.

There is even one particular variety of frown line is referred to by its terrible nickname: the 11s. Why? Because this type of frown line forms two pronounced vertical wrinkles between your eyebrows, resembling the number eleven.

No matter what name we give them, we’re all thinking the same thing: where did the frown lines come from? And, more importantly, what’s the best way to get rid of them?

What Causes Your Frown Lines?

Aging
As we mentioned earlier, the number one cause of frown lines is aging. As you get older, your skin loses some of its elasticity. That means it’s harder for your skin to bounce back to its original state. As a result, lines and wrinkles are more likely to stay in place for longer.

Genes
Another frequent cause of frown lines is DNA. Genetics play a significant role in your skin type. Some skin types are more receptive to frown lines, while others are more resilient and will withstand wrinkles for longer.

Repeated Facial Expressions
It’s an old myth that frown lines are caused by frowning. In reality, frown lines are created by frequently making any facial expression that causes your eyebrows to furrow. This can include squinting, smiling, and even laughing. Everyone’s face is unique, so different wrinkles form for different people, even when they’re making the same facial expression.

Sunlight
We all know the sun can damage our skin. But did you know sun damage can actually cause frown lines? The sun’s harmful UV rays break down collagen and elastin, two important proteins that keep your skin looking young and beautiful. Without these crucial proteins, it’s easier for frown lines to form.

Stress
While stress is never good for your health, it can be especially bad for your skin. Being stressed out can cause you to scrunch your face up repeatedly. And as we mentioned earlier, these repeated facial expressions often lead to frown lines. If that’s not bad enough, stress can also lead to breakouts and irritated skin.

Smoking
We understand this isn’t breaking news but, in case you haven’t heard, smoking is harmful for your skin. Smoking can cause all sorts of wrinkles, including frown lines.

How To Get Rid Of Forehead Lines

We offer several effective ways to get rid of frown lines:

Neuromodulators
By injecting neuromodulators (botulinum toxin type A) beneath the surface of your skin, we can reduce the muscle contractions in your face, ultimately smoothing those creases and softening those lines, helping to bring back your youthful skin.

Dermal Fillers
We use both natural and synthetic fillers at Rao Dermatology that produce superior results in combination with our doctors’ skill, technique, experience, and training. Offering Juvederm®, Restylane®, Revanesse, and RADIESSE® dermal fillers, our doctors will assess your skin and recommend the filler best suited to your skin and risk tolerance.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)
PRP is an injectable therapy that uses your own blood platelets to rejuvenate your skin. By drawing your blood and spinning it down, we then inject the platelets into your skin to improve texture, links, and wrinkles.

By placing it deeper into areas like your frown lines, PRP can stimulate other cells to create fuller, healthier looking skin. Because PRP uses your own cells and tissues, the side effects are significantly lower than neuromodulators or dermal fillers.

Changes to the skin with PRP are gradual and continue for three to six months and it lasts for about two years.

If you want to book a free consultation to learn more about how we can help smooth out your forehead and frown lines simply fill in the form below.

The Most Common Questions We Get About Dermal Fillers

Dermal fillers, also known as injectables, are a go-to treatment to even out acne and chicken pox scars and to mitigate aging concerns: deep creases, fine lines, wrinkles, eye hollows, thinning lips, and slackened cheeks and temples.

What Is a Dermal Filler?

A dermal filler is either a natural or synthetic material that’s injected into your skin to plump the area. Natural fillers use substances derived from humans or animals (like hyaluronic acid, which is the most common), whereas synthetic fillers work with the muscles, making them semi-permanent. Because dermal fillers come in so many varieties with different consistencies and results, your dermatologist will select the best product for your unique skin and concerns. All fillers are temporary, with some lasting longer than others depending on the type of filler and your skin’s absorption.

What Do Fillers Do?

By nature, fillers fill – they’re injected into your skin’s trouble spots (hollows or wrinkles) to increase fullness and restore youthfulness. But today, they’re also used to sculpt the face to enhance and naturally alter your looks. From plumping your lips to non-surgical facelifts and nose jobs, dermal fillers can create symmetry, add volume, smooth out lines and creases, define jawlines, and augment cheeks – they offer total rejuvenation. Not only to fillers fill, but they boost collagen production, improve internal hydration, smooth texture, and even out complexions.

Does It Hurt?

Using a fine needle, we inject fillers into your skin, so while it doesn’t hurt too much, it is uncomfortable. Some areas, like your lips, can hurt more than others, but it also depends on individual pain tolerances and experiences – everyone is different. You also have the option of applying an aesthetic cream before your treatment. Some fillers include lidocaine to reduce that discomfort, but the procedure only takes about 15 to 30 minutes (you can do it on your lunch break) so it’s over quickly.

Will My Face Feel Different After?

Aside from a new fullness in previously hollow areas, your face shouldn’t feel different. For some, there’s a risk that some lumpiness may occur, but its often a result of bruising or swelling and will dissipate as you heal. You can prevent lumpiness by preventing swelling and bruising: come early so you can ice the areas before your procedure and then be sure to ice afterwards. Let us know if you bruise easily or have had bruises in the injection areas so we can be more careful or avoid the area.

What if I Don’t Like It?

Dermal fillers are temporary, lasting six to twelve months, but if you’re really unhappy, they can also be reversed within 24-48 of injection with an enzyme that metabolizes the filler quicker.

What’s the Difference Between Dermal Fillers and Botox®?

As you age, facial fat diminishes, leaving your skin sallow, gaunt, and sagging. Where Botox® paralyzes muscle movement to minimize and prevent forehead lines and crow’s feet, dermal fillers add volume and work particularly well around the mouth, cheeks, and under eyes. Since they both approach age related skin issues differently, the two are often used in tandem.

What Are the Risks and Downsides?

When you have an experienced dermatologist inject your dermal fillers, the risks are significantly reduced – you want an ethical, educated, and experienced professional consulting and performing your procedure to get the best results. However, redness, itchiness, tenderness, bruising, and swelling are common side effects that can be mitigated by icing, avoiding smoking and exercise the day of your procedure, and staying away from fish oil and anti-inflammatories.

The only real downside to dermal fillers is that they need to be maintained since your body will eventually metabolize the filler, meaning that follow up appointments are crucial to maintaining your results.

Curious about what dermal fillers can do for you? Contact us today for a free consultation by filling in the form below.

How Blepharoplasty Can Roll Back the Years

As we age, sometimes the skin above and below our eyes changes: it becomes loose, puffy, or saggy (sometimes even interfering with vision and absolutely making eyes appear smaller and squinty); fatty deposits become more prominent; crow’s feet deepen; permanent bags form beneath our eyes; and lower eyelids droop.

For those with hooded eyes or existing issues with undereye bags, aging exacerbates these features. And these changes around and to your eyelid can make you look tired, worn out, overworked, and unhappy, leading people to say things like, “Are you okay?” and “You look tired.”

But a blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, can dramatically reverse these signs of aging. While you aren’t going to look like a completely different person, it will help you look younger and more awake (and it will definitely stop the comments on your tired appearance). Using laser technology, a blepharoplasty removes and tightens excess skin and reshapes the eyelid, smoothing out creases and hollows and opening the eyes to create a more youthful, energetic appearance.

The Candidates

As with all surgical procedures, the best candidates are healthy nonsmokers without medical conditions that can delay healing. ideal candidates for eyelid surgery are over 35 with puffy or sagging upper eyelids, no serious eye conditions, and realistic expectations.

The Consultation

At your free consultation at Rao Dermatology, we’ll discuss your goals, medical conditions and history, lifestyle, and previous treatments and surgeries. We’ll take pictures of your face to point and discuss options and recommend the best course of treatment. Sometimes, a brow lift, skin resurfacing, or chemical peels can be paired with a blepharoplasty for optimal results. It’s completely normal to feel nervous, so be prepared to ask questions. The consultation is the best time to address your anxieties and your excitement to ensure we’re tailoring the procedure to your goals.

The Procedure

An eyelid surgery procedure can be performed on the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both and begins with anaesthesia.

To conceal scarring, incisions on the upper eyelids follow your natural crease, enabling use to take out or relocate fatty deposits, tighten up muscles, and remove that

saggy, excess skin. For the lower eyelids, the incision is done just below the lower lashes. For some, a transconjunctival incision may be uses (inside the lower eyelid), but excess skin cannot be removed with this type of incision, only fat. To close the incisions, we use either sutures or skin glue.

The Recovery

While the recovery time is typically quick, the day after surgery, you can expect both bruising and swelling, but it should disappear quickly. Cold compresses and light activity in the first 48 hours following surgery can minimize bruising and swelling and accelerate healing.

Typically, bandages are removed in a couple of days, while stitches are removed after a week. You’ll want to take a few days off work and avoid both makeup and contact lenses for about two weeks so you can best heal and recover. Expect to return to your normal activities between 7 to 10 days after surgery.

The Results

A blepharoplasty won’t stop you from aging, but they are long-lasting and they roll back the years – sometimes resulting in you looking 10 years younger! Most people are thrilled with the subtle yet dramatic change to their appearance.

Think an eyelid surgery is for you? Book your free consultation today using the form below.

How To Fix Uneven Skin Texture And Tones

Everyone wants radiant, youthful skin – if we’re being honest, we’re all dreaming of airbrushed perfection (especially as we age). While some of us surrender and resign ourselves to fate, while others secretly hide our uneven skin texture and tones with primers and makeup – but we don’t have to do either.

Wait, what? Uneven skin texture? I thought I only had to worry about skin tone!

Take a moment to close your eyes and run your hands over your face (makeup free and clean, of course). Do some areas feel rougher than others? Bumpier? Between dead skin cells and sun exposure, your pores can expand, and your skin can look duller. Where you live and how you live, not just how you wash your face, can impact the way your skin looks and feels.

For example, colder climates (like Edmonton’s) are tougher on your skin: cold temperatures, especially in combination with cold winds, strip moisture from your skin and can leave it rough, tight, cracked, and red (read: terribly uneven). But where you live isn’t as easy to change as how you live.

Bad habits like poor eating, poor sleeping, and poor skin care regimes can all impact the look and feel of your skin. And smoking is even worse: if you smoke, you’re more prone to dark circles and bags under your eyes, you’re at higher risk for psoriasis, and you’ll age quicker and look grayer.

But we can’t go back in time and wear more sunscreen, stop smoking, or start washing our faces regularly. So, whether your cursed with a dry, flaky forehead and an oily chin, you’ve been fighting against acne scars your whole life, or you’re suddenly swimming in melasma and wrinkles, soft, supple, luxurious skin is still within reach with one or more of the following treatments:

1. Microdermabrasion

Arguably the number one treatment for improving skin texture and tone, microdermabrasion boosts collagen production and cell regeneration by removing the top layer of dead, damaged skin to reveal the smoother, new skin beneath. Microdermabrasion also minimizes pore size and improves scarring – making your skin smoother and brighter overall. Over and over again, microdermabrasion is praised for its effectiveness, but while it’s quick and noninvasive, the results aren’t instantaneous – depending on your skin and the issues you’re trying to correct, you may need several treatments to achieve your desired results.

2. Laser Treatments

Laser treatments are often dubbed “skin resurfacing” which means that laser treatments remove the top, damaged layer of skin. Like microdermabrasion, laser treatments encourage healthy skin growth and promote collagen production. Ultimately, laser treatments retexture your skin, removing lines, wrinkles, and minor scars as well as correcting sun damage, discolouration, and tightening up limp or sagging skin.

3. Chemical Peels

At Rao Dermatology, we customize our chemical peels using medical-grade products to your specific skin type and its tone and texture issues. Both your skin type and your goals will determine the depth of your treatment. Again, the basic result of the treatment is the same as microdermabrasion and laser – a peel removes the top layer of dead skin using a solution, but the dead skin will peel away gradually after the procedure to reveal a smoother, more even complexion. Chemical peels tighten, brighten, and smooth the skin.

4. Daily Advanced Skin Care

While our treatments can offer quicker results, a daily advanced skin care regime is also an effective treatment – but you must be diligent and consistent about it and you must use high quality products. On its own or in combination with one of our treatments, taking good care of your skin is essential to fighting the impact of a lifetime of UV rays and aging. We’ve chosen SkinCeuticals as our skin care brand because they’re committed to the highest, medical-grade formulation standards (they’re products win awards repeatedly). At your consultation, we can work with you to determine the best SkinCeuticals products to help you fix your skin’s texture and tone.

How to Reverse the Signs of Sun Damage

In our youth, we think we’re invincible. From wiggling, squirming, and whining our way out of sunscreen as children, to purposely soaking up those rays sans sunblock in our teens and 20s, even if you’re wearing sunscreen 24/7 now, you’re likely seeing those years without sunscreen show up now – especially on your face.

Whether UV radiation has left you with age spots, crow’s feet, frown lines, or melasma, you can reverse the signs of sun damage.

We all love the sun, but the first step to reversing sun damage is protecting your skin from worsening. Wear a minimum of SPF 30 sunscreen (preferably SPF 45 or 60) everyday, rain or shine, even in the winter – the sun’s UV rays are emitted year-round and snow, sand, and water reflect UV rays. Try to stay in the shade, but if you’re exposed, be sure to wear protective clothing. Get your Vitamin D from a supplement and stay away from tanning beds! While prevention is crucial, however, there are cosmetic dermatological treatments that can rejuvenate your sun damaged skin, restoring it to its former glory:

1. Microdermabrasion

Quick and convenient, microdermabrasion is a non-invasive skin resurfacing treatment that works wonderfully to minimize the impact of sun damage. A clinical exfoliation method, microdermabrasion uses a diamond-tipped wand to blow air-driven diamond crystals over your skin, which removes the top layer of sun damaged skin, exposing the smoother, live skin cells beneath. By cleansing, abrading, and exfoliating your skin, microdermabrasion triggers collagen production, minimizes enlarged pore, improves scarring, and evening out skin tone.

2. Laser Treatments

Dr. Rao is an expert researcher in the use of laser technology in dermatology. From Intense Pulse Light (IPL) to Laser Genesis, laser treatments correct sun damage issues like lines, wrinkles, and discolouration by tightening and polishing the skin, promoting health cell growth and smoothing tone and texture. Laser treatments use high-energy light to remove the top, damaged layer or skin – it effectively resurfaces and retextures the skin, removing superficial lines and wrinkles and promoting collagen production.

3. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Treatments

Widely known as the “Vampire Facelift,” PRP uses the healing power of your own blood. For PRP treatments, your blood is drawn and put in a centrifuge to separate the platelets and serum from the blood cells. Afterwards, the platelets are enriched with growth factors then injected into your skin to accelerate tissue repair and stimulate collagen production. Your own platelets provide unparalleled healing properties to reverse sun damage, giving you glowing, radiant skin.

4. Daily Advanced Skin Care

No matter what treatment you choose, a health skin care regime is crucial not only to treating sun damage, but simply for taking good care of your skin. Chronic UV exposure (which we’re all subject to) speeds up your skin’s aging, but exfoliating, using antioxidants, and hydrating your skin with an effective skin care regimen will revitalize your skin. At Rao Dermatology, we offer a skin care regimen backed by science: Skinceuticals. An award winning skin care line that uses only pharmaceutical-grade ingredients, Skinceuticals effectively prevents sun damage and aging while also treating imperfection and maintaining healthy skin. Skinceuticals offers a variety of products, like C E Ferulic, Reservatrol, Hydra Balm, and Daily Moisture that are proven to improve your skin – but we’ll suggest product selections tailored to your skin and your goals.

Is your skin starting show signs of sun damage? Contact us in the form below for a free consultation.

Revitalizing Skin Rejuvenation

Book Your Consultation Now!

Flawless Skin Rejuvenation

At Rao Dermatology, we have developed a variety of treatments that deliver excellent skin rejuvenation results.

Our proven skin rejuvenation procedures work by treating the skin from the inside out, going beyond its surface to truly restore and rejuvenate your skin’s health.

Our goal is to preserve and cleanse the skin, encourage collagen stimulation, improve circulation, exfoliate and remove toxins, and correct skin imperfections by improving the skin’s appearance and its health.

Reinvigorate and Restore Your Skin

Fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin can serve as unwelcome reminders of the aging process for both men and women.

Over time, your skin begins to lose collagen, natural elasticity and show signs of cumulative degeneration. Factors such as genetics, lifestyle, gravity, diet and sun exposure all influence the rate of damage to the skin. As signs of damage become visible, skin rejuvenation techniques can help restore a more youthful appearance.

The good news is that your skin’s texture and clarity can be improved through resurfacing including chemical peels, laser treatments, and microdermabrasion. Suitable for all skin types, we can treat a variety of areas including all or specific regions of the face, neck, hands and arms.

The skin rejuvenation procedures offered by the office of Dr. Rao are fast and non-invasive compared to surgical procedures, with virtually no downtime so you can get to your life. We do recommend a series of treatments in order to achieve and maintain optimal results.

Conditions Improved by Our Skin Rejuvenation Techniques

The following skin conditions may be improved by our treatments:

Wrinkles: both static wrinkles (visible at all times) and dynamic wrinkles (appear when the skin is not moving and deepen when you make facial expressions)
Loss of skin tone: the weakening of collagen and elastin fibers in your skin
Vascular conditions: including visible blood vessels on the skin, facial redness, and blood-filled blisters
Pigmentation: hyperpigmentation including sunspots, age spots, and melasma
Scars: acne or injury-related scars may be treatable
Texture: roughness due to excess layers of dead skin
Pore size and congestion

Our Skin Rejuvenation Services

At Rao Dermatology, we’re committed to giving you clear, clean, and smooth skin using a synergistic approach that enhances your skin’s health.

Our proven approach includes prevention, treatment, and maintenance to achieve and preserve your skin care goals and medical facials play a key role in preventing, treating, and maintaining your clear and healthy skin. We offer the following medical facial services:

Chemical Peels
We exclusively use SkinCeuticals’ medical grade skin care products in our chemical peels to exfoliate and stimulate collagen production, effectively improving the skin by reducing acne scarring, minimizing sun damage, evening tone, and smoothing texture. Our chemical peels are cost-effective and, when done regularly, keep your skin glowing, radiant, and flawless.

Microdermabrasion
Using a medical grade, tipped wand comprised of natural diamond chips, microdermabrasion polishes your skin, removing and sucking up the dead skin cells and leaving your complexion soft, supple, and firm. Because microdermabrasion is a mechanical exfoliation, it opens up the skin, making it ripe for deep penetration with serums and skin care products and it effectively minimizes scars, discoloration, and fine lines.

Microneedling
This medical procedure involves using a fine needle to poke the skin, leaving what’s called a micro-injury. While it seems counterintuitive, these micro-injuries stimulate collagen production and open the skin to receive serums that plump the skin, fill in lines, and improve discoloration – it’s been used for decades to treat facial scars and is proven to improve both texture and firmness.

PRP
PRP stands for Platelet Rich Plasma. It is also known as the Vampire Face Lift. It involves blood being drawn from a patient, and the blood is then put into a centrifuge to separate the platelets and serum from the blood cells. The resulting concentrated solution is enriched in platelets and growth factors. Once this solution is injected into the skin, it can dramatically aid in tissue repair and promote collagen.

Book Your Complimentary Consultation Today

Book your consultation today with Dr. Rao today so he can help you pick the facial rejuvenation procedure that will best treat your main concern, or recommend combining certain treatments to achieve a more youthful look.

He will take the time address your specific needs and answer any questions or concerns you may have about our procedures. Also, he will make recommendations as to the best treatment plan for achieving your desired results.

Please fill in the form below to book your consultation now.

How to Get a Nonsurgical Facelift in Edmonton

While your eyes might be the window to your soul, your face is the window to your health and your youthfulness, which is why many choose to combat aging with facelifts. But did you know there are now non-surgical facelifts?

But aren’t facelifts plastic surgery?

Not anymore. With technological advances in dermatological medicine, you don’t have to go under the knife to restore volume, resurface skin, or tighten deeper tissues.

Today, we can enhance your overall look with a nonsurgical facelift in one appointment at our office: we can add structure to your jaw to minimizing sagging (reducing the dreaded double chin), fill in the hollows under your eyes, minimize wrinkles and lines, plump up your lips, reshape your nose, and mitigate bone and fat loss in your cheeks and temples – all without performing an actual surgery.

What exactly is a nonsurgical facelift?
A nonsurgical facelift is a customized course of non-cosmetic, dermatological procedures designed to give you a more youthful, rejuvenated visage. Your nonsurgical facelift is targeted to your chosen areas and can include various treatments and procedures. Generally, nonsurgical facelifts vary from person to person, depending on your unique face and goals, but they’ll likely include some of the following:

Dermal Fillers
From your forehead to your cheeks, from your jawline to your undereyes and temples, we use dermal fillers to help increase elasticity and fullness (think fine lines, undereye hollows, scars, and gauntness). The kind of dermal filler we use will depend on your skin, but we offer both synthetic and natural fillers, which are injected using fine needles. A quick, budget-friendly visit, dermal fillers offer instantaneous, natural looking results. last depends on your skin, and follow ups are a good idea, but the desired effect can last from two months to two years. We work with these dermal fillers to offer our clients the best results: Juvederm®, Restylane®, Revanesse, and RADIESSE®.

Non-Surgical Rhinoplasty
Next up is your nose, of course. While nose jobs are still largely done surgically (especially for more challenging or distinctive changes), new innovations now allow us to reshape your nose without surgery. An increasingly popular procedure, non-surgical rhinoplasties use carefully selected dermal filler injections to adjust trouble areas from straightening to correcting to narrowing and widening. This procedure smooths bumps, fixes imperfections, and creates symmetry with grace and subtlety with no downtime and no surgical side effects.

Lip Injections
A facelift isn’t a facelift if you forget about your mouth – next to your eyes, your lips are the most looked at part of your face. As we age, our lips tend to lose some of their fulness, which we can easily remedy with lip injections. Using either dermal fillers or Botox (maybe both), we can give you your mouth the ultimate anti-aging treatment by making them fuller, softer, and more attractive, without being too obvious. At Rao Dermatology, we achieve a subtle, natural look by using your lip’s natural shape to guide us.

Scars and Scar Tissue: Removal and Treatment

Scarring is an inevitable part of being human, they’re a natural byproduct of the healing process. Plus, there’s usually a story to go along with them.

As children, our bodies take a beating while we learn to ride bikes, to do backflips on trampolines, and to jump off tire swings.

Sometimes the scars we earn in childhood stick around (who hasn’t cracked their head or chin open during play?), plaguing us (along with acne) throughout adolescence and well into adulthood.

In a world where flawlessness is valued above all else, our scars (especially facial scars) can wreak havoc on our self-esteem. Scars can make us feel unattractive, embarrassed, or insecure, and for many people, they’re daily reminders of traumatic events (car accidents, fires, attacks, surgeries, etc.). And, as if our own struggle with scars isn’t bad enough, our atrophic scars (indented scars like acne and chicken pox pits) also come with a host of misconceptions and negative perceptions from other people.

Some scars result in hyperpigmentation, which is a red or brown discolouration, while others result in keloids (irregular shaped scar that rises above the skin and spreads) which tend to occur on the chest, back, shoulders, and earlobes. Keloid scarring isn’t just unsightly, but often uncomfortable. But despite your scars’ story, shape, or colour, they can cause psychosocial distress, anxiety, and depression.

Whether you’re struggling with stigma or self-esteem issues stemming from scarring, treatment options are available – you don’t have to suffer. At Rao Dermatology, we offer several customized treatments to minimize the visibility of scars. Depending on your skin type and the degree of scarring, our experienced doctors will create a treatment plan specific to you and your needs. Our treatments for scars that are indented, large, thick, or raised may include some of the following treatments:

Laser Treatments

Advancements in laser technology over the last 35 years allows us to reduce, if not completely remove, the appearance of scars. Depending on the severity and your skin type, laser treatments offer the quickest solution to reducing the visibility of scars. Dr. Rao is also an acclaimed international expert and researcher in laser technology and dermatology. His guidance and expertise helps us to select the best treatment from your skin: Intense Pulse Light (IPL), Laser Genesis, Nano Laser Peel, Sciton Profractional, Q-Switch Laser, Excel V, Cynosure Smart Xide, Sciton Halo, and Micro-Laser Peel. Our laser treatments are non-invasive and proven to reduce scarring.

Dermal Fillers

A semi-permanent treatment, dermal fillers are an effective treatment for atrophic scarring (indentations). The collagen in the filler adds volume, raising the indented scars, and providing instantaneous results, though fillers do need follow ups to maintain the effect. At Rao Dermatology, your doctor will determine which filler is best for your skin, but we carry Juvederm®, Restylane®, Revanesse, and RADIESSE®.

Medical Facials

For superficial scarring, medical facials like chemical peels may be effective at reducing the appearance of scars, though they may work best paired with laser treatments. We offer chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and microneedling at Rao Dermatology, which may encourage healthy skin regeneration and collagen production.

Do you have scars that are making you unhappy? Book your free consultation in the form below to discuss treatment options for you.

What Causes Skin Tags and How to Get Rid of Them

Ever looked in the crease of your neck or armpit and been horrified to find a little, fleshy growth? Sometimes they hang by a stalk, other times they’re bumps, so at first glance, you might think pimple or wart, but these little balls and bumps are skin tags.

How do I know it’s a skin tag and not something else?

Also known as cutaneous tags, soft fibromas, acrochordons, and fibroepithelial polyps, despite their many medical terms and being classified as tumours, skin tags are utterly benign and painless (unless, of course they’re pinched or irritated which may lead to infection). Plus, they’re easy to differentiate from melanoma since they tend to match your skin tone (maybe slightly darker) and are often attached to your skin by a narrow stalk. The average skin tag measures a mere 2-5mm but some can grow to be as large as a fig!

Sometimes other skin growths may be confused with skin tags: warts, barnacles (seborrheic keratoses), and different types of moles. But don’t worry, skin tags are typically easy to diagnose and they aren’t contagious like warts.

What causes skin tags?

Because they’re caused by friction, skin tags are most often found in skin folds (think groin, armpits, necks, eyelids, and under breasts) which means they’re also incredibly common. Almost everyone will have a skin tag at some point in their lives (some people get more than 100 skin tags!), but they’re most common among people over 50 years old and people that are overweight. However, kids can get them from excessive eye rubbing and repetitive friction caused by playing sports. And because of hormone elevation and rapid weight gain, some women develop skin tags during pregnancy.

How do I get rid of them?

While it may be tempting to try to twist, pinch, pull, or cut them yourself, trying to get rid of a skin tag on your own might cause irritation or infection. Plus, picking at them can just cause them fill with blood or turn black or red – which just ends up making them more unsightly!

Typically, skin tags are only removed if they’ve become irritated, infected, or unsightly. Sometimes, skin tags fall off by themselves, but usually a short trip to the dermatologist can take them off quickly and safely.

At Rao Dermatology, we remove skin tags with liquid nitrogen (freezing), a carbon dioxide laser (burning), or a small incision (cutting). The size and location of your skin tags, as well as your unique skin, will determine the course of treatment. To minimize discomfort, we’ll numb the are with an anesthetic and, if it bleeds, we might apply a topical ointment or bandage. Skin tag removal doesn’t usually leave scars either, so you can rest assured that when it heals, your unsightly problem will be gone.