“Looks can kill”: Why this skin doctor says beauty is a health issue

Dr Pancholi argues that improving how we look isn’t vain, it’s a crucial part of healing minds and bodies.

by JOHN MUCHANGI

Health03 June 2025 - 12:00

In Summary

There is a study with very interesting results I looked at back when I was becoming a cosmetic dermatologist. A beautiful face and one that wasn’t as beautiful were placed in front of babies. The results showed that the babies spent more time staring at the beautiful face.

Since his childhood, Pranav Pancholi knew that he wanted to be a medical doctor.

Today as a cosmetic dermatologist, Dr Pancholi offers procedures such as getting rid of wrinkles, stretchmarks, warts, skin tags, skin discoloration and any similar blemishes.

He is a member of the American Academy of Regenerative Medicine, American Academy of Dermatology, and serves as an advisor on for the American Board of Laser surgery for Sub-Saharan Africa.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Skin Cancer from the University of Queensland in Australia. He is also a fellow in dermatology at Harvard Medical School.

He is the proprietor of Avane Clinics in Nairobi, one located at Yaya Centre and the other in Gigiri.

He spoke to The Star about the growing practice of cosmetic dermatology, which often involves non-invasive or minimally invasive skin procedures to improve appearance.

This field of medicine is not about saving lives. Is that right?

That is a fallacy. There are skin conditions like cellulitis, which can kill you if not treated. Others like psoriasis lower the quality of your life. Also, don’t forget, skin cancer is definitely a life and death illness. And all of them also affect how we look.

At the same time how people feel about their looks and appearance can be life and death. Society disregards our deep emotional and psychological connections to how we look and it affects our mental health. There are many studies out there that link suicide with how people feel about their appearance. I will tell you, if you have a relative who is always saying negative things about how they look, do not play it down. Listen to them keenly because you might save them from sinking deeper. So, no: what I do is about human health and dignity.

Is looking good really that important?

You will be surprised. A beautiful woman is most likely marry the rich man. An attractive person will most likely get the job ahead of everyone else. Studies have been done on this. There is a study with very interesting results I looked at back when I was becoming a cosmetic dermatologist. A beautiful face and one that wasn’t as beautiful were placed in front of babies. The results showed that the babies spent more time staring at the beautiful face.

Why choose cosmetic medicine and not, for example, urology?

Let me take you back to the time I was growing up. When I was two years old my mother would dress me up in doctor outfits and give me a plastic stethoscope. I would be asked by people, ‘What do you want to be?’ I always said I want to be a doctor.

That aside, my father is a doctor. It so happens that he specialised in dermatology. To date, he practices at a private hospital called Pandya in Mombasa.

He had a lot of influence over my life. I grew up in his footsteps. When my dad presented papers at Kenya Medical Association (KMA) conferences, I used to help him with preparations as far back as my high school years.

But also, when I was in medical school, one of my mentors, a man by the name Colonel Gakuru (I don’t know where he is today), was a dermatologist at Armed Forces Memorial Hospital. He encouraged me to pursue that path. Beyond that he also asked me to join the army as a cadet. I could have. But as I was doing my one year of residency – at Thika Level 5 Hospital – I felt that I needed to go further than dermatology and start providing solutions to people with low self-esteem because I could relate.

What kind of insecurities did you have growing up?

I was bullied as a kid. Bullied for being a nerd and not being pro-fun. That gave me a very low self-esteem. I did not have many friends. I survived through it but it did not feel good at all.

Making people feel good about themselves became a natural direction for me to take. I had a feeling of what it felt like for someone to be looked at in a certain way because they have bad acne, or a big stomach, or stretchmarks. Cosmetic dermatology gave me purpose.

When did you go into private practice?

We set up Avane in 2011. People did not even know what cosmetic dermatology really was. The concept of laser (light) treatment felt foreign and hyperbolic. We are actually the first medical facility to import a laser machine used for medical purposes. It took time before we started seeing regular visits by patients.

How many patient do you receive today on average?

At least 50 patients per day. We grew by word of mouth. The first patients to visit would tell their friends that it was real and it worked. Our Yaya Centre clinic is currently the largest aesthetic centre in East and Central Africa.

That was a quick expansion: how did you do it?

I have no wife. I have no child. Throughout these years, all I have done is work and follow my career passion. It is now that I am actually reorganising my life to have more time to care for myself. I am transitioning towards being the quintessential CEO; I will manage the team of doctors, nurses and cosmetic technicians at Avane. I will still be attending to a few patients though.

What range of services are you skilled in?

I am a dermatologist. Patients come for all manner of skin infections. Patients come for diagnosis and treatment for illnesses like psoriasis and melanoma (skin cancer). But we are mostly known for cosmetic procedures such as botox, dermal fillers, facial balancing and symmetry, laser skin tightening and rejuvenation, vaginal tightening, non-surgical weight loss, laser hair removal for hirsutism, acne treatment, body contouring, and removal of skin tags and other skin blemishes. These are just a few.

Right now the trend I have seen is people want non-surgical, non-invasive, non-injectable facelift. People don't want to go through surgery or take two, three weeks time off. Surgeries can come with risks and complications including death, so people want to avoid surgical procedures unless it's the last option.

How people feel about their looks and appearance can be life and death.

How do you deal with patients who may have unrealistic expectations or underlying mental health issues like body dysmorphia?

Every cosmetic dermatologist is trained to pick out patients who are in no need of a procedure. There is a very strict line that doctors never cross: the best interest of the patient. We take an oath to do no harm; we only do that which enhances the patient’s health. With such patients we usually refer them for counselling.

If I did exercise and ate healthy, I wouldn’t need you, right?

I am a big advocate (and practitioner) of eating healthy, exercising every day, and drinking lots of water. If everyone did this our clientele would probably go down by 30 per cent. But what is the reality of the lives we are living today? The average person works in an office and not in a farm. We are eating ultra-processed food. The environment is dirtier. We are not the same human beings as our grandfathers. So, the way we live our lives today takes a toll on our bodies and chances are Avane will continue seeing hundreds of patients daily.