Hey everyone, welcome to our first official episode
of our podcast Derm Next Door. I'm here with
Allie and we're going to be talking about a bunch
of cool new exciting stuff. So happy to be back.
And yeah, this is our first official episode
last week or a few weeks ago, we did our first
kind of test run and an intro episode. So we're
really excited. All right, so Allie, what are
we hot and bothered about? Okay, so I think we
might have brought this up in our intro episode,
but we do need to have a moment for salmon sperm
skincare. It's actually kind of late to the trend,
but I think we should still address it because
it's just fascinating. What have you been thinking
about it? So let's break it down. What is salmon
sperm? So it stands, it's PDRN. And basically
the way that people have been doing it in other
parts of the world is injecting it superficially
under the skin. Some people have microneedled
with it. Some people inject it a little bit deeper.
I've also seen reports or other doctors who mix
it with exosomes, with mesotherapy, also injecting
that. So there's a lot of potential. I'm excited
to actually one day try doing it with microneedling,
possibly on each other. I think that's a good
place to start. Okay, I have a confession. I
kind of picked up a few ampules of PDRN at our
conference in large, so it's like sitting in
my apartment and we can... we need to schedule
that. We need to schedule that. I also got some
when I was in Japan. I got the Resuron, the ampules,
and I've been using it for a few weeks now and
I think it is making a subtle difference. I think
I probably need to give it a little bit more
time, but I'm almost sold. Yeah, they talk about
it's kind of like collagen stimulating properties.
It helps with pore refinement, texture, pigmentation.
I don't know. I feel like the claim is really,
really big. We'll just wait and see. Yeah, agreed.
Yeah. Other things hot? I think that you should
share your most recent procedure because I'm
excited to learn more about it. Okay, so I recently
got PRP done, which is platelet -rich plasma.
That's where they draw your own blood, spin it,
take the part of the blood that's really rich
in platelets and stem cells and growth factors,
and then you re -inject it back into the skin
or hair or whatever area you're treating. at
my current kind of where my skin is right now
I like I like my volume but when you want when
you want to add a little bit more a little bit
of a glow without adding say filler for example
I'm not there yet we were just talking about
this I don't I don't think I'm there yet so I
like to do a little bit of PRP to my face and
then whatever's left over I always inject into
the hair because we never waste good product
especially when it's your own But yeah, I just
really like how glowy my skin feels afterwards.
And I also feel like I'm injecting my own product,
if that makes sense. So it makes me feel, yeah,
exactly, organic. Yeah, and also your skin does
look noticeably better. So I think I want to
try next. Yes. Okay, other things, let's see,
bothered. What is bothering me lately? I think
I'm bothered by the amount of things that people
are doing at home. Someone asked me the other
day, a patient asked me about dermaplaning and
initially I thought dermaplaning was like totally
fine. But then actually, I always like to try
anything I'm recommending to my patients. And
I tried it myself. And I did, it was kind of
rough, actually. I think that if a dermatologist
can't do it, I don't know that like the lay person
should be doing it at home. No, agreed. I've
actually tried it myself. I've like picked up
a few blades. They're really sharp, eh? Exactly.
And then with like the like the the way your
skin is, like your face is shaped, like there's
a lot of areas that are hollow. You know, it
was kind of hard and I can see how someone might
hurt themselves, A, and then B, also just like
irritate their skin. If you're not prepping your
skin properly, if you're not applying the right
products afterwards, it can lead to like irritation,
it can lead to like more congestion. That's my...
two cents. I'm not against it. I mean, I actually
asked the person, I'm like, do you feel like
it works for you? Do you like it? They're either
like, yes. Oh my gosh. They rave about it. I'm
like, okay, continue. But if they feel like it's
not really doing much, I tell them to stop. Yeah.
Yeah. I would much rather do my own botox than
mess around with dermablading again. A hundred
percent. But speaking of like at -home devices,
what do we feel about, what do you think about
at -home laser devices? Hmm scam potentially
I feel like it's very dangerous because especially
if you have pigmented skin any melanin you're
at risk of overdoing it and you know, getting
like burns on your skin and that can lead to
pigmentation. Sometimes that's not easy to fix.
It could be irreversible. That's one part of
it. And then the second part of it is it's usually
such low levels that A, it doesn't work. And
then B, my fear is that you're stimulating the
hair follicles, like paradoxical hypertrichosis,
which can happen in like, you know, Mediterranean,
Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern people. So I
wonder, I don't know, it's not for the faint
of heart. Yeah. And also my biggest fear, at
least for patients is that patients are spending
so much money on these things and there's just
no data really, or there's just no science backing
what they're selling online. So I don't know.
I think that people should stay away from it
from now. Okay, side eyeing. I saw something
recently on TikTok about some... TikTok influencer
was saying that she got glass skin from drinking
water. And while that sounds amazing, it's really
not that easy. Glass skin takes a lot of work
and drinking water is good for sustaining life.
Please drink water. Yeah, please stay hydrated,
but it's definitely not going to give you glass
skin. You need a lot more work. No, agreed. And,
you know, one part of it is I feel like people
who tend to drink more water and are hydrated
are more likely to have, like, a good skincare
routine. So, you know, I don't think that's necessarily
contributing to their glass skin, but those people
are just, in general, more disciplined. Right.
Yeah. So this is the confounding variables here.
Yeah. TikTok doesn't account for that. No, it
does not. And also, I should drink more water.
Ali, I love that you have a water bottle right
now. Yeah, I have a water bottle, so yes. Okay,
moving on to Derm in the Wild. So pop culture,
any current events that are kind of, you know,
filtering through our heads right now? I know
that one thing, because I was just at the Met,
I was actually seeing the opera Barbara Seville,
10 out of 10 recommend. It was hilarious, first
of all. Really? Yes, it was actually so funny.
Obviously, the performers were amazing. But yeah,
it was just a lovely experience. But anyways,
being at the Met had me thinking about the upcoming
Met Gala. And you and I were just talking about
Softwave. And apparently, that's what Kim Kardashian
does before the Met Gala. I mean, that's what
I feel like every celebrity is doing all the
time. I feel like we get our hands on Softwave.
I know, I know. That's like our, that's on our...
hot list. Like we need to tell our listeners
a little bit more about SoftWave and what Kim
Kardashian's doing with it. Yeah, so SoftWave
is a device where basically it's kind of like
a newer generation of skin like firming devices
where you are applying this device and it stimulates
the deeper layers of your collagen to basically
kind of grow and it causes a little bit of lifting.
Is it going to give you the same effect as a
facelift? No. But when you're at that in -between
age, like I would say kind of, you know, you're,
you know, late 30s, early 40s, mid 40s, where
you don't need a facelift, but you need a little
bit of help of like a little bit of firming,
a little bit of lift, I think it's a great place
to start. And a lot of people are always asking
about what can I do to prevent, you know, aging
or what can I do to kind of preserve what I already
have? So I think that's a great place to start.
I feel like it's really great for brows. If you
go kind of like forehead, like it gives a little
bit of a similar to like a Botox brow. So if
you combine it's even better, Botox and Softwave.
And the way The current recommendations are to
do two treatments, so three months apart, and
then once a year for like maintenance. Apparently
it's not as painful as like other devices like
the all therapy or Thermage. So I think it's
promising and it's honestly the new hottest device.
Truly. I think everyone's looking for a good
eyebrow lift at the end of the day. Yes, and
also like for the jawline, I feel like having
a snatched jawline is like clutch and, you know,
very difficult to achieve and you need to do
a lot of different things. Retin -A and retinol
will only get you so far and sunscreen. Sometimes
we need the help of, you know, different devices.
And I can't wait to try it. We should try it
together. We should try it. But actually, that
just made me think of another thing that's sort
of like, it's not really trending right now,
but a lot of things that come up about jaw snatching.
Masseter Botox is like surprisingly controversial.
Yeah, and I'm curious. What is your take on Masseter
Botox? Okay, so First of all my issue with Masseter
Botox is not everyone needs it So I do believe
that some people who do have like more hypertrophy
or thick, you know, the the muscle of their jaw
is thicker and you can visibly see it and it's,
you know, contributing to like TMJ pain, you
know, headaches. They can benefit and that's
usually when they're younger. However, when you're
older and you target that area, you're more likely
to develop jowls because that bulky muscle is
somehow giving you a little bit of a lift. If
you're relaxing it too much or making it smaller,
that skin then kind of, you know, slides down
a little bit and then you get more pronounced
jowls. So that's my problem with masseter botox.
I'm not against it, but I feel like I do less
and less of it, or I convince my patient not
to do it. And what do you tell them to do instead?
It depends. Is their goal, like, slimming? Snatching
the jaw. If it's snatching the jaw, you can do
more Botox, like, underneath, like the Nefertiti
or, like, Texas Lift. That's helpful. Also, if
they have less pronounced jawline or less structure,
like, Radiesse or, like, a deeper filler is helpful.
um, more of like the deeper kind of, um, bio
-stimulatory fillers like Sculptra, things like
that. Yes, we need to, we need to talk next episode
about Sculptra too. We should just, yeah. Yeah,
actually we could do a whole bio -stimulatory.
I know. And then we can do a whole talk just
on the jaw. Exactly. Wow. So many ideas. But
yeah, okay. We don't want to get too sidetracked,
but, um, okay. What do you, what do you think
about Mastodermal Sox? I, I pretty much agree.
I mean, I think you just have to have the right
shape and also age. Like when patients start
to get a lot older, I don't love doing the master.
But if you're like in between like 20 and young
50 and you are looking for just a little bit
of snatching and you have the right shape, I
like it. Yeah. And then the other thing is, it
can be dramatic. And I feel like it was a huge
thing on social media like a few years ago, but
now not so much. Just one last thing with the
jaw. I just feel like sometimes people do too
much filler in the jaw to try to get that...
Definition. Yeah, and then on on some women it
can look very masculine Yeah, I found that sometimes
that yes can look a little bit. Yeah. Yeah So
radius is more like if you're older and you've
lost bone exactly. I feel like replenish That's
the mistake is that sometimes I've seen younger
people. Yeah the radius and I'm like why But
don't you feel and we talked about this earlier
that people are just doing less and less filler.
Yes Great percent and I actually find myself
telling patients you know, there's a lot of other
options other than filler, or I've had so many
patients recently, like within the last few months,
tons of them that are coming in having previously
done eye filler, under eye filler, and all of
them want it dissolved. Yeah. I don't know if
it's because everyone's talking about it, or
I think it just kind of looks like not great.
I think it's like Kylie Jenner effects. Remember
when she like, I forget what, when it was sometime
like two years ago, when she had really bad under
eye swelling? Yeah. And they thought maybe it
was you know, due to filler, like, blocking the
lymphatic, like, you know, a lot of, like, orbital
edema. And then she went and, like, dissolved
out of it. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I
feel like she was also some, like, key and, like,
monumental in, like, the lip filler revolution
in, like, 2014, 2015, where everyone and their
mother and, you know, everyone went out and got
fillers, even if they didn't need it, and at
a very young age. Yeah. So now we're seeing more
of a return of like the natural aesthetic, which
I am personally very pleased. Yeah, I really
like that. Yeah, like a little filler in the
lips, a little bit in the cheekbones, like as
you're getting older and then a tiny bit in your
temples as you're getting even more. Yeah, exactly.
And I'm not and I feel like when I have younger
patients and they want to do something I kind
of steer them towards PRP Mm -hmm, because that's
helpful and that's your own like growth factors.
You're less likely get like reactions to it Oh,
yes. Yeah. Yeah, so many options so many. Um,
okay next up we're gonna do science or scam And
I have a great one that I want to discuss immediately.
So I think it might have been tanks or one of
those like big influencers was talking about
dunking your face in ice cold water, like right
when you wake up. So, you know, I just wanted
to try this because I'm like, what is this actually
doing? And people online say that it helps like
de -puff your face and whatever. And I'm sitting
here thinking about it. I really just can't wrap
my head around the science behind this. So help
me understand. Why are people doing this? I tried
it. I noticed no difference. I feel like I'm
trying to think about the science. Maybe if you
are, you tend to wake up puffy. Like the cool
water might help that cool is freezing cold freezing
cold. Okay, I Feel like there was like some kind
of research about ice cold immersion, like water
immersion, helping to like, to like, um, submit
your vagus nerve or something like activity.
So that, but that's like, that makes sense to
me, but this is specifically skin related. No,
I do not. That's like, remember like when we
were like, when I was a teenager, it was like,
oh yeah, hot water opens your pores and then
you like steam your face. You do your facial
and then you seal it with some cold water to
close up. It's like a door that opens and closes.
Your pores are not doors, you know, No. So it
reminds me of, you know, this like TikTok trend
of like the morning routine with the Saratoga
water and the ice water, like dunking your face
into the ice water. I think he did that also.
That's probably why it got so viral. Right, right,
right. What about ice rollers? I'm not against
it. I feel like they're good when you're getting
an injection, like injections in the face, they
help kind of with pain, reduce pain, they help
reduce swelling, bruising. But I always tell
people, do you like doing it? Do you enjoy it?
Is it part of your routine? And if they like
it, continue. If not, I don't recommend it. You're
saying that it's a placebo. Basically. In a nice
way. Just give them what they want. Give the
people what they want. 100%. And then one other
thing that I think is worth discussing, but honestly,
I think we might need an entire chunk of an episode
for. is LED face masks. Because I think that
I've had more and more patients come to me asking
like, which one should I use? Is this one okay?
This and that. So maybe we should look into all
of the ones that are currently on the market
and come back to our listeners with a little
bit more information and guidance. Yeah, um,
I think there's so much, you're right, there's
so much information out there. And there's also
like the hair, the head mask, like the head caps
and like different things. There's like the body
red light. There's like the sona infrared with
the red lights. It's a lot. Do you have any of
them? I do not. Yeah. And I guess it says a lot
about what I think about them. I know. Well,
I'm curious. They are big investments, you know?
I know. And we're so used to getting things.
Yes. It's part of the perks. Yeah, part of the
perks. But yeah, okay, so more to come on that
in a later episode. But moving on, so next we
have Ask the Derms. And, you know, since this
is our first official episode, we didn't kind
of like poll everyone. But please, guys, please
message us on Instagram. We will set out a poll
before our next episode so that we can more...
get more engagement. But I was thinking that
since we don't have any lined up, let's just
kind of like maybe touch on some questions that
we've been getting in the office lately. Yeah.
Or some questions or also like common themes
that we've been seeing. So I can start. Yeah,
sure. So I am not lying when I tell you I've
probably had close to five patients within the
last two months that have come in using a certain
product that's like $900, not actually, but so
expensive, and have the worst irritant contact
I've ever seen. And this lady came in. Oh, I
think I know what it is. Wait, what is your guess?
Snail mucin? No, snail mucin is good. Centella?
No, then Centella is good. It's not an ingredient,
it's a brand. Oh, okay. Can you like multiple
choice? Okay, I'm gonna give you three expensive
brands. Yeah. And you're gonna tell me, let's
see, by Terry, Caudele, La Mer. La Mer. 100%.
Yeah. Girls, guys, everyone. please stop using
La Mir. I don't know how, what more I can say,
but I see this so commonly. So basically what
happened is the patient had come in and she,
poor lady had this like horrible irritant contact
derm. And I see her like looking in her compact,
like her powder mirror. And then I see that the
powder compact is La Mir. And I'm like, oh, interesting.
Like, do you use any of their other products?
And she was like, you know, I just started. the
moisturizer and like everything lined up perfectly
and as soon as she's stopping it, things are
getting better. Don't you love when you're a
detective in clinic? Yeah, I love being a detective.
But also, like why are people spending so much
money? I feel bad. They're spending so much money
on these products. They expect the expense of
products to be like top of the line. But honestly,
if you ask most dermatologists what they use
day to day, like 90 % of it is probably drugstore.
I would say, yeah. 60 to 80. Like 95 % of what
I use. But you know what it is, sometimes I feel
like these products, it's like a status symbol.
Like I use La Mer, it's like top of the line
because it's so expensive. But more expensive
doesn't mean better. And you're right, like this
goes to show. Yeah, I've actually seen it a lot
with... Korean skin products, not all Korean
brands, but some, especially when people kind
of go all out and they're using 12 different
products. And they start mixing things, like
this serum with this, like, whatever essence,
and then you're applying it. Things are not meant
to be, like, it's not an experiment, right? You're
not, like, you shouldn't be trying to, like,
concoct your own, like, skincare. Yeah. No, yeah.
And another common culprit, well, actually, To
wrap that up, I was curious if you have any thoughts.
Have you ever looked at the La Mer product? I'm
speaking about like, I think it's the Rich Cream
or something. No, that might be Augustine Bader.
But I don't know. It's the La Mer product that
everyone buys. It comes in like this little like
- It's like a tub and then it has a spoon. It
has a spoon. It's like so expensive for this
little tiny thing. But I really need to look
into the ingredient list and figure out why so
many people are - So many people's skins are
just freaking out. I think it has fragrance.
It definitely has fragrance. Yeah. So that for
sure. So I mean, it probably works well for most
people, but for people with sensitive skin, rosacea,
anything like that, it can be more irritating.
So it makes sense. It does make sense. Other
things that I see people respond poorly to are
vitamin C's because So many of the vitamin C's
that are on the market, they're just so crappy.
Oh. Okay, so being the person that I am, I already
Googled it. So, I mean, we're just going through
the ingredients. So, so far, the citrus... This
is for the lemare, by the way. Yeah, sesame seed,
eucalyptus. Um... Yeah, those are probably...
Oh, mineral oil. There's mineral oil in this.
Okay, this is probably what it is. I'm telling
you. Okay, because the rest of them, I mean,
they're not great, but... What are you paying
for, exactly? Also, algae extract can be a little
bit... Irritating. Irritating, yeah. Guys, there's
mineral oil in this. That's kind of gross. So
gross. But yeah, please don't use that ever.
Don't waste your money. Okay, and then other
questions. Oh yeah, one thing that I've been
getting a few times this week. People are asking
what to do about periorbital hyperpigmentation
and I feel like I have no answers. Yeah, so a
lot of times it's post -inflammatory pigmentation
from either like dermatitis, eczema that can
leave like a little bit of pigmentation. You
mean around the mouth? Period or oh period or
but oh my god, I think I'm important period or
official. We just came from work. I'm sorry guys
I'm like my brain is fried. Okay, so around the
eye so darkening. Yeah. Yeah, so a lot of times
it's genetic if that's what I yeah Okay, I asked
him like what is do your parents have this is
anyone you're and you know, it's I know that
Okay, I had a patient today and she's like, what
do I do and I'm like, unfortunately, it's genetic.
I don't know And that doesn't stop the conversation.
Like, people need an answer, and I don't know
what to tell them. I don't know of any treatments
that actually work. I know. And a lot of times,
you know, we can try doing, like, some lightening
agents like kojic acid, co -apounded, vitamin
C, things like that. But even then, it's not
perfect. Exactly. It's not 100%. If there's a
component of like shadows from like volume, maybe
filler might help. That's what I was telling
her today. I was like, so I told her that like
a lot of times if there is shadowing, I mean,
you could consider filler, but even that, like
I hate using filler under eye. But she didn't
even have any shadowing. And I'm like, when it's
genetic, when anything is genetic, I mean, it's
hard to... It's hard, yeah. Also, like people
expect... to come in and see a dermatologist
and have all the answers. And a lot of times
they're waiting a long time. So I try to be patient
with them and try to give them all the options.
But it's really hard to tell someone, oh, there's
nothing to do. There's two things, guys, that
when you go to the dermatologist, you'll likely
not get any type of treatment or answer. And
those two things that are on the top of my head
would be periorbital hyperpigmentation, which
is darkening around your eyes and Number two,
can you read my mind? No. Keratosis pilaris.
Oh, yeah. Okay, there's no treatment It sucks
and and people get mad because like it's such
an annoying condition. I mean, I feel like everyone's
had it. Yeah, everyone Yeah, I have it too. And
sometimes it acts up and it's like the most annoying
thing, but there is no treatment Yeah, I mean
you can try to like help but like just moisturizer
with specific thing, but nothing nothing really
makes it go away It's not nothing you can cure
exactly. But speaking of the darkening under
the eyes, I wonder if we inject PDRN. Because
some of them are like help with pigmentation.
That's true. I feel like people in Asia are doing
this already. Yeah, probably. They're ahead of
us. But yeah, that's a good thought. Okay, moving
right along to NYC, Lower East Side Updates.
I know you've been gone for a while, but I think
I have a few things that we could touch on. The
first one is a little bit scandalous, but Did
we talk about this in the first episode on the
restaurant that you liked, 87 Ludlow? I don't
know, did we? I don't know if we talked about
it. But anyways, Reem had told me that she liked
this restaurant in the Lower East Side called
87 Ludlaus. Is that how you say it? Ludlow, yeah.
Ludlow. I don't know. Sorry. Lower East Side
are here. But I went and I really didn't like
it and Reem liked it. So... That's just an example
of like one person's like very much like, you
know, like I have like a high opinion. She did
not like it. But also you didn't get what I got.
I got the crab, which was really good. I did
not get that. I got some octopus and it was good,
but I don't think I would go back. No, it's like
it's a Filipino slash like Spanish tapas bar,
which I really, you know, it's worth checking
out. It's also cute as a vibe. Like, yeah, like
a cute place to go. Maybe like after work or
like, you know. dinner. Yeah, but what else do
you like in this area? So other things that I've
tried recently. So also, I don't drink. So I
won't be able to recommend like, Reem doesn't
drink. Neither do I. It's better for your skin.
It's better for your skin and better for life.
But anyways, do what you do. So I won't be able
to recommend like cocktails and stuff, but don't
get me wrong I still do go to bars because I
love you know vibe -checking And two places that
stand out within the last like week or so or
two weeks Number one attaboy Louisa. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, so that was actually really fun on and
basically there's no menu and you just walk in
and the conversation you have with the bartenders,
the menu. Oh, I didn't know that. I went out
for dinner. Oh, wait, no, no, no. You're thinking
about Atta Boy, the Korean place. Yeah. No, no,
no. This is Atta Boy. Oh, OK, sorry. And this
is a Lower East Side speakeasy. Oh my gosh. No,
no, no. This is a common misconception. Yeah.
Yeah. People have mistaken it before. Yeah. But
yeah, no. So I went to the bar and, you know,
it was cool. I liked the idea. I liked the concept.
And a speakeasy is always fine because it's like
kind of sneaky. And then I had the best mocktail
that I've had in New York thus far. And it was
at Bonza Bar, which is Freeman Alley. You've
seen, you've been there. No. It's like the area
in Lower East Side where there's all this graffiti
and it's like artsy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was, and also the inside of Bonzo Bar was
so cool. Oh, I really want to check it out. I
want to check it out. Where have I been recently?
Oh, what about the place that we went for dinner
tonight at Essex Market? That was good. What
was it? Zob Zob Zob burgers are so good. So Essex
market is Basically a lot of few cute restaurants.
There's like a gourmet cheese area. There's a
vegan cheese area There's like supermarkets.
It's a really cool place to like check out different
cuisines. There's a Moroccan place I really like
but we had burgers at Zob, which is like such
a good smash burger And the fries are excellent
and they have like a tie. It's like a there's
like Peruvian tie. No, no, no, but Zob or is
like a Thai I don't know actually don't quote
me on that yeah we don't know but like it's really
good let's try it and it was pretty cheap so
yeah you should definitely try it yeah um okay
city yeah yes I have other racks, but not so
many Lower East Side. So there's other things
that we need to bring up though, New York related.
Oh, I went to my first basketball game. Oh yeah,
that's so fun. I went to the Knicks game this
past week. They played the Pistons and they lost,
unfortunately. I felt like I was bad luck, but
it was great. It was so much fun. There's like
towel time. What's towel time? They give you
a towel with like the Knicks on it and then you
just... like wave it in the air when it's towel
time. Oh, that's cute. Yeah. Yeah. As for the
vibe, it was a lot of fun. And honestly, basketball
players are so tall. Yes. I did not like… Very
perceptive. Yes. Okay, um and okay also I wanted
to mention to everyone New York City related
so I don't know if everyone remembers but like
it was like a few months ago bath houses were
really trending and I knew you were gonna talk
about this wait really no because I have to because
I I misled my my I guess I don't even have followers
but I misled everyone because I was talking about
it on my blog that like bath houses are so cool
and they're so vibey which you know technically
they are but there are have been all these nasty
reports coming out that I wanted to make everyone
aware of, like, people are getting, like, UTIs.
And, I mean, I knew that, like, this was not,
like, a hygiene -friendly type of setting, and
it could only last for so long, because, like,
the amount of, like, crap that you can get in
these types of places, mostly from a skin perspective,
like, fungus risk, like, enormously high. I mean,
I, like, as a dermatologist... I'm getting goosebumps
right now. Like it's a hundred percent. So this
specific one was in Flatiron. We won't name names.
No, we won't. But you know, you can do your digging
and figure it out. I feel like, I mean, it makes
sense because New York City is such a, it's so
populous. There's so many people, right? And
like all walks of life, you know, different levels
and varied hygiene practices, right? So it makes
sense. But as a rule of thumb, First of all,
it's really difficult for me to even enter a
sauna or a steam room because it grosses me out
because all I think of is fungus and molluscum
and all sorts of infections. Let's just update
our listeners. So basically, molluscum is more
technically kid -related. Yeah, because Reem
is also board certified in pediatric dermatology,
so she might just drop some peed stuff here and
there. Yeah. But it's not really affecting probably
most of our listeners. You can get molluscum
as an adult, for sure. You can 100 percent. But
the things that we worry about most in these
types of war settings, huh? Yeah, exactly. Warts,
which is caused by HPV, which is a virus and
that you can get contact skin contact, which
is like very, very common in these types of places.
Like you are rubbing up on these strangers. It's
really gross. And then so warts, number two,
fungus, very easy to get. Think about, have you
guys ever heard of like athlete's foot or tinnia,
any of these types of things that you can get
in like locker rooms? These bathhouses are like...
cesspools. Yeah, not just bath - also gyms, you
guys. Oh gyms too, yeah. So if you were ever
- never walk barefoot anywhere, just take it
as a rule of thumb. If you see a yoga mat that
is like moist and damp and then you're about
to go on a barefoot thing twice, please. Yes.
Oh god. Yeah, so never walk barefoot, always
have flip -flops on, even when you shower, take
like - you should have like - clean flip -flops
or sandals. Another tip is if you are to sit
in a steam room or a sauna, have your own towel
and that's what your butt makes contact with.
No surfaces at all. And this goes for gyms as
well, not just for bath houses. Also, on that
note, can I just say that I get a lot of patients
who come to me with some kind of like contact
dermatitis or even like intertrigo, which if
you don't know what intertrigo is, it's sort
of like a mixture of like eczema and fungus.
But a lot of people are saying that it starts
like right after they go to the gym. And so that
makes sense because like you're sweating so the
skin is moist and fungus likes moist areas. But
it gets A lot of patients will say that they
use the towels at the gym to like wash off and
stuff. And I'm just saying that I would encourage
people to bring their own towels because many
of these people, even if they're not sweating
and they're just like dabbing with the towel,
they're coming in with the same thing. Yeah,
no, 100 % agree. And also, always bring your
own yoga mat. And those yoga blocks, you cannot
sanitize them, okay? So, like, don't think that
they're, like, clean in between. It's not a smooth
surface. Even if you spray whatever, like, Lysol
on them, they're still, like, really gross. Contaminated,
yeah. Okay, so basically after this podcast,
no one's gonna leave the house or do any, like,
exercise or self -care. Good. Oh, we should talk
about massages next, like next episode. Next
episode. So much to talk about. Oh my gosh. Okay,
the last thing in terms of New York, people are
wearing less and less clothes. You do you. Love
this for everyone as the weather's getting warmer.
But I will say, please have your favorite sunscreen
lined up. And that's all I have to say. What's
your favorite? Right now, I'm using the Isdin,
which I really like, for non -tinted. And then
when I'm day -to -day going to work, I'm using
the Eucerin mineral SPF with tint. Oh, Eucerin's
having a pop -up this weekend. Yeah, we should
go. Yeah, we should. Okay. I really like the
L2MD, the skin recovery, the redness corrector.
That one has centella, but apparently you don't
like centella. No, no, no. I like centella, but
there was a certain product in a Korean. I forget
which one. A lot of them have. Yeah. So I had
a patient with such a bad reaction that I had
to give her a systemic prednisone. Oh my God.
Yeah, it was really bad. Her face like doubled
in size. From the prednisone? And she showed
me a pic, no, from before. She showed me a picture
of what she looked like before. I couldn't believe
it, and so I gave her a systemic prednisone.
Wow. Wait, this is actually making me think of
something. If anyone has not watched The Pit,
please watch it on HBO. Have you watched it?
No, I'm watching St. Dennis Medical. Oh my god.
No, I've never heard of that. It's like Scrubs,
but like 2025. Okay, can you please watch The
Pit? It's so much better. But it's on HBO. But
there was an episode where... Oh, I don't know
if I should say this because I don't wanna...
No, it's not like a big thing. Is it like a spoiler?
No, it's not a spoiler. But there was an episode
that mentioned something, an ingredient in skincare,
and this girl had come in with some kind of reaction
to it. Was it Centella? No, it wasn't Centella.
Okay, we're gonna look it up, guys, and announce
it next time. As you can tell, we come very prepared.
We come extremely prepared. But anything else,
Rimi? No, you know, as the summer is rolling
in, just, you know, sun protection, tinted sunscreen,
I'm trying to be more aggressive with my tretinoin
and retinols. Oh, yeah. I just restarted mine
because basically what happened was I had taken
a break just because I had run out. And it's
a whole thing to like, you know how it is, everyone
getting prescriptions. It's the same for doctors.
Yeah. I can prescribe it for you. No, I know.
But then I was like, you might have to do a prior
authorization, whatever, whatever. So anyways,
a lot of work. I know it's a lot of work. So
I figured it out. But I had taken a break from
my Altrino, which is my beloved retinoid. And
I actually had considered trying a raslo. OK.
I heard it's better. That's what I'm saying.
So I was like, I've been using Altrino for years
and years. It really is my ride or die. Like
I have never found a retinoid that hits as hard.
But. You know, being a dermatologist, you always
have to push yourself to do the next best skin
thing. For the sake of your patients. For the
sake of my patients. And our listeners. Exactly.
So I was like, I need the Araslo, but it was
such a faff to try to get it and I just couldn't
get my hands on it. Okay, so I'm going to prescribe
it for you for the sake of the podcast. No, but
you won't be able to get it. It's like... Let
me try to submit a prior off. Okay, yeah. Let
me try. Do the work for me because I would do
it for you. Okay. But yeah, so... Compounded.
Yeah, so sometimes when your dermatologist can't
get you the like original prescription strength
we compound it with a which debatable if it's
the same F like Same thing. Sometimes it might
be better. Sometimes it could be better. But
yeah, the component are always out of pocket,
so just make sure that you know that. But anyways,
the point of all of that was I restarted my altrino
and I had a little bit of a retinoid peel and
I was like, oh my god, I miss this. Yeah, the
retinoid scaries. Yep. And it's always right
around the chin. People often come in, they're
like, oh my god, why am I so scaly around my
chin? But that just means it's working. Yes.
That means you're putting in the hard work. That
means you're putting in the hard work. Yep. Yeah.
Well, so nice chatting. So good to chat. And
we will be back. Everyone was traveling for two
weeks, so we were a little off schedule. Sorry.
But I think we should be back under a reasonable
amount of time. Maybe like a week, a week and
a half, two weeks. Nothing more than two weeks.
We'd love to hear your feedback. So message us,
reach out to us on Instagram. We love hearing
from you guys. And let us know what we should
talk about next. Alright guys, signing out! See
you next time! Bye!