Hot Flashes & Baby Rashes - Hormones & Skin

Hi everyone, it's Dr. Ozzie here. Welcome to the More Than a Pretty Face podcast. Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Ozzie, the host of More Than a Pretty Face podcast, and I'm here today with my nurse extraordinaire, Lacey, my co-host. Hi, Lacey. Hi, how are you? Good, how are you? Good. I am super excited for this episode. Yeah? I kind of wanted to do something a little different. I kind of wanted to mix in, instead of doing like our normal beauty and blemish, talk about some things that I've been reading about in the news. Oh, changing things up here. Yeah, you know I like to surprise you. That is true. So I'm thinking like beauty buzz. Oh, instead of beauty blemish, we're doing beauty buzz. I love it. So what have you been up to? What have you been reading about? Okay, so the first one I have to know. Okay. I read this article about Ozempic causing hair loss and how like there's 3% of people complaining now of their hair falling out, like combing it all out. First the face, now the hair. Guys, we have a podcast episode on Ozempic face, so if you're interested in that, check it out. Yeah, so Ozempic and hair loss. Well, any extreme weight loss or diet changes in your caloric intake can affect rapidly growing cells like the hair or the gut cells. And hair, because of the nature of the hair follicle, it is going to get an insult. It's going to get traumatized if it's not getting enough protein and getting enough nutrients and vitamins that are really essential for its growth. The body's going to say, okay, I have limited resources now and I have to make sacrifices. And what's the first thing to go? Your hair. And so you can get something called telogen effluvium. And this starts about three to six months after you start the weight loss, the extreme weight loss. Tell us what that big word, those two big words put together. Telogen effluvium. Yeah, so telogen effluvium is when you get all of a sudden the hairs that are in the growing cycle enter into the resting cycle and you see this massive, you know, all over shedding of hair. So you may notice it coming out in clumps in the shower. You may notice it, you know, all over your pillowcase or all over your, you know, clothing. And it can be really devastating, especially for women. Thinking about that happening to me, I would just die. I don't know how I would feel. And some people have a lot of hair, so they may not notice, you know, actual thinning, but just seeing all the hair come out can be really traumatizing. And then other people really, you can see their scalp more. It's a huge blow to the ego and to the confidence. And I really feel for those patients. They come in, they're in a panic because, you know, I don't think we realize how much nutrition and, you know, the amount of protein and vitamins that you're taking can have an effect on your hair. So if you are going to do any type of weight loss treatment, you have to make sure that you are getting still all the nutrients that are important for your hair, your skin, your bones, all those things are really critical. So what happens then, it can self-adjust. So once you start to replenish those vitamins and nutrients, then slowly it can happen. But the problem is the hair cycles every three months. So once you lose that hair, it's going to take another three to six months to regain some of those follicles. So before you do any sort of, you know, diet or weight loss treatment, make sure that you talk to your nutritionist or, you know, talk to your doctor about, I personally love these Hair to Men vitamins. They have all the essential vitamins for your hair. And then, you know, they also make one called Skin to Men, which is really nice. So the combination of those two would be helpful, but with supplements and hair and just, you know, vitamins, it's always important to talk to your doctor about this. It's not something you can really just do a Google search and come up with yourself. And then the other thing people don't realize is protein. Make sure that you're getting enough protein because it's the amino acids in proteins that are the building blocks for collagen, for hair, all those things. I mean, if it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. I mean, would they be able to still supplement while staying on Ozempic? Or do you think that- There's definitely a way to control for that. And nowadays with how advanced nutrition has become, you just really need to make sure you work with a dietitian and nutritionist and your doctor to make sure that you're still healthy with losing rapid amount or large amounts of weight in a very short period of time. It can be a big shock to your body. Okay. Well, did you hear about de-influencing? I guess there was like all of these big corporate businesses that came together for a luncheon or- Yeah. I saw that. Yeah. They were talking about how influencers are now taking to social media and they have such power to de-influence businesses or products and things like that. It's a problem. Did you read this? I don't know where I heard about this. I think Estee Lauder was there and some of the bigger companies. Yeah. I mean, you bring up a really good point and I know you looked at me when you were like influencer. I don't see myself as an influencer. I see myself as an educator, but I guess I am an influencer and what I say can have consequences. If I say, this brand is terrible or this product is terrible, it really affects the PR team. It affects the company. It affects, especially if they're a small business. So I think as influencers, we have to be really cautious about what we say. I know I'm aware of it, but I'm not on here to try to get views and to try to, I'm just on here because I want to bring valuable information from a physician perspective, which I feel like is missing, right? Because a lot of physicians are out seeing patients. They're not online all the time, looking for views, right? So the thing is Lacey, negative news is big news. Positive views is boring. Nobody wants to hear anything positive. They want to know the dirt. They want the scoop. They want to see people doing bad things. They don't want to see people doing good things. No, that's boring. No, it's drama. Everybody loves a little drama. Everybody loves drama. And TikTok is so viral. I mean, there's really no other platform that is as viral as TikTok. So I think that has a lot to do with this de-influencing problem is somebody will say something terrible about a product and then somebody else will come at them with something else. And the next thing you know, this whole thing gets spiraled out of control. And I feel like, too, a lot of people that don't have the education or don't have the true knowledge, but maybe, you know, feel some type of way and just like to start drama have this platform now to really make an impact on a business. And, you know, yeah, like apricot scrubs, I think TikTok like literally put that business out. They just put them out of business or the hair stuff that you hear about the shampoos and like hair loss and all these like class action lawsuits and this and that. But I mean, sometimes they're not any different than any other shampoo, you know, and they don't even know the root cause of that. Somebody, you know, somewhere will say I use a shampoo and it made my hair fall out. Next thing you know, this shampoo has 500 million hashtags about hair loss and there's a class action lawsuit because now everybody's on this bandwagon. Damn hashtags. Yeah, I know. It's crazy. Yeah. So I think we really do as influencers have to I know I try my best and I know sometimes I'm not perfect. You know, I may some say something that, you know, offend someone or not you happens happens to be misinterpreted, which I think happens to all anyone that's online and in the public eye. And I think that we just can do the best we can to bring informed, educated, science backed claims to these platforms. And I always try to, you know, do a PubMed research database search and really read up on the topic before speaking about it. And I think, you know, on the other hand, we have to be really careful about products that we, you know, represent and promote because we have to truly believe in those products. I mean, how many inquiries do I get like every day for a product like so many emails every day for all these products? And I'm not here really trying to promote like all these brands and getting paid for it. I really want to focus on, you know, a few brands that I really do feel that are legit and the claims are supported. And that's what I love about you and your patients love about you is you're genuine and you really do care about what people do and how they feel. Yeah. I think that's so important. I want to sleep well at night. Yes. Sleep is important for beauty. I don't want things like keeping me up in the middle of the night. Oh my gosh. Okay. So now the last one I really want to focus on because this article cracked me up. There is a magic pill going around that I am slightly inclined to try. It's by ritual and it's supposed to plump and hydrate your skin. And in this article, they really focus on improvement with your crow's feet, which kind of made me giggle because I'm like out of the full face. It's you're really seeing it in your crow's feet. How is that? So I just wanted your two cents. Yeah. I mean, what is it called? It's ritual. You know, I don't even remember the name of it, but it has like hyaluronic acid and I'm going to butcher this, but like ceratric. Ceramides? Yeah. It's a type of ceramide. So it sounds like it's a supplement for the skin. And, you know, I think those can be helpful. They're certainly not going to hurt. But if, you know, you think that taking hyaluronic acid by mouth is going to end up in your skin in a little pill form, it really sounds like magic. But apparently magic doesn't really exist. I mean, it does by magician, but I don't want to get myself in trouble and I don't want to like de-influence this friend. But I do think supplements can be helpful. I don't think that you should just rely on them because you're like, oh, well, I don't need to drink enough water because I'm taking the supplement. It has hyaluronic acid. It's going to hydrate my skin. You know, there's more to it than that. I think that people, when they start supplements or a diet that's healthy, they tend to be healthy in other aspects of their life. You know, they tend to drink more water, get more sleep, maybe start exercising because they're on this sort of health supplement, you know, kick. So I think it probably is a combination of things. Certainly what you put into your body and how you take care of your overall health affects your skin. So I always say, I don't, I can't argue with success. If this woman, you know, is taking the supplements and sees good results, there's no reason to stop. But there's no science that says taking hyaluronic acid in my mouth is going to increase your hyaluronic acid in your skin. I mean, there's really no, it's not scientifically proven, but there's a lot that goes into it that, you know, it's hard to digest, you know, and pick apart. Well, maybe I try them and we'll see how my crow's feet improve. Yeah, there you go. Drink a couple of glasses of water with that and I'm sure it'll be good. Wash it down with some water. It's kind of like, I'm sorry to interrupt, but like chlorophyll was all over TikTok and all these people were like, I just drank chlorophyll and now my acne's gone in a week. I'm like, maybe you're just drinking more water. Maybe you're using your acne products. Maybe you're getting more sleep. And you know, it's kind of like that. Okay, you guys, before we jump into Ask Dr. Ozzie, make sure you guys rate, review and subscribe to our podcast and be sure to follow us on Instagram at more than a pretty face podcast. Yes, we love to hear from you. And if you find this podcast valuable, don't forget sharing is caring. Share this with a friend. Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's officially summer this month and to celebrate the rising UV index, OzzieMD skincare is offering 15% off our most popular sun care product, Hydro Temp BB SPF 44. It's my personal favorite. I can't leave home without it. It gives me protection coverage and a filter like appearance. You can use code SPF 15 at checkout to get 15% off Hydro Temp BB SPF 44. Happy summer. All right, now my favorite time is Ask Dr. Ozzie, where you guys submit your questions for the expert to answer. And if you ever have questions come up about beauty, skin, health, don't forget to email us your questions, more than a pretty face podcast at gmail.com or DM us on Instagram at more than a pretty face podcast. Our first question comes from Roxanne on Instagram and she said, hi, Dr. Ozzie, I just turned 37 and my skin has gone out of control. I haven't had breakouts like this since I was a teenager and my skin is so dull and dry. My eye bags just won't go away. Is this hormone related? Can you shed some light on the latest treatment options like hormone replacement therapy and the best age to start? That is a great question because I think that so many women don't realize that hormonal changes happen way before you actually go into menopause, which majority of people hit menopause at age 51 and menopause is defined by not having a period, a menstrual, you know, bleeding time for one year. But our ovaries start to burn out 10 or 15 years before. And I see women in my office that come in and they're having hormonal breakouts, they're stressed, they're not sleeping. And sometimes I wonder, you know, their doctors are giving them sleeping pills, their doctors are prescribing them anxiety medicine. Well, has anyone checked this woman's hormones? Like maybe it's your progesterone that is low because progesterone has a very calming effect. It also helps you sleep better. Estrogen is huge for mood as is testosterone is important for, you know, being active and building muscle and energy. So that's a major issue. I think with our healthcare system, we just want to push medications rather than looking for the root cause of the problem. Because if you're all of a sudden having all these symptoms, there may be something more going on. I'm not going to just say, okay, here's some retin-A for your acne and your dull skin, and I'll see you in six months. I would say, go see your doctor. Primarily, I would start with an OBGYN because they are the experts in women's health. Be cautious of all these hormone clinics that are popping up in people that, you know, just started to get into this industry. I would start with your OBGYN or an endocrinologist. An endocrinologist is a doctor that has extensive medical training in hormones, all kinds of hormones, not just female hormones. But those two are a good start. And then they can help, you know, refer you to somebody who might be more specialized. But, you know, estrogen certainly plays a role in breakouts. Progesterone, all those fluctuations can cause the breakouts. And estrogen is so important for hydration of the skin, for elasticity of the skin, and just the overall glow. If you're seeing dullness and you're in your late 30s and you're having breakouts, I would say, yeah, the hormones are really key. I would love to have a hormone specialist or an OBGYN come on and talk more about this specifically, because I find that their insight is going to be much more valuable. But I do know that if that was me, I would definitely get a hormone panel. And usually they'll ask you to get your hormone levels checked on the third day of your menstrual period. Because what happens is our hormones are always like this, right? So you have to do several blood tests to really figure out where your hormones are at. And you want to do this before you actually hit menopause, because you want to see what your natural baseline was when you were 35. And when you were 37, or when you were 42, you want to know what the hormone levels are leading up to menopause so that you can better manage them. Oh, my mom went into perimenopause like at 37. Into menopause? Oh, perimenopause, she started that process. Yeah, I think a lot of women do, they just don't realize it. You know, when you can't sleep, you've got anxiety, you're getting breakouts, get your hormones checked because all those things can be under hormonal control. Yes, great question. Our next one is an email we received, she wanted to remain anonymous. And she's asking, Dr. Ozzie, I'm not sure if this is skin related, but can you talk about discomfort and dryness during intercourse? I've heard of vaginal rejuvenation, and I thought that was about just changing the look of the area or to like make it tighter. Can you explain? And I love this question, it ties right into the hormones. Yes, well, again, so certainly the hormones, but you can do some in-office treatments that help with vaginal dryness. So estrogen creams, sometimes you need testosterone. It's a very complicated algorithm that we have to look at a lot of different factors. But once you have that medical evaluation with your doctor, some of the things that can be done in terms of rejuvenation that aren't medicine or topical medications related is radiofrequency and ultrasound. They can really help rejuvenate and restore the collagen, the hyaluronic acid, the elastin, all that skin structure, the mucosa structure that goes away as a result of the hormones. So one is replenishing the hormones that help bring that to your skin. And then the in-office treatment, like I love the Excellus Femme, which is so popular in our office. I mean, it's a topic that women are really shy about and they're really shy to come into the office for, but the women that do it just love it. It really improves their sex life. They don't have the dryness. They don't have the pain during intercourse. They feel sexier, you know, they just, they feel so much better about themselves. I love this treatment. I love when the patients come back just even after one, two treatments and they're like, wow. Yeah, it's really life-changing for them. Yes, it's uncomfortable to come in and have somebody like doing, you know, a treatment down there on you, but you know what? So is waxing. You just get over it. You know, why can't we just go in and get our bikini waxed? But it's an issue to come in and have a, I think something like that is really powerful. And what I love about this device is we can treat the vaginal canal, but we can also treat the external structure. So the labia majora, the labia, you know, that whole external vaginal area, I think a combination of the two really helps with the symptoms and just really boosts your, you know, sexual life and wellbeing. Yeah. You know, having all the years in women's health that I have, I really felt for these women that would come in with the dryness and, you know, you have a sex life and then all of a sudden your sex life isn't what it used to be. You're dry. It's painful. You know, it just- Don't accept that. Life can be much better than that. You deserve more than that. Yes. And now it's 2023. We have so much at our disposal and I can't, you know, say enough about how life-changing this can be for women. It truly is. If this is something you're struggling with and you are hesitant to reach out, don't, you know, reach out. We totally understand what is happening and we can sympathize with you. And we've helped so many patients already with this that I'm just so excited to have this in my office as I know a lot of my colleagues are as well. Yep. We are just a great team of women. So there's nothing you could tell us that we haven't heard before. That's right. All right. Our next question comes from Mary on Instagram. And she said, hi, doctor. First of all, I just had my first baby and I'm so happy. Congratulations. But I'm equally unhappy with my skin. It has gotten so discolored since I've been pregnant and I've broken out since starting breastfeeding. I'm limited on what I can use. I know I'm not supposed to use certain ingredients in skincare. But what should I do? Girl, I feel you. I can relate a hundred percent. Oh, the things women have to go through. Yeah, that's a trying time because your body's going through so many changes, including, you know, with the hormones and the breastfeeding, which puts you at risk for acne. It puts you at risk for discoloration and melasma that you may have experienced during your pregnancy. So in terms of breakouts, you know, when you're breastfeeding, we're somewhat limited, especially on some oral treatments and medications. We also want to see you get your period back because that's an indication that your hormones are back to baseline. Because when you're pregnant and you're breastfeeding, your hormonal climate puts you at greater risk for hyperpigmentation. So if we do lasers or office treatments, you can actually get darkening of the skin. You have a little bit higher risk for that. But some pregnancy and breastfeeding ingredients that help with acne and melasma are azelaic acid. And my favorite is azelaic 10 serum. So that's considered pregnancy safe. And it helps with redness. It helps with breakouts because it's antimicrobial and it helps reduce inflammation. You can use products like niacinamide, which also helps with brightening the skin and reducing inflammation. And then in terms of the exfoliants, you know, lactic acid is a safe one. You have to be cautious with salicylic acid, although most OBGYNs and pediatricians find that in low percentages and just, you know, applying it to the face is considered acceptable. But lactic acid is very gentle. So if you find that your skin is, you know, dry or irritated, that's a good one to start with. In terms of retinol, you know, the jury's still out. It's sort of a personal decision. I always say check with your doctor when you're breastfeeding. Retinols are not acceptable in pregnancy. So sometimes the same rule applies when you're breastfeeding. I always say, you know, you're not going to breastfeed forever. So sometimes just sticking with some of the safe things are better. And then make sure, again, you're probably sleep deprived. You're probably, you know, that nursing takes a lot out of your body. So make sure your nutrition, again, back to the nutrition, is on par. Make sure that you're taking enough protein, enough vitamins in your system. So Skintamin is easy because it has the essential vitamins are vitamin C, D, and E for the skin. Make sure you're good with that. And then if you're not getting enough sunlight, sometimes you can be vitamin D deficient. And vitamin D is huge for the skin. And so you make sure your supplement has vitamin D. In terms of skincare, I think just keeping it simple. I think sometimes when we're breaking out or we have discoloration, you know, we hear about so many great things and we want to use them all. Don't do that. Okay. Just start with one active. Like if you just started out with a xylic acid, use that twice a day. Pair that with a gentle cleanser, a sensitive skin moisturizer. Do that for two to four weeks. And then you can always add a second active like vitamin C is safe. Also for, you know, breastfeeding women because it's vitamin C. So just be cautious about how many products you're adding on at one time. I know you want things to get better really quickly, but your skin is not like Amazon Prime. It doesn't deliver in two days. Okay. There's no prime in nature. Prime is man-made. It's made by Jeff Bezos. Okay. So the skin as a natural organ takes at least four to six weeks to see results. So be patient. Yes. And let's be honest, your postpartum, your breastfeeding. I know I didn't want a million skincare ingredients. Give me the basics. I could barely find time to do my own skincare. You know, one thing I didn't mention, I'll Be Clear is a laser you can do. It's works beneath the skin level. It works on the oil glands. So if you want to do an in-office treatment, something like that would be helpful or a treatment called Forever Clear. Those are helpful and safe for breakouts. Yes. I love that. All right. Our last question is from Andrea. She stopped by the office and asked if we would talk about hair dullness. She is perimenopausal. She feels like her hair is just lacking luster. She wants to talk about hair products, hair care. She's already doing Minoxidil, but what else can she do? Yeah. So like Hairtamin, you know, make sure you're taking a good supplement. But again, supplements support hair growth. They don't actually stimulate hair growth. What happens as we age, especially in the perimenopausal time period, is our hairs don't stay in the growing cycle as long as they used to. So now that growing cycle is also shortened. So that's why some women notice like their hair will only go to a certain length and then it falls out. Like they can't grow out their hair. Not only is it more dull, it's turning gray, but it also becomes shorter. So one thing you can do is PRP in the office because PRP, which stands for platelet-rich plasma, we extract that from your blood. We process it in our lab and we inject it into your scalp. It's a natural treatment you can do that keeps the hair in the growing cycle longer so that you do have that thicker, fuller effect that's shinier for the hair. So I think using PRP as a modality in the office along with your Minoxidil, the two together will work much more effectively than one on its own. And then some hair masks. Now I'm seeing a lot of masks with shea butter. Shea butter is a rich, it's sort of like an oil that then becomes more of a cream at room temperature. So that helps coat the hair, reduces frizz and adds shine to the hair. So doing a hair mask maybe with shea butter is helpful. You can also just buy shea butter on Amazon, just raw, natural, organic shea butter. You can use it literally from head to toe. Use it on the ends of your hair. Make sure when you're shampooing, you only shampoo the root. Don't put shampoo on the ends of your hair. You want to shampoo the root, put conditioner or a hair mask at the ends of your hair. You can use shea butter in place of conditioner. And that does a really nice job of sealing and coating each hair so that it doesn't appear so dull, like she was saying. I love that. I want to try shea butter. All right. This was great, you guys. So many great questions. Thanks for tuning in, guys. Don't forget, sharing is caring. Share this with a friend. We love to see you listening to our podcast. So if you're listening, take a screenshot, share it to your stories and tag me at Skin by Dr. Ozzy.