E76: Skin Care Simplified, Dr. Mina’s Practical Tips for All Ages

Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week, I am joined by Dr. Mary Alice Mina, a double board-certified dermatologist from Atlanta, Georgia. In this episode, Dr. Mina shares her expertise in procedural dermatology and Mohs surgery, focusing on skin cancer prevention and treatment. She discusses the importance of daily sun protection, including the use of sunscreen and sun-protective clothing, to prevent skin damage and cancer. Dr. Mina also addresses common skin care myths, such as the misconception that sunscreen causes cancer, and emphasizes the need for holistic health practices, including proper diet, exercise, and stress management, for maintaining healthy skin. Additionally, she highlights the significance of early and regular skin examinations, especially for those with a history of skin cancer or extensive sun exposure. Dr. Mina also mentions her podcast, "The Skin Real," which aims to provide reliable skin care information amidst the overwhelming and often misleading advice available online.

Dr. Mary Alice Mina is a Harvard-trained double-board certified dermatologist, dermatologic surgeon, and leading expert on skin health and skincare. She is the host of THE SKIN REAL, a podcast for people looking for real skin care guidance, by true skin experts where she emphasizes a holistic and preventative approach to skin health and aesthetics. With over 15 years of clinical experience, she is an invited speaker on podcasts and at national meetings. She is recognized for her artistic eye and surgical skills while helping people feel good in their skin! She is co-owner of Baucom & Mina Derm Surgery in Atlanta, Georgia where she treats patients with advanced surgical and cosmetic procedures to restore and maintain healthy skin.

0:29 - Introduction to Dr. Mary Alice Mina
1:08 - Overview of Dr. Mina's Practice and Expertise
2:54 - Addressing Misinformation in Skin Care
4:35 - Importance of Full Body Skin Checks
7:32 - Sun Protection Strategies
12:25 - Choosing the Right Sunscreen
16:49 - Reapplying Sunscreen and Common Mistakes
18:58 - Sun Protection for Children
20:27 - Daily Sunscreen for Different Lifestyles
23:28 - Skin Cancers in Non-Sun Exposed Areas
26:22 - Dr. Reller’s Personal Experience with Melanoma
30:16 - Debunking Skin Care Myths and Misconceptions

Connect with Dr. Mina
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drminaskin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drminaskin
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drminaskin
Titktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drminaskin
Medium: https://medium.com/@drminaskin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drminaskin/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/06k6qtsxj4uvtpulz6w5ghdc8l2gwo/
Website: https://www.theskinreal.com/
Podcast: https://theskinreal.podbean.com/

Connect with Dr. Reller
My linktree: linktr.ee/kerryrellermd
Podcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamily
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/
Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy Website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwaterallergy/home

Subscribe to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, iheartradio, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Pandora.

Transcript

kerry: 0:29

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller. And today we have Dr. Mary Alice Mina joining us from Atlanta. Welcome to the podcast.

Mary: 0:40

Hi, thank you so much. I love being here and I love your podcast.

kerry: 0:44

Thank you. We're super happy to have you because of your expertise in dermatology and it's getting close to summer to, obviously right now, my kids just got out of school yesterday so we'll be spending more time down at the beach cause, you know, that's what we Floridians do. So I wanted to talk about all about what your expertise is, but first tell us who you are, what you do, since I gave part of it away,

Mary: 1:08

yeah. So I am a actually double board certified dermatologist. So I practice mostly procedural dermatology in Atlanta, Georgia, Bachman, Mina, derm surgery. And basically what I do is I do a lot of surgery on the skin including Mohs surgery, which is how we take care of a lot of skin cancers because skin cancers tend to occur on areas that are sun exposed. So that'll be like your face, your nose, your ears, your scalp, the tops of your hands. And in those areas, we want to make sure we're saving as much normal skin as possible, but really maximizing the cure rate that we're getting rid of all that skin cancer. So I spend pretty much every morning seeing patients with skin cancer, and then my afternoons are removing things like cysts, lipomas, and cosmetics. stuff. So that's kind of what my practice has evolved into. And I also recently started a podcast because I felt like people were really confused about what to do with their skin. And I don't know if you feel this way, Dr. Reller, but sometimes I feel this way. Like we are bombarded with information on Buy this cream. Use this. Use that. And it's overwhelming. And you're like, oh my gosh, do I really need peptides? Do I really need exosomes? Should I be doing this laser? Do I need to buy this at home device and be, you know, doing my facial exercises every day? Like, it's so much. information, so much misinformation. And so I'm just trying to spread really good skin education for people so that everyone knows how to make informed decisions on how to take care of their skin. And so that's sort of the other part that I do is just kind of education through my podcast through my website, which is the skin reel.

kerry: 2:54

that's awesome. And I should be listening to it because I would say, I know I'm a doctor and we had, you know, training and like dermatology, but I would say, I'm pretty skin naive. I don't, I'm not a person who is always, you know, looking for the next skin product and things like that. So to heal my aging skin I probably need to be following you and following them, learning all the right products that we're supposed to be using because I'm pretty low maintenance.

Mary: 3:20

I feel like you can fake it for a long time. But once you hit sort of your 40s, and I don't know how old you are, but I'm just speaking from like the patients I see in my family and friends and myself. Once you hit your 40s or late 30s, you start to see evidence of changes in your skin in the texture, the appearance, the collagen. And I find that that's a turning point for a lot of people who are like, Oh my gosh, you maybe have not thought about their skin in the past. Now they're starting to notice it. And it's more than just cosmetic, right? It's more than just aesthetics. It's actually taking care of your skin so that it's healthy, so that you're not coming to see me with skin cancers, so that your skin is not so damaged and thin that you bruise all the time and you can't heal. So I find also that people, the focus on skincare so much is on aesthetics. And I think that leaves a lot of people out, including maybe people like yourself or a lot of men or a lot of teenage boys who think, okay I'm not interested in the aesthetic part of it. So I guess I don't need to worry about my skin. So that's kind of false. And we need to make sure that skincare is kind of whole body care. It's not just getting rid of lines and wrinkles.

kerry: 4:35

Yeah. That's a really good point. And I definitely think I fall in that class. That's kind of missing out. So I've, you know, I think this is great. How, how do you start to begin talking to patients about this then?

Mary: 4:47

I guess I first will ask them what brought them in, and that could be really different for so many people. Someone might be coming in because a family member had a recent skin cancer diagnosis, and now they're worried about that or concerned. Or they could be coming in because they have a lot of moles, and they've heard about melanoma, and so they want to get their moles checked. Sometimes they come in because their spouse told them, You have got to come in, and you have got to get that spot looked at. So, and some people come in because they want to be proactive. They want to make sure that they are doing everything right and making sure that their skin is as healthy for as long as possible. And then I find other people are coming in because again, they've noticed those changes in midlife and they're wondering what they can do about it. So it really just depends what brought you in. And I don't like to just assume what brought you in. I like to hear from my patients what their concerns are when they look in the mirror, when they look at their skin.

kerry: 5:45

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Do you typically do like a full body exam at that time then?

Mary: 5:51

Yeah, if their concern is for skin cancer or they have a lot of moles or they've had a lot of sun damage, then I really do encourage them to have a full body skin check. Sometimes they're just booked for like a spot check because something's worrisome. But if at all possible, I really like to have them while I've got them in the room I really do like to do a full body skin check because a lot of times what happens is people will come in for a spot. That's totally benign, totally normal and fine, but what happens almost all the time is that when I'm looking at them, I then find something that does need addressing or is something of concern. So that's why a lot of dermatologists will say, don't ever feel like I'm embarrassed to come see us because it might be nothing and normal. Because when you're there, a lot of times we'll actually spot something. That does need attention and addressing. And so if possible, especially if we're worried about skin cancer or someone's had a lot of sun damage, I do recommend a full body skin check, at least kind of a baseline. And then we can decide whether you need it more frequently or just kind of as needed.

kerry: 7:00

Yeah that's just how I pick up on things. So patient comes to me and complains about some spot or something like that. Right. And I don't have this magic tool that you guys have. So I'll be like, you know what, we live in Florida. I want you to get a full body exam. They can take the time To look at every spot on you to make sure that nothing is concerning. So I'm usually sending people to dermatology when we live in Florida. I think it's really important to, you know, be following for sure, because there's so much sun exposure and I'm sure it's the same in Atlanta, but a little more, maybe in Florida for

Mary: 7:32

you guys like you cannot avoid the sun in Florida, right? It is it's pervasive even in Atlanta as well. But yeah, I mean, family docs, you guys have so much you have literally every organ system to worry about. And I know a lot of the family docs are good at being able to identify benign things, seborrheic keratosis or cyst lipoma, stuff like that. But yeah, if there's any concern, I'm more than happy to take a look at it or refer to someone who can. But yeah, never feel shy about just sending to your friendly dermatologist and we can kind of advise the patient based on what we see on whether they need more regular follow ups. I also find it's a great time to give the patient education. So when they're there, even if it's benign or even if it's just for a cyst or a lipoma, I'm frequently also talking about sun protection, especially if I see that they've had some sun damage and I can sort of see the signs of that. I use it as an opportunity to say, Hey, are you wearing sunscreen every day? Are you wearing hats and some protective clothing? So it's a great time to do education as well.

kerry: 8:38

Yeah. I think that's perfect. And that was leading into, you know, my next question is what do you do to kind of prevent these things that could be occurring already?

Mary: 8:47

Yeah, so, of course, prevention, it's best to start as soon as possible, as early as possible, right? Just like planting a tree, the best time to do it was 20 years ago, and the next best time is today, so I would just encourage people who are listening, like, don't get discouraged if you're older, and you're like, oh my gosh, I didn't know, I hear this so much from my older patients, and I wish I could I wish the younger generation could really take this to heart. But my older patients will say, I wish I had known. We didn't know about sunscreen back in the day. I was told to run around outside all day with my shirt off and no hat, no sunscreen, and now they're paying the price for it unfortunately Older, but the best way is prevention from UV damage. And this doesn't mean you hide out inside. You never have fun. I go to the beach. I enjoy being outside. I live in a sunny area, but I try to be really smart about being outside. So I would say, especially for your listeners in Florida, sunscreen every day and, and really sunscreen every day, everywhere. Perhaps if you live in Alaska where it's dark in the wintertime, maybe you can get away. But I find it's just easy to make it a habit. It's like putting on deodorant or brushing your teeth, right? Most people don't debate whether they're going to do that in the morning. So Put your sunscreen next to your toothbrush and put it on every morning and put it on any skin that's exposed. So in the wintertime, or if you live somewhere where it's colder in the winter months, then you probably don't need to put it on your arms or the top of your chest. But certainly in the summer, I'm putting it on the tops of my arms and hands, my neck, my upper chest, my face. And I just do that every day. And they make so many great sunscreens nowadays that you don't feel like you're wearing a lot of products and sticky and smelly. And a lot of it is just trial and error. Try things, see what you like. What I like may not work for you. So don't just you know, get discouraged if you try one thing or what your best friend uses you don't like. Just kind of play around with it. But yeah, doing that every day. I think people don't realize how much sun they actually get. I think people realize when I go to the beach, I need to wear sunscreen or if I'm outside, but they forget that Day in and day out, running to your car, running, driving in your car, sitting by a window. These are all ways you can get sun. And in places like Atlanta and Florida, it really adds up. So that, that's a big tip. The other thing when we talk about sun protection, I think people think sunscreen and then that's it. But I also love sun protective measures, like wearing sunglasses. I always have a hat with me because I don't love reapplying my sunscreen. Okay, like I admit like if I'm out for the day and I'm running to a dinner or something like that I don't necessarily want to just slather my face with more sunscreen, but. If I'm gonna take my kids to the park, I'll throw on a hat. I really always have a hat with me. If I'm at the beach or in the sun for prolonged periods of time, I'll wear like a sun protective shirt or like a little cardigan I can throw over my shoulders or a rash guard at the pool. So, I feel like nowadays they make a lot of cute sun protective clothing, so I'd really encourage people to use that. If you're going to be fishing, if you're going to be at the beach, at the pool, at your kid's sporting events and you can't be under a tree or under shade, then think about wearing some sort of, like, sun protective garment over your skin that is breathable and light. So those are kind of my tips for prevention.

kerry: 12:25

Yeah, they definitely make a lot of good sun protective clothing. Now. I mean, you can find them cheap to Costco often carries a nice selection when it's in season. And I think that's an easy, easy grab. We definitely try to do that in our household too. And sometimes I get made fun of cause I'm always wearing the long sleeve.

Mary: 12:43

yeah, you know what? I just like don't care. You know, I'm like, you can laugh now but when my skin looks amazing at 55/60 I'm gonna have the last laugh, right? You just have to kind of get over it. And I do find it's easier for someone who's maybe middle aged to say that versus like a 20 year old. I can't say in my 20s. I was always So self assured, and I did want to look like my friends. I did want to wear bikinis. And I actually just had a young guy who I had to remove a abnormal mole on his chest, and he had really light skin. He had kind of red hair, really light skin, and he was asking about You know, the scar was a little red. And I said, you really have to put sunscreen on. And I said, you really need to be wearing sun protective shirts at the pool. And he was like, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. So I know it is hard for younger people to, to wear the rash guards and all that. But I do think we'll start normalizing it more. I know parents are really good with their children when they're little. And I think that's, That's great. And yeah, maybe the teenagers and in the early 20s, maybe they're gonna like protest a little bit. But I think once you're you're middle age, you're kind of like, whatever, I'm fine with wearing a shirt. But yeah, it is such a great way to protect your skin. And I just know how difficult it is to treat sun damage once it's happened and I see the skin cancer. So I'm so vigilant. Like I, I see how distressing skin cancers in the scalp can be for women and like along your part. And so that's why I am like vigilant with my hat because I just, I really don't want a skin cancer in my scalp. And I just know how hard it is to treat sun damage on your chest. And so for me, I'd just rather try to prevent it at all costs, even if people think I look silly at the beach, I just really don't care.

kerry: 14:37

Yeah. Absolutely. Are there any like sunscreens that you would actually avoid?

Mary: 14:42

Well, you want to, I tend to stick with the brands, like the big name dermatology skincare companies. And I get most of my stuff at the drugstore, which people sometimes are like horrified by. These are really reputable companies that do a lot of research, have a lot of money for research and development and clinical trials. So I stick with things like La-Roche Posay I think makes really nice ones. Neutrogena Aveeno. Vanicream makes great products, especially if you have sensitive skin. What else do I use? I like Elta MD. That is I think a nice mid point or mid price point sunscreen product. A lot of my staff like Supergoop that you can buy at like Sephora and Ulta, things like that. But really you want to make sure Your sunscreen is at least SPF 30 or higher. And then you want to make sure it says broad spectrum. And that means it'll cover UVA wavelengths from the sun and UVB. But whether they're sort of two camps, some people do not want chemical sunscreens and that's fine. You can use mineral based sunscreens. So those are going to be the ones that contain zinc or titanium. And that's what we recommend in children. So the downside with those is Sometimes they can be a little less elegant leave a little more of a white residue on the skin. But I've actually found a lot of great ones that don't do that, so, you know, play around with them. But the other important thing with sunscreen is to reapply, and this, you know, if I'm not reapplying, I've got my hat on and all that, but when you're at the beach, when you're at the pool, if you're at your kid's soccer game and you're out under the sun, you have got to reapply every two hours. I find that's where people get in trouble. If they're not wearing like sun protective clothing, you have to reapply your sunscreen every two hours. And this is where people, you know, even my staff, they'll come in and they'll say, Oh my gosh, I was just having lunch with a friend for an hour. It was cloudy. I didn't think I really needed to apply my sunscreen, but Sure enough, you know, you see the sunburn on their shoulders and back. So don't forget to do that.

kerry: 16:49

Yeah, absolutely. The clouds kind of don't count like cloudy day at the beach, you still get fried and even a cold one. It was a couple of weeks ago when my kids were on spring break, we went out to the beach and I was so cold I wore pants, but I didn't sunscreen my foot and

Mary: 17:04

my. I've had that

kerry: 17:05

Because I didn't do my legs and it was, it was bad. It was a bad one. I haven't been burned like that in a while. So that was,

Mary: 17:11

Don't be fooled. Don't be fooled by the clouds. Like the clouds are not this impenetrable field from the sun. And remember, even glass, the UVA wavelengths can go through the glass. Dr. Reller, I'd love to know, do you have a favorite sunscreen that you use?

kerry: 17:27

I actually do love the Elta MD. I use the tinted one and that is like my makeup every day. Yeah. And then I like Neutrogena ones for usually is what I use for face and neck and everything and sometimes we use banana boat too. Any thoughts on that one? Okay.

Mary: 17:45

Oh yeah. I mean, banana boat's great. I would say it's a little less elegant. So I'm kind of like you on my face I'm a little more selective. So I use the Elta MD or I'll do like a La Roche Posay that's really light. Cause I tend to have oily skin and on my body, it's kind of like whatever I have handy. Right. So Especially in the summer months, I do like the spray and actually Elta MD makes an arrow one. That's all mineral and it's great because I can cover large surface areas like my legs, my arms, my Children quickly. So I will, I will be less particular on my body. And I do invest a little bit more on my face. I want one that's a little more elegant for my face and then yeah, it's like whatever whatever's around for the body and my children really love the stick sunscreen and I find that they're nine and 10 but for the last couple of years like I just put a stick sunscreen in their bathroom and they brush their teeth and then they rub it on and it's again, just like instilling that habit of this is what you do in the morning when you get ready. And they, they don't seem to mind. I find the sticks a little thick. I don't know if I'd put that on my face to go to work, but they like it and they'll use it. So I find kids like the stick.

kerry: 18:58

Yeah, my daughter definitely likes the stick. I don't, I haven't made her do that before school, but before camp in the summer, they definitely we sunscreen them up pretty good. And it's a little scary because they have to supposedly know how to put sunscreen on themselves while at camp and it's kind of is a little fear factor for me because I don't think they're that good at it, but we practice and they do it in the mirror on the face. They're pretty good, but sometimes, you know, they're missing the rest of their body. And it's funny right now, another way to avoid the sun. My kids are and husband happened to be in the pool right now, and they've got their sun shirts on, but we tried to do it earlier in the day, right. Or later in the day and try to avoid that Mid day, that's just really hot. But sometimes you can't, so you do the best you can, but yeah.

Mary: 19:44

yeah, that's a good point about I always wonder too, like when my kids go to school, they're not a re they're not reapplying. They're going out for recess. Yeah. I do try to encourage hats. I don't know if they actually wear it, but I do try to send them to school or camps or whatever with a hat. But yeah, it is, it is tricky because even adults, right? We don't always, Rub our sunscreen on everywhere. We'll forget a little patch behind the ear or something. So it is, it is tricky to expect children to be able to do this by themselves. But again, I think you're doing everything right, setting up those good habits and skills. So they're practicing and, and doing the best they can.

kerry: 20:22

When do you usually suggest that they start wearing like the daily sunscreen

Mary: 20:27

And well, I mean, if you live in Florida, I would say really like, All the time, right? I mean, we don't recommend sunscreen in babies younger than six months. And of course, when they're at home and all that, I find it's easier to throw a hat on a kid when they're real little. Right. But I mean, I would say once they're going to school, especially if you live somewhere hot and they're going outside for recess and there's no, you know, sunshade for them then they really should be wearing it every day. Now, did my children wear sunscreen every day since kindergarten? No, right? Like I, I do the best I can. And that's just for all parents out there. Like, have my children been burned? Yes. Right. But I do try to do the best I can. Like when I'm with them, when we go to the park, when we go for walks and hikes. They always have a hat on. But yeah, I mean really kindergarten and up there going outside, they're doing having recess, especially if you live in a hot or a sunny climate like you guys in Florida. I it really should be an everyday thing.

kerry: 21:26

what about my husband who doesn't leave the house because he works from home.

Mary: 21:31

Oh, my gosh. So I get this question a lot. Right. So I pretty much I mean, I work outside in an office, but I don't see the sun really either. I drive to work at 7 in the morning. And I usually come home around 63/7 in the summer, the sun's out, right? But I still put it on every single day, even though I am at work and I'm not near windows and I'm running around and not exposed to the sun. But I might run out, you know, every now and then to the bank or something during the day. But also my drive in and home, I feel that sun. In fact, on my drive home, I always put sunscreen on my hands, on the top of my hands, because I've been washing my hands. so much during the day. So there's really no point in putting it on in the morning, right? Because it's going to get washed off. But before I drive home, I do put sunscreen on the tops of my hands and my arms because I feel that Western sun as I'm driving home. So I mean, if you truly never, ever, ever, ever leave the house and you don't sit by a window, fine, you don't need to wear sunscreen. Okay. But for most people, You might be running an errand. You might be taking the kids to school. You, you may be getting Out more than you realize. And again, it's just, if you just make it a habit and do it every day, you're not going to forget when you do leave the house. And I also use sunscreen as kind of a moisturizer, right? So it's kind of good just to throw it on, put it on. And that can be your moisturizer too, for the day, which most people need a little, their skin needs a little bit of hydration, but, That being said, my husband, he's Egyptian. He thinks he doesn't need sunscreen every day. And so it's a battle too, that I have not won getting him to wear sunscreen every day. Cause he also will use the excuse I work from home. But we're all just trying to do the best we can

kerry: 23:20

Okay, I have a little bit change of question. One is, why do some skin cancers occur where the sun doesn't get exposed.

Mary: 23:28

that that is a great question, and I feel like I have seen So many melanomas on the buttocks recently it's kind of crazy, and I'm sort of like what what's going on I just saw a couple melanomas on the nails and you can actually get so I guess let me start with saying the skin cancers that are really sun derived are your basal cell carcinomas and your squamous cell carcinomas. Those are like 98 percent sun derived. Now there are other skin canc like Merkel cells too. Those are very sun derived. A lot of UV damage equates to getting a lot of these skin cancers. Melanoma certainly has a A sun component, and there are types of melanomas that are more typically associated with a lot of sun damage, like lentigo malignas, if you've ever heard of that. But we do know melanomas, like even getting, you know a handful of sunburns in your life really increases your risk of melanoma. But for melanoma, it's not the whole picture. We know that genetics plays a role. And then there are these other factors that we don't fully understand. It is possible to get skin cancers in areas where the sun doesn't shine like your buttocks. I have seen so many of these recently that it's kind of scary. So sun, sun protection plays a role for so many skin cancers, but there are a subset. Melanomas on the, the feet, the hands, the nails that are less sun derived. And so you still have to be careful with those as well.

kerry: 24:55

So just to be transparent, I had a melanoma and so when every time they're trying to check something, it's always like the bottom of my foot, like something else on, you know, it's always a surface where it doesn't see the sun ever. And I find that very interesting. And then I know they're always, you know, recommending I get a eye exam and everything as well. So those

Mary: 25:17

Yeah. So we do know like the mucosal or ocular melanomas. Those seem to have sort of a different genetic profile from what we call our superficial spreading melanoma, which is the most common form of melanoma. But where was your melanoma? What was it?

kerry: 25:33

My abdomen.

Mary: 25:34

your abdomen. Yeah, the most common location for melanomas for women are the legs and the most common location for men, it's the back. So not necessarily the most sun exposed areas, right? So we do know there are other factors and the most common melanomas for people with skin of color are the what we call acral melanomas, so hands and feet and nails, and we know that those are less sun derived, and we don't fully understand why that happens, but yeah, it's, it plays a role, and certainly certain types, certain subsets of melanoma, it's more the sun is more of a culprit, but there are those types that are not sun derived or less sun derived.

kerry: 26:18

right. Well, that makes, that makes a lot of sense. And of course our family is very moley. We're in

Mary: 26:22

Oh yeah. Yeah.

kerry: 26:24

So,

Mary: 26:24

Having a lot of moles is a risk factor too. And yeah, if you do have a history of melanoma, I love that your dermatologist is looking at your hands, bottoms of your feet, your hands, because a lot of times those areas are sort of ignored or forgotten. And especially if you have skin of color to be checking those spots too,

kerry: 26:43

Absolutely. So you mentioned that you like to offer like real skincare tips and things like that. And I guess I wanted to know like what questions or myths have you had to dispel along your way? Like trying to really get the story right for everybody.

Mary: 26:59

Oh, my gosh. Well, I find social media can be a great tool for educating for connecting people, but it also gives a megaphone to people who do not know what they're talking about or are spreading like fake news really. So there are a ton of Miss, I don't know why the there's this community that feels like sunscreen causes skin cancer or causes cancer, period. There have been no studies in humans that have come anywhere close to showing this. So I, I hate, I mean, I see this, I'll hear my, one of my nurses, her friend won't put sunscreen on her, her child because she is so scared her child's going to get cancer. Meanwhile, her kid is, is burning and has these horrible sunburns. So there's this community that think sunscreen causes cancer. It does not. There've been some studies in rats where they ate obscene amounts of sunscreen and did develop cancer. And this has never been replicated in humans. We do not eat the sunscreen and you would have to be smearing it all over your body for like 200 years to get anywhere close to the levels that these rats had. So a lot of misinformation with that. A lot of misinformation about clean beauty, which is maybe that it's a marketing term. It really is not a scientific term at all, but there's this huge community of clean beauty and it sort of forces these companies, these skincare companies, to either fall in line and and say, Oh, we don't have this ingredient or that when really those ingredients have never been shown to be harmful. It's just the publicity around it. The public thinks it's harmful. The public thinks it's unclean. And so Neutrogena and these big companies are going to, if they want to sell their products, have to sort of follow suit. And so this notion of natural is always better. Where what I think people don't realize is that a lot of the medicines and products we use are from nature. It's just that we've pulled out the component, the compound, the chemical in the natural product that works and we've been able to replicate it on a larger scale so that we can you know, give it to the masses. Things like aspirin, right? Coumadin, all these other things. And I think people think, oh, well, like, it's healthier to spread avocado directly on your face or flaxseed directly on your face because it's natural. But that's not really, that's not really how it works. So I would just say be careful where you're getting your information. Who is giving your information? A lot of the people spreading this information are selling you something, right? So what's their motive? Are they trying to sell you something or a product? Are they really experts? Like, what are their credentials? A lot of people love skincare, but They don't really have any, any real knowledge about skin and, and your skin health. They are just maybe a celebrity. So just taking what you hear on the internet, on social media, with a grain of salt, make sure you're looking at, are they trying to sell you something? What's their angle? And are they real, true experts?

kerry: 30:16

Yeah, those are very important things for any topic. I think in medical world to be, you know, realizing where is, where's the information coming from and who's delivering it and are they trying to sell you something? Yeah, that's really important. So other than some, some protection advice, what other advice do you like to give to patients to help with their skin care?

Mary: 30:36

Yeah, well, I think we've gone too far with, we think of, when we hear skin care, we think of, putting stuff on our skin, right? I, at least I feel like people think that like, Oh, well, what products do I need to use? And what's my skincare routine? And, and the more complicated, the better it seems like, and you need all these steps and all these serums and all these things. And it's going to be complicated and take a lot of time and be expensive. What I feel as a dermatologist, who's been studying the skin for 15 plus years is that really our skin is a reflection of our inner health. And a lot of times I will see stuff on the skin that alerts me like, Hey, this person really should be screened for diabetes or prediabetes, or this person has a internal like connective tissue disease, or this person may have lung lung problems based on their nails. So our skin actually reflects Our inner health and I think too often we think of skin care and our skin health as the aesthetics and outwardly how it looks, but really, if you really want amazing, beautiful skin without spending a lot of money on gimmicks and hype and all that, you have to think about how you're taking care of your body. You cannot treat your body like crap, smoke, drink a lot, drink a lot of sugary drinks and eat a lot of crappy food and wonder why your skin doesn't look good even though you bought 150 eye cream, right? So I think too, we're looking at it the wrong way. We're looking at skincare from the outside in, but really we need to think about skincare as starting from the inside and working our way out, focusing on what we eat, our diet, exercise, especially for people midlife and beyond weight training, muscle strength building, increasing our muscle mass. Like all of these things are important. When I was younger, right? I just wanted to be skinny. I just wanted to like look thin. And now that I'm in my forties, I'm like, I want to be strong. I want to be healthy. I want, I want to be able to lift things. I want to be able to move without my body hurting. So my, my priorities have shifted from just a very superficial, like I want to look good and be skinny to, I want this body to help me be and live as strong and healthy as possible for as long as possible. So yeah, I, I just wish people would focus more on their overall health and stress management, sleeping you know, alcohol intake, smoking, vaping, right? Like not a lot of young people smoke nowadays, but they vape and they have this sense that, oh, the vaping's not going to be a problem, but it, it is actually. So we got to take care of our whole body. And then your skin will reflect that and it will look amazing and beautiful and healthy for as long as possible, rather than focusing on, should I buy this 200 peptide cream? Is that really going to like solve all my problems or this at home led light? Is that going to solve all my problems without focusing on like the root cause?

kerry: 33:42

I love that. That's exactly where I was hoping you would go with that answer. So I think that's fantastic. I mean, it's so, so true, right? They're the, the right nutrition, exercise, sleep, avoiding those toxins like alcohol and smoking are really important for skincare. And it's, it's great that you point out that if you see some abnormality, you can say, Hey, go back to your primary and do get some blood work done because yeah, you may be You may have a multiple skin tags. You may have ancanthosis nigricans, right? Things like that. Or, you know, we can see that there's some insulin resistance going on and you may need help with that. Or scleroderma, I don't know, anything like that you can see. So that's really, you know, great that you're pointing out these things. I think that's amazing, but yeah, it's so, so true that the, the skin, you know, reflects your health on the inside. So that's perfect. Yeah. Do you have anything? Oh, go ahead.

Mary: 34:31

Oh, yeah, it'd be easier if I could just tell you buy my 200 cream and you know, but it's not that's just not how it works. And I think to skincare has gone too far in that direction of being product based. Consumerism and we need, and that's why I'm doing this. And I, and I love when I see other dermatologists really trying to have a loud voice saying like, wait a minute, we're, we're thinking about skincare and our skin health all wrong, and we need to kind of like bring it back to reality. So,

kerry: 35:01

Absolutely. Yeah. Was there anything else you'd like to add or share with the listeners?

Mary: 35:06

Just it, this has been a lot of fun. I could talk about skincare forever but yeah, people are interested in learning more about skin health and if kind of my message resonates with you, be sure to check out my podcast, the skin real and I do have a free PDF for people at theskinreal.Com forward slash habits. If you're kind of wondering like, well, where do I even begin to come up with like healthy skin habits? So that can be helpful. And I'm on all the social media platforms at Dr. Mina skin, if people want to follow.

kerry: 35:36

Is it the skin real R E E L or R E A L?

Mary: 35:40

Yeah, this is such a 2024 question, right? It's, it's real as in real information. R E A L. But I do post a lot of reals. R E E L S.

kerry: 35:53

Yeah. Sorry for the silly question, but no, it was helpful. Okay. So yeah, look out for your podcast and follow on social media. You said that was Mina, Dr. Mina's skin. Is that what you

Mary: 36:02

Yeah. At Dr. Mina Skin.

kerry: 36:04

Okay. We'll put all that in the show notes and just thank you so much for sharing your expertise on the show today. And it was been a pleasure talking to you and I hope you have a great day and thanks everybody for listening.

Mary: 36:16

this has been a lot of fun. Thanks, Dr. Reller.