Latest / Skinquiries / Hot take on a cold plunge: Extreme water temperatures and your skin.

Transcript

Hot take on a cold plunge: Extreme water temperatures and your skin. · Skinquiries

0:03
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've noticed cold plunges are pretty trendy lately.
0:06
Speaker 1: You've seen those videos of people slipping their freezing bodies
0:09
Speaker 1: into ice cold water all over your social media pages.
0:13
Speaker 1: I've tried it kind of, but if I'm being honest,
0:16
Speaker 1: I totally prefer a hot shower. I mean, saunas and
0:19
Speaker 1: the heat, aside from being Mormon cozy, can do wonders
0:21
Speaker 1: for your skin. But for those who like the cold water,
0:24
Speaker 1: they still feel compelled to keep at it even when
0:26
Speaker 1: it sounds unpleasant.
0:28
Speaker 2: I jumped off that boat and I just instantly froze.
0:32
Speaker 1: And I was prepared for it, but not prepared at
0:35
Speaker 1: the same.
0:35
Speaker 2: Time, and I immediately just thought, I think I'm getting
0:38
Speaker 2: hypothermia instantly, and I thought, I don't know how I'm
0:41
Speaker 2: going to make it back.
0:42
Speaker 1: I can't do this.
0:43
Speaker 2: I think I'm going to disqualified. I think I'm going
0:46
Speaker 2: to get pulled. It's not going to work. And then
0:49
Speaker 2: it just kind of did, because you get caught up
0:51
Speaker 2: in that excitement of a big mass event.
0:57
Speaker 1: Hi guys, and welcome. I'm so glad you're here. Nicoleberry,
1:00
Speaker 1: and this is Skin Querries, a show all about our
1:03
Speaker 1: skin and its health. As we grow in age. Our
1:06
Speaker 1: skin is really a record of a life well lived,
1:09
Speaker 1: because there isn't one body part that I could think
1:11
Speaker 1: of that reflects our well being as clearly as our skin.
1:14
Speaker 1: So let's go on this journey together to really understand
1:17
Speaker 1: what's going on with our skin. Let's unravel the mysteries
1:20
Speaker 1: happening inside and out. Today we'll focus on how cold
1:25
Speaker 1: and hot water affects our skin. Growing up, my mom,
1:35
Speaker 1: who's Korean, always told me to stay away from the
1:38
Speaker 1: cold water, and stay away from ice, stay away from
1:40
Speaker 1: cold drinks, anything that's cold, because it can actually lead
1:44
Speaker 1: to stagnancy in the blood and circulation. She really recommended
1:48
Speaker 1: hot water, hot drinks, and all of those really warm things.
1:52
Speaker 1: But now cold plunging is all the rage. Personally, I'm
1:56
Speaker 1: an avid sauna user. I love sweating, I love the heat,
1:59
Speaker 1: and I love love that it can open up your
2:01
Speaker 1: pores and really do wonders for your skin. So I'm
2:04
Speaker 1: really intrigued and a little scared of cold plunging myself.
2:08
Speaker 1: But eventually I did came into cold plunging recently on vacation,
2:11
Speaker 1: after reading all about the benefits and seeing my friends
2:14
Speaker 1: doing it and loving it. I did enjoy the rush
2:17
Speaker 1: of cold, and I noticed an invigoration. My skin was tighter.
2:21
Speaker 1: I really felt alive, and I was curious to know
2:23
Speaker 1: if any of these benefits were based on actual fact.
2:26
Speaker 1: Are there any consequences to putting our skin through these
2:29
Speaker 1: extreme temperatures. Let's dive in and answer once and for all.
2:33
Speaker 1: Does our skin prefer cold water or hot water?
2:37
Speaker 3: Hi?
2:37
Speaker 1: Melissa, how are you very good today? How are you?
2:40
Speaker 1: It's so good to see you. My first guest is
2:42
Speaker 1: Melissa Keegler, an open water swimmer specializing in marathon, channel
2:47
Speaker 1: and ice swimming.
2:50
Speaker 2: I love just the feeling of being in the water.
2:53
Speaker 2: I grew up in Michigan, round water all the time,
2:55
Speaker 2: so when I eventually moved out to Washington and discovered
2:59
Speaker 2: this amazing cold water ocean out here, it was just
3:04
Speaker 2: this new world. And that really got me into marathon swimming,
3:07
Speaker 2: which is it starts at a distance of ten kilometers
3:11
Speaker 2: and then goes up from there. And marathon swimming turned
3:14
Speaker 2: into channel swimming, which is ultra distance marathon swimming, and
3:18
Speaker 2: eventually turned into ice swimming, which is swimming that is
3:21
Speaker 2: in water temperature forty one degrees fahrenheit five degrees celsius
3:25
Speaker 2: or below.
3:26
Speaker 1: I just love the water.
3:27
Speaker 2: I love my animals, and I love everything about the
3:30
Speaker 2: ocean out here.
3:31
Speaker 1: So what was it that kind of hooked you And
3:35
Speaker 1: how did you even come to learning about open water
3:38
Speaker 1: competitive swimming.
3:39
Speaker 2: So open water competitive swimming actually got into it through
3:43
Speaker 2: triathlon and it was my aunt who lives in Florida.
3:47
Speaker 2: She was doing a triathlon and had an injury. So
3:49
Speaker 2: my mom's sister and I we said, Florida sounds great.
3:53
Speaker 2: I mean, Michiganders love going to Florida. And we said,
3:56
Speaker 2: let's make a girl's trip out of it. We'll go
3:58
Speaker 2: down to Florida. We'll do the relay and I'll do
4:01
Speaker 2: the swimming leg. And I remember getting in and just
4:04
Speaker 2: thinking this is so cool. It was just this moment.
4:08
Speaker 2: I was out there, I was swimming, and I could
4:12
Speaker 2: do whatever I wanted as long as I got to
4:14
Speaker 2: the end. There weren't rules necessarily about don't do a
4:19
Speaker 2: stroke this way, don't do a stroke that way. If
4:21
Speaker 2: you touch a wall a certain way, you're going to
4:23
Speaker 2: get disqualified. It was so freeing. I remember getting out going.
4:27
Speaker 2: I have no idea what just happened, but I think
4:30
Speaker 2: I kind of like this, and I think I want
4:32
Speaker 2: to do it again.
4:33
Speaker 1: So how did you go from then that to cold
4:37
Speaker 1: slash ice swimming?
4:39
Speaker 2: My first cold water swim, I did the Alcatraz swim
4:43
Speaker 2: because I thought that would be really fun.
4:44
Speaker 1: Okay, tell us about that.
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Speaker 2: You get on a big boat, a fairy type boat
4:48
Speaker 2: with all the other competitors. The boat goes out to
4:51
Speaker 2: Alcatraz Island, drops you off, and then you swim into
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Speaker 2: the San Francisco.
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Speaker 1: As if you're truly escaping.
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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, and I definitely wore a black and white
5:01
Speaker 2: stripe suit under my wet suit. But I was had
5:03
Speaker 2: to tow full knia pre because I just thought it's cold.
5:07
Speaker 2: But it's a relatively short swim, so I thought, okay,
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Speaker 2: I could deal with it.
5:11
Speaker 1: Nicole.
5:12
Speaker 2: I jumped off that boat and I just instantly froze.
5:16
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
5:17
Speaker 2: And I was prepared for it, but not prepared at
5:19
Speaker 2: the same time, and I immediately just thought, I think
5:21
Speaker 2: I'm getting hypothermia instantly, and I thought, I don't know
5:25
Speaker 2: how I'm going to make it back. I can't do this.
5:27
Speaker 2: I think I'm gonna be disqualified. I think I'm going
5:30
Speaker 2: to be an ice cube. I think I'm going to
5:31
Speaker 2: get pulled. It's not going to work. And then it
5:34
Speaker 2: just kind of did, because you get caught up in
5:36
Speaker 2: that excitement of a big mass event.
5:39
Speaker 1: Then Melissa moved to Seattle for work, and she had
5:42
Speaker 1: no other option but to swim in cold water. In
5:45
Speaker 1: the summer, the average temperature of the water is fifty
5:47
Speaker 1: three degrees and in the winter it's forty five. And
5:51
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two, Melissa shattered the US national distance
5:55
Speaker 1: record for the International Ice Swimming Associations Ice Mile event,
6:00
Speaker 1: completed a one point four mile swim in thirty nine
6:03
Speaker 1: point two degrees water. So impressive and inspiring. So I
6:07
Speaker 1: had to ask her how she trades her body to
6:09
Speaker 1: handle being in the ice water.
6:12
Speaker 2: So you're doing a lot of cold ice baths where
6:16
Speaker 2: I'll be outside in a cold plunge for you know,
6:19
Speaker 2: forty five minutes to an hour just sitting there, which
6:22
Speaker 2: is very different than cold plunging, I think to what
6:25
Speaker 2: most people think it is, it's a lot of just
6:28
Speaker 2: freezing yourself intentionally as much as you can to build
6:33
Speaker 2: up and maintain that cold resistance. So there's a lot
6:36
Speaker 2: less swimming, I would say for ice swimming season and
6:40
Speaker 2: a lot more cold conditioning that goes on because you
6:44
Speaker 2: have to prepare your body for that level of cold exposure.
6:47
Speaker 1: How would you describe your skin reacting when you do
6:50
Speaker 1: go into a plunge.
6:51
Speaker 2: It almost feels like your skin is burning in a way,
6:56
Speaker 2: or like you have a sunburn, and you know, you
6:59
Speaker 2: get in a shower for the first time, and maybe
7:01
Speaker 2: you don't really realize you have a sunburn until that
7:04
Speaker 2: first drop of water hits your skin. You'd go oh,
7:07
Speaker 2: and you just kind of freak out a little bit.
7:10
Speaker 2: And it's just this strange feeling of essentially your skin
7:16
Speaker 2: in your blood vessels within your body, essentially moving the
7:19
Speaker 2: blood away from your extremities and the outside of your
7:23
Speaker 2: body into your body to preserve life in your core organs.
7:28
Speaker 2: Why it feels so painful, I have no idea, But
7:30
Speaker 2: what I can say is that after ten minutes, when
7:33
Speaker 2: you're numb, you don't feel it anymore.
7:37
Speaker 1: So for someone who's been doing it now for years
7:39
Speaker 1: and years, I'm so interested to hear how that's affected
7:43
Speaker 1: your skin and your health.
7:45
Speaker 2: I think the cold water, at least for me, has
7:48
Speaker 2: definitely it makes me feel like it's kept me looking youthful,
7:51
Speaker 2: and young, so there's the aesthetic benefit of the cold water,
7:56
Speaker 2: and then with salt water, it's almost like you're getting
7:59
Speaker 2: a micro scrub I guess a mini facial while you're
8:03
Speaker 2: in there.
8:05
Speaker 1: But Melissa puts her body through extreme temperatures and that
8:08
Speaker 1: can have detrimental effects.
8:11
Speaker 2: One of the things I try to talk to people about,
8:13
Speaker 2: especially people in coaching or people that are curious about
8:16
Speaker 2: ice swimming, is the potential for nerve damage is really
8:20
Speaker 2: real in your extremities. A couple of my toes on
8:23
Speaker 2: my right foot, I'm pretty sure have nerve damage because
8:27
Speaker 2: when I walk outside in the grass in the morning
8:29
Speaker 2: without shoes on, and you know, you get that morning dew.
8:33
Speaker 2: The minute water hits those two toes, it's just immense pain.
8:37
Speaker 2: And one of the other interesting skin things that has
8:40
Speaker 2: actually developed just within the last year is cold urdicaria. Essentially,
8:46
Speaker 2: it's an allergy to the cold, and what ends up
8:49
Speaker 2: happening is I'll go swimming and the water will be cold,
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Speaker 2: and then about I don't know anywhere from two to
8:56
Speaker 2: six hours afterwards, my face will start to swell up
9:01
Speaker 2: and I'll get big hives and rashes. I did find
9:04
Speaker 2: in talking to my doctor that the people that do
9:07
Speaker 2: have this condition, they're prone to sudden unconsciousness, which on
9:11
Speaker 2: land isn't necessarily a big issue. But if you're in
9:15
Speaker 2: the water and you pass out, you could drown almost
9:18
Speaker 2: instantly because it only takes about half a cup of
9:20
Speaker 2: water to fill your lungs and drown.
9:22
Speaker 1: And has that happened to you yet or no? No, okay,
9:25
Speaker 1: thank god.
9:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can take antihistamines to hopefully calm your skin
9:30
Speaker 2: down before you get in the water. I've also tried
9:34
Speaker 2: petroleum jelly like vacoline or other topical ointments to put
9:39
Speaker 2: on the affected areas before I get in the water. Now,
9:42
Speaker 2: I do have an EpiPen that I carry with me
9:44
Speaker 2: at the beach. My swim friends know where it is,
9:47
Speaker 2: just in case something happened. So I do have safety
9:51
Speaker 2: measures that I put in place for myself. But then
9:54
Speaker 2: also I accept the risk if something does happen that
9:57
Speaker 2: that's a decision that I made for myself.
9:59
Speaker 1: Tell us about how you prepare your skin for all
10:03
Speaker 1: the intense cold plunges. What's your skincare routine like? Is
10:07
Speaker 1: it a deliberate skincare routine to withstand the cold?
10:11
Speaker 2: I think when the water is super cold, my skin
10:14
Speaker 2: chafes more. Anybody who's chafed understands what I'm talking about.
10:17
Speaker 2: It is one of the most painful things, and it
10:20
Speaker 2: chafes in different places depending on the water conditions, whether
10:24
Speaker 2: it's flat or wavy, fresh or salty. So making sure
10:28
Speaker 2: I have a product for my skin that is safe
10:32
Speaker 2: for the environment, that you know doesn't come off in
10:35
Speaker 2: the water, because one thing, it's bad for the water,
10:38
Speaker 2: the body of water you're in, the plants and the animals,
10:40
Speaker 2: but also you are not protected from shaping if it
10:44
Speaker 2: comes off. So using something that's super heavy that sticks
10:48
Speaker 2: is great, But then you have the problem of clogged pores,
10:51
Speaker 2: and is there a.
10:52
Speaker 1: Way you prevent these products from clogging your pores?
10:55
Speaker 2: So I just need to make sure I have some
10:58
Speaker 2: really really good so to really cleanse the area, get
11:02
Speaker 2: things off, and then you know, just make sure I
11:05
Speaker 2: hydrate afterwards.
11:06
Speaker 1: And I think that's the other thing too.
11:07
Speaker 2: I find in the cold water, I need to use
11:10
Speaker 2: body moisturizers and lotions a lot more because my skin
11:14
Speaker 2: gets super super dry after the cold water.
11:18
Speaker 1: After a cold plunder, a cold swim, do you typically
11:20
Speaker 1: take a hot shower, a hot bath or do you
11:23
Speaker 1: take going right into the cold I don't do. I
11:26
Speaker 1: don't do cold showers. That's so ironic.
11:29
Speaker 2: The cold shower is just horrendous. The shower to me
11:32
Speaker 2: is my one place of joy and warmth during the week.
11:35
Speaker 2: That is so fair and I like keeping it that way.
11:39
Speaker 2: So do you do it like extra hot warm?
11:41
Speaker 1: I would say average warm.
11:43
Speaker 2: I mean, whether I'm taking a shower in the summer
11:46
Speaker 2: after a cold swim, it's it's all the same temperature.
11:49
Speaker 2: I've gone into saunas and for me, saunas don't work.
11:52
Speaker 1: What do you mean it doesn't work for you? So
11:54
Speaker 1: for me it actually burns my skin.
11:56
Speaker 2: I wanted to try the whole you know, cold water
11:58
Speaker 2: seaside saana thing, and I was in the sauna. I
12:02
Speaker 2: mean it's warm in there, of course it is, but
12:04
Speaker 2: I guess I didn't realize how long I was in
12:07
Speaker 2: there and my skin. I came out and my skin
12:10
Speaker 2: was super inflamed and red all over and essentially my
12:14
Speaker 2: skin almost burned and was like that for two days.
12:17
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for sharing your practice and
12:20
Speaker 1: your experience. Absolutely thank you too. Melissa made me realize
12:24
Speaker 1: that there can be very real consequences if you stay
12:27
Speaker 1: in the water for too long. But whether that's hot
12:29
Speaker 1: or cold, long term exposure comes with risks. Now, let's
12:34
Speaker 1: talk to a dermatologist who has looked at and done
12:36
Speaker 1: research on the effects of these extreme temperatures on our skin.
12:40
Speaker 1: She'll tell us how we can reap the benefits without
12:43
Speaker 1: causing damage. Right after the break, welcome back to skin queries.
12:56
Speaker 1: We're trying to figure out the real benefits of cold
12:59
Speaker 1: and hot water on Is it just a trendy craze
13:02
Speaker 1: or is there real science behind it? And how do
13:04
Speaker 1: you take care of your skin when you're putting it
13:06
Speaker 1: through these extreme temperatures. To help me answer these questions,
13:10
Speaker 1: we're bringing in doctor gita Ya Dab, a dermatologist and
13:14
Speaker 1: the founder of Facet Dermatology. Hi, Hi, how are you?
13:19
Speaker 1: Thank you for being here with us and chatting. I'm
13:22
Speaker 1: really excited to get into the nitty gritty of water,
13:26
Speaker 1: be it cold, hot, and everything in between.
13:29
Speaker 3: Do you mind introducing yourself first? My name is Ghita Yadev.
13:33
Speaker 3: I'm a board certified dermatologist. I've got my own practice
13:37
Speaker 3: on the East end of the city. I practice medical
13:39
Speaker 3: dirm cosmetic derm. I do clinical trials, and I love
13:43
Speaker 3: being on social media to help educate my patients and followers.
13:47
Speaker 1: So what are some of the claims that cold plunges
13:50
Speaker 1: can do for your health, for your skin, for your complexion.
13:53
Speaker 3: So a lot of people report feeling invigorated inside and out.
13:56
Speaker 3: They sort of get a sense of a high on
13:58
Speaker 3: endorphins after a cold place, but there's also sort of
14:01
Speaker 3: a thrill.
14:01
Speaker 1: For most people.
14:02
Speaker 3: A cold plunge can be relatively harmless, but it still
14:05
Speaker 3: feels daring or risky and brave. So there's a real
14:08
Speaker 3: excitement that comes with the suddenness of the change in
14:11
Speaker 3: temperature and that activity.
14:13
Speaker 1: I can speak like for myself when I do a
14:15
Speaker 1: cold plunch, which is rarely because I am definitely little
14:19
Speaker 1: scared than timid when it comes to immersing myself in
14:22
Speaker 1: cold water, I definitely do feel that high and just
14:25
Speaker 1: like that surge of energy. So is there anything you
14:29
Speaker 1: could speak to biochemically that's happening to the body when
14:32
Speaker 1: one does a cold plunge.
14:34
Speaker 3: So cold water definitely shocks our bodies. It causes our
14:37
Speaker 3: heart rates to spike, and it can induce a host
14:40
Speaker 3: of hormones, including dopamine, cortisol, serotonin, nor epernephrine to increase,
14:46
Speaker 3: and that all has an impact on how we feel.
14:48
Speaker 3: And there's one study that showed sort of a short
14:51
Speaker 3: term cold water plunge can improve a person's positive affect
14:54
Speaker 3: So a person can feel increased enthusiasm, a sense of
14:57
Speaker 3: alertness or energy, higher ability to con andrade, all while
15:01
Speaker 3: reducing negative affects, which includes feelings of fear, nervousness, anger,
15:05
Speaker 3: and guilt. So when we're exposed to cold temperatures, our
15:08
Speaker 3: blood vessels kind of constrict to help minimize the heat loss.
15:11
Speaker 3: That reduces blood flow, and that can even reduce pain
15:14
Speaker 3: and inflammation. So you have to kind of extrapolate that
15:16
Speaker 3: a little bit, but there are definitely physiologic effects that
15:19
Speaker 3: are happening when you put your body into that sudden
15:22
Speaker 3: shock of cold water. Another thing I should say is
15:25
Speaker 3: that we're related to inflammation. I think the lot of
15:28
Speaker 3: what we're talking about in healthcare today has to do
15:31
Speaker 3: with the impacts of inflammation inside the body and on
15:33
Speaker 3: our skin and how it promotes aging or unwellness. And
15:37
Speaker 3: I would say that some of the benefits of reducing
15:40
Speaker 3: inflammation throughout the body, it can be helpful for muscle recovery,
15:43
Speaker 3: chronic pain, arthritis, and other things.
15:45
Speaker 1: It can definitely make us feel better. So you talk
15:47
Speaker 1: about constriction of blood vessels, which I find so interesting.
15:51
Speaker 1: Does that then relate to kind of the tightening of
15:54
Speaker 1: the pores, because I know this is something that I
15:56
Speaker 1: see on Instagram or TikTok that you know, dunk your
16:00
Speaker 1: face in a bowl of ice water tightens and brightens
16:04
Speaker 1: everything and is like instant botox. Is that true?
16:08
Speaker 3: There is a reduction in blood flow that occurs when
16:11
Speaker 3: you're in cold water, and that is often most noticeable
16:13
Speaker 3: on the skin. So our bodies tend to redirect blood
16:16
Speaker 3: flow towards protecting our deeper tissues, our internal organs, and
16:20
Speaker 3: that creates these noticeable changes in the skin that can
16:23
Speaker 3: make the skin rapidly firm up, make it look smoother,
16:27
Speaker 3: specially cellulite tip. And it could make your pores appure
16:31
Speaker 3: tighter as well, minimizing that look of redness. It can
16:33
Speaker 3: also be helpful for acne, reducing some inflammation. It can
16:37
Speaker 3: help regulate sebum production. Actually, lastly, I would say it
16:40
Speaker 3: can help stimulate new collagen information, helping the skin look
16:43
Speaker 3: firmer and smoother over time.
16:45
Speaker 1: But the question is how long that'll last for.
16:47
Speaker 3: So the data really supports these shorter plunges, and the
16:51
Speaker 3: durability of those results has not been measured clearly in
16:55
Speaker 3: the evidence.
16:56
Speaker 1: I'm half Korean, and what's interesting is that when it
16:59
Speaker 1: comes to Eastern Asian philosophy, we're taught to kind of
17:03
Speaker 1: steer away from cold water and ice plunges and everything.
17:07
Speaker 1: My mom grew up telling me that don't put ice
17:09
Speaker 1: on your face, you need to boost circulation, and exactly
17:12
Speaker 1: for what you just said, it constricts blood flow. I
17:16
Speaker 1: just how do you reckoncile exactly?
17:18
Speaker 3: Just find that so interesting it is it's really it's
17:20
Speaker 3: neat how different cultures view sort of the soothing or
17:23
Speaker 3: the aggravating potential. I mean, I would say from a
17:26
Speaker 3: healing aspect in terms of the skin, often we use
17:31
Speaker 3: heat and energy to create changes to the skin. In
17:34
Speaker 3: office procedures, we also have to use cooling and soothing
17:38
Speaker 3: to help from a healing perspective, So I think it
17:40
Speaker 3: really depends on what you're trying to achieve in terms
17:44
Speaker 3: of the skin benefit and the skin health. And certainly
17:46
Speaker 3: if you're experiencing some inflammation in the skin, maybe not
17:51
Speaker 3: sort of a really shocking cold plunge, but you know,
17:54
Speaker 3: a cooling cream on your face, or sometimes I advise
17:57
Speaker 3: my patients who haven't like a lot of inflamation their skin,
18:00
Speaker 3: like eczema, to put their medications in the fridge. But
18:02
Speaker 3: even their medications are cooling and soothing and help them
18:06
Speaker 3: when they apply it.
18:09
Speaker 1: I mentioned before, I'm personally a big proponent of sweating
18:12
Speaker 1: sauna work, and I post about my daily inference sauna
18:16
Speaker 1: a lot. So I'm curious what are the benefits when
18:19
Speaker 1: it comes to the flip side of cold therapy.
18:21
Speaker 3: There's actually a little bit more information in that area
18:25
Speaker 3: that I've thought was really interesting because so there are
18:27
Speaker 3: few cultural communities that really are big proponents of, you know,
18:31
Speaker 3: sweat lodges or of saunas. The Finish are famous for
18:35
Speaker 3: their finish saunas and the value that that has on health,
18:38
Speaker 3: and the same goes with sweat lodges in indigenous cultures,
18:41
Speaker 3: and some data has been shown that there's improved cardiovascular
18:45
Speaker 3: benefits to going through regular exposure to these treatments. In
18:50
Speaker 3: terms of your skin health, certainly exposure to that warmth
18:56
Speaker 3: helps sort of decongest the pores and opens them up
18:59
Speaker 3: and encourage which is circulation, So that can definitely improve healing.
19:03
Speaker 3: But in patients who struggle with pigmentation, I'm always very
19:07
Speaker 3: mindful about the exposure to heat because all heat sort
19:10
Speaker 3: of is related to infrared radiation to the skin, and
19:14
Speaker 3: that can actually encourage pigmentation and pigmentary abnormalities.
19:17
Speaker 1: So that's so interesting.
19:18
Speaker 3: Be a bit careful if you're prone to pigmentation. Even
19:21
Speaker 3: exposure to cooking heat, like if you're getting stuff in
19:24
Speaker 3: and out of an oven, can aggravate people's pigmentation.
19:27
Speaker 1: Not getting too close to the oven for a whole
19:29
Speaker 1: variety of reasons, probably, right.
19:31
Speaker 3: You know, we often think of malasma and stuff related
19:34
Speaker 3: to the sun, and we you know, everybody's pretty conscious
19:37
Speaker 3: of sun. But protecting your skin from the heat can
19:40
Speaker 3: also be really important.
19:41
Speaker 1: And when you talk about extreme heat, can having a
19:43
Speaker 1: hot shower, because I mean I love getting into like
19:46
Speaker 1: a scalding hot shower and then ending it with the cold,
19:48
Speaker 1: But can that be detrimental to skin?
19:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, so definitely, I advise my patients who have exzema
19:55
Speaker 3: or so arisis. Even though sometimes those burning hot showers
19:58
Speaker 3: can feel so amazing, actually can be very drying to
20:01
Speaker 3: the skin and very irritating, and that increased circulation to
20:04
Speaker 3: the skin actually means that all those bud vestles vasodilate,
20:07
Speaker 3: and all those itch factors, it all gets aggravated. The
20:10
Speaker 3: inflammation the skin gets aggravated, and then patients starts scratching
20:13
Speaker 3: their skin. So even though it can kind of feel
20:16
Speaker 3: satisfying initially, it can be quite damaging in the long run.
20:19
Speaker 3: So I really do advise my patients to avoid hot
20:22
Speaker 3: showers and certainly prolonged hot showers.
20:25
Speaker 1: My daughter, actually, she has eggzma from time to time,
20:29
Speaker 1: and our doctor recommends against sitting in the warm, hot
20:33
Speaker 1: bath for too long. Can you explain why that is?
20:36
Speaker 1: Because my daughter loves her bath, so I know, how
20:39
Speaker 1: old is she?
20:40
Speaker 2: Five?
20:40
Speaker 3: Oh?
20:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know it's hard to.
20:42
Speaker 3: Kind of take that away for sure, I know, you know,
20:45
Speaker 3: I would say that at the very least, if the
20:47
Speaker 3: bath water is warm and not too hot, certainly being
20:51
Speaker 3: in the water for prolonged periods is drying to the skin.
20:55
Speaker 3: So one of the strategies that you can do when
20:58
Speaker 3: you come right out of that wet environment is moisturize
21:02
Speaker 3: the skin immediately, because that's when the skin barrier is
21:05
Speaker 3: the most permeable to hydrating moisturizers as well as medication.
21:09
Speaker 3: If so, if she has an azema cream, that's a
21:11
Speaker 3: great time to put it on and then to kind
21:13
Speaker 3: of lock in that moisture.
21:13
Speaker 1: And I find younger kids can really.
21:16
Speaker 3: Tolerate those sticky, ecclusive moistureizures sometimes better than adults. So
21:20
Speaker 3: I like to go with really rich moisturize and creams
21:23
Speaker 3: for my young patients who suffer from dry skin and azema.
21:27
Speaker 1: So going back to cold plunges and ice cold showers,
21:30
Speaker 1: you mentioned that there is a sudden shock to the
21:32
Speaker 1: system and even though there can be some benefits, is
21:35
Speaker 1: it possible that it could be harmful as well.
21:38
Speaker 3: So I think if you have any heart conditions or
21:40
Speaker 3: circulatory issues, then you should definitely talk to your doctor
21:43
Speaker 3: before doing that. A specific example might be something like raino.
21:48
Speaker 3: So rhinos is a circulatory condition of the distal hands,
21:52
Speaker 3: the tips of your fingers where they tend to go
21:53
Speaker 3: white and the blood vessels really constrict, and it's actually
21:56
Speaker 3: quite common. It's common in people with autoimmune conditions, but
21:59
Speaker 3: you don't have to have an immune condition to suffer
22:01
Speaker 3: from this, And so in that case, something like a
22:03
Speaker 3: cold water plunge might really aggravate your rhinotes and that
22:06
Speaker 3: might be painful and not great for your joints in
22:09
Speaker 3: your skin. So you do have to be careful with
22:11
Speaker 3: cold extremes because it can become to feel and become
22:14
Speaker 3: like a burn. So frostbite is cold injury. So you
22:18
Speaker 3: can definitely injure the tissue with extreme cold in the
22:21
Speaker 3: same way that you can injure it from extreme heat.
22:24
Speaker 3: So again, you just have to be mindful of your
22:26
Speaker 3: underlying health conditions before you do that, and you can
22:28
Speaker 3: easily talk to your doctrine. They can advise you if
22:30
Speaker 3: there's going to be a trigger.
22:31
Speaker 1: There, and you know, are there any certain precautions that
22:34
Speaker 1: anyone should take before embarking on that.
22:36
Speaker 3: So what's really important is I think number one, protecting
22:40
Speaker 3: the skin from those extreme temperatures. So you know, something
22:43
Speaker 3: like a cold plunge or cold bath, I think once
22:45
Speaker 3: a week is totally sufficient. It's not something I would
22:47
Speaker 3: recommend every day. And so the same goes for any
22:50
Speaker 3: kind of repeated cold exposure. It can just actually aggravate
22:54
Speaker 3: the skin. It's not really meant to be in that
22:56
Speaker 3: environment for prolonged periods on a regular basis.
22:58
Speaker 1: That makes sense.
22:59
Speaker 3: Most of the literature and cold plunges refers to this
23:02
Speaker 3: brief exposure, so ten minutes are less okay, So you
23:05
Speaker 3: might be able to get similar benefits by washing your
23:07
Speaker 3: face with cold water.
23:08
Speaker 1: And what would you say the best way to maintain
23:10
Speaker 1: our skin barrier would be? Like, what are the top
23:13
Speaker 1: three habits that you recommend to your patients?
23:16
Speaker 3: Oh, it's like a rider die kind of question, you know,
23:19
Speaker 3: the three things you couldn't live without. I mean, the
23:22
Speaker 3: first is, obviously if you're going to cleanse your skin,
23:25
Speaker 3: using a moisturizing cleanser, so you're not stripping the skin
23:28
Speaker 3: of too many natural oils and so soaps actually can
23:31
Speaker 3: often irritate the skin because they're drying, they're a little
23:33
Speaker 3: bit too alkaline. The second is using a moisturizer that
23:36
Speaker 3: contains seramides or coloidal oat or ingredients that are known
23:40
Speaker 3: to soothe the skin and to put moisture back in
23:43
Speaker 3: the skin and help lock in that moisture. And I
23:46
Speaker 3: think the third is protecting the skin from the elements.
23:48
Speaker 1: I think that you know, the skin barrier is such
23:50
Speaker 1: a hot topic and buzzword now, I think that we
23:53
Speaker 1: hear about moisturizing and all of that for so long,
23:56
Speaker 1: but now even in products, you're seeing that a lot.
23:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, and more that research is going that I think
24:01
Speaker 3: is really cool is conditions that we normally associate with,
24:04
Speaker 3: say like oily skin or like acne, let's say that
24:08
Speaker 3: are now being better understood as some component of that
24:12
Speaker 3: is a problem with the skin barrier. So even if
24:14
Speaker 3: you think you've got oily skin or your prot to acne,
24:16
Speaker 3: you still need to moisturize because improving that skin barrier
24:19
Speaker 3: is part of healing that skin.
24:21
Speaker 1: Right. I think back in the day was all about
24:23
Speaker 1: you know, drying out your skin with these strongest stringents
24:26
Speaker 1: and you know, basically ruining last question for you. Hot
24:33
Speaker 1: shower or cold shower? Warm shower? That totally hedging. That's fair.
24:39
Speaker 1: I think that that you know, it's the most pleasant.
24:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's the most regular use for probably
24:44
Speaker 3: most people.
24:45
Speaker 1: But I would say that I'm all about the extremes. Well,
24:48
Speaker 1: it's great though.
24:48
Speaker 3: It really does get you going, and I would say
24:51
Speaker 3: that that is one way to start the day. If
24:54
Speaker 3: you can get up and go, I think do it,
24:57
Speaker 3: but then make sure that it's tolerable for you to
24:59
Speaker 3: do all the the rest of the things you want
25:01
Speaker 3: to do in.
25:01
Speaker 1: The shower exactly, exactly. Thank you so much, Gita, Thank
25:05
Speaker 1: you for taking the time, and it was so great
25:07
Speaker 1: chatting with you. It was an absolute pleasure.
25:09
Speaker 3: Thank you.
25:11
Speaker 1: Thank you to both my guests, doctor gita Ya Dab
25:13
Speaker 1: and Melissa Keegler for sharing their stories and knowledge with us.
25:17
Speaker 1: I personally learned so much about cold punches and the
25:20
Speaker 1: effects extreme temperatures of water can have on our body.
25:24
Speaker 1: And even though I've been a little intimidated to do
25:27
Speaker 1: coal punches regularly, I'm now a little more apt to
25:30
Speaker 1: try it because of all the benefits I've heard. I
25:32
Speaker 1: love the idea of the constriction of blood vessels and
25:35
Speaker 1: then the expansion and release, creating and invigorating mental and
25:40
Speaker 1: physical boost and of course moderation is key. We don't
25:43
Speaker 1: want to overdo it. Just like with anything, we want
25:46
Speaker 1: to approach cold therapy in a way that feels intuitive
25:49
Speaker 1: and right for us. Skin Queries is hosted by myself
25:56
Speaker 1: Nicole Berry, an executive produced by Evon Sheehan. Your producer
26:00
Speaker 1: is Tory Weldon. Our junior producers are Reim Almagraby and
26:04
Speaker 1: Jenny Cunningham. The show is mixed and features original music
26:07
Speaker 1: by Sam Sagan. If you enjoy the show, share it
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Speaker 1: with your friends. You can also listen and follow on
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Speaker 1: you leave a review. Until next time,