Eps 312: Teen Skin Health with Dr. Mona Gohara

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Transcription

Casey O'Roarty 0:03
Casey, Hello, friends. Welcome back to the joyful courage podcast, a place where we tease apart the challenges and nuances of consciously parenting through the adolescent years. I am your host. Casey o'rourdy, I am a positive discipline trainer and the adolescent lead over at sproutable, a company that represents not only the growth of children, but also the journey and evolution that we go through as parents. And I'm in it right? I'm walking the path right next to you as I navigate the teen parenting with my own two beautiful children here in the lovely Pacific Northwest, joyful courage is all about grit, growth on the parenting journey, relationships that provide a sense of connection and meaning and influential tools that support everyone in being their best selves. Today's show is an interview. I invite you to listen to how grit shows up in my conversation with my guest. Thank you so much for being here. We are over 1 million downloads and 300 plus episodes strong, and you your listening has taken us to the top 1% of podcasts worldwide. I so appreciate you. I really, really hope that you enjoy the show. Carry on.

Hi listeners. My guest today is Dr Mona gahara. After graduating from medical school with AOA honors, Dr Gohara did her dermatology training at Yale, New Haven Hospital, where she served as chief resident. I love saying that because I watch a lot of Gray's Anatomy, so I know what chief resident means.

Dr. Mona Gohara 1:56
Episode with the dermatology clinic that was even funnier. Anyway. Yes, so

Casey O'Roarty 1:59
good. Dr guhara continues to teach at Yale, where she holds a faculty appointment as an associate clinical professor. Dr guhara serves as a medical expert for L, cosmopolitan Vogue, o The Oprah Magazine, Good Housekeeping, allure and real simple. She's on the advisory board of Women's Health magazine as well. Dr gahara has a husband and two tween boys, besides mothering and doctoring, she spends time watching her son's basketball games, educating the public on skin care, skin health, skin cancer and sun protection. She has done this through writing, lecturing on the local, national and international level, and by engaging popular media. Hi, I'm going to call you Dr Mona. Hi, Dr Mona, welcome to the podcast.

Dr. Mona Gohara 2:47
Casey. Thank you so much. What a kind introduction. I'm so happy to be here joining you and all your listeners to enlighten people about teenage

Casey O'Roarty 2:58
acne. Yay. Great. I'm so glad to be talking to you as the mother of two teens. This is super useful information. My daughter, my oldest, actually just completed an Aesthetician program, just the first six month aesthetician program. So she is well educated in all things skin and keeps us in sunscreen. How

Dr. Mona Gohara 3:19
old is she?

Casey O'Roarty 3:20
She is 18,

Dr. Mona Gohara 3:21
okay, I was gonna say, my goodness, I didn't realize. Okay, great, great. Oh, she was the

Casey O'Roarty 3:25
youngest in her group. And my listeners know she's had kind of an alternative educational experience, so she got her GED and then went straight into a trade school. So it was a really great fit for her, yeah. And then, you know, I have a 16 year old son and Rowan, my daughter, is really useful as far as supporting us and supporting him, and it can get slippery. So let's just start off by sharing the basics about what happens to skin during adolescence.

Dr. Mona Gohara 3:56
Yeah, so it's pretty simple, and what happens is there is a hormonal surge that in young men is testosterone, and in young women is estrogen. And that hormonal surge kind of communicates and signals our oil glands to go into overdrive. So then our oil glands go into oil, drive and produce like this robust amount of oil. And the bacteria on our skin loves that. It's like McDonald's french fries, and we believe it or not, yes, we all have bacteria on our skin. And the bacteria comes rushing towards this great ripe oil, and it creates inflammation in the skin. So it's this hormonal surge, followed by an increase in oil production, followed by this kind of collection of this bacterial posse hanging out on your skin that creates inflammation, depending on how deep the inflammation that corresponds with how deep and how extensive the pitfall for inflammation. That's not. Not that, you know, significant. You may have some whiteheads and blackheads, for information that's really robust. You may have deep, painful, tender cysts. And so it really is just different for everybody. And there's also Casey, a genetic component, you know, some people can go through this cycle of what we call puberty and and not be affected at all. And some people can definitely have significant involvement of their skin. And I will say this, I definitely think, you know, it's my motto, as a dermatologist and as a mom of two teenage boys myself, that nobody should have acne. It's like to me, I consider acne a very highly curable, dealable situation. So for your listeners and parents out there, or or teens who are struggling with this and feel like this, because this can really affect people's self esteem,

Casey O'Roarty 5:56
oh yeah, not gonna take time too much, but

Dr. Mona Gohara 5:59
this is a manageable problem, and that's what I want to just get across

Casey O'Roarty 6:03
that is so great to hear, because I think there's a lot of parents who kind of sit inside of, well, they're teenagers, so this is a part of the deal. And I hear what you're saying, I've seen it, you know, I've seen it. And it doesn't even have to be like, I mean, we've all seen it, right? All of us that are sitting here listening to you talk and thinking about even just one blemish, even just what it can be considered a mild situation. You know, for a teenager, can feel like the biggest deal, and I think it's, it's important that we not dismiss their experience and hearing you say for the record, right? This is manageable, this is curable, is so it just makes me feel so much better. And so oil on the skin. It's an inside job, right? Like, as I'm thinking about inside job now, there

Dr. Mona Gohara 6:56
are external things, yeah, so that's a good that's a good question. Thanks for bringing that up. But I want to go back for one second, which is that, like, you know, we always joke around as dermatologists like, if we have one pimple on our skin, we freak out. So let's not ever judge patients for having, you know, I love what you just said, that even though it's one pimple, it's one person's experience, and so we have to respect that and listen to that and understand how that can affect their daily lives. So I really love that.

So in terms of other things besides hormones that can kind of play into it, let's myth bust for a second, okay, yeah, there are external factors that can make acne worse if you have a tendency towards it. One is our beloved masks. Right now, the masks are like wreaking havoc on everybody's skin. Guess what? We need them. I'm not advocating that nobody should be wearing masks. Everybody should be wearing masks. That being said, they are wreaking havoc on our skin, because all this, like moist, like spitty, sweaty stuff is so gross hanging out over there for like, hours. Okay, skin's not used to that. The other is, you know, there's this kind of old legend that you eat some chocolate and you get acne, and there's some validity to that, but, you know, the validity lies within there are studies that show that high glycemic index diets, meaning diets high in white simple carbs can contribute to acne. And then there that is true. Wait, yeah, so high glycemic index, so lots of flour, lots of yes and sugar, pasta, sugar, okay, yes, exactly. And then there's this whole like question about dairy, because there are studies also that show that deer and, you know, like, what

Casey O'Roarty 8:46
are inflammation? If it's about inflammation, it makes sense that dairy would be a great so

Dr. Mona Gohara 8:51
I don't ever want to create an air or any context for somebody that's disordered eating and they start to link eating. So what I always so my patient says, You know what? What's what's, a healthy diet is going to be good for your skin, like so generation what you would eat for heart health, brain health, every other that's you should eat for your skin. So I'm not a big fan of elimination diets for acne. And then the one little nuance thing which some teenagers may be doing a lot of these days is whey protein. So whey protein, which people put in shakes that can cause acne, and a lot of people are doing that for like, you know, nutritional shakes. So that's something to consider. And of course, then there's just, like, your daily lifestyle, like the stress, the sleep, all of that. When that isn't kind of on point. Your cortisol levels go up, and cortisol levels are pro inflammatory. So there are these other more nuanced things, but it's also it's always in the context of a proclivity or a tendency towards acne in general.

Casey O'Roarty 9:54
Yeah. So my daughter recently said something when my mom asked her what she wanted for Christmas, one of the things that she wanted. It was a silk pillowcase, and she told me, she said, Mom, it's good for your skin. So I'm wondering,

Dr. Mona Gohara 10:07
is it I use a silk pillowcase your daughter, Judith, she's so ahead of it, so ahead of her time. Those like masks, and my kids laugh at me, but I use it for hair, for purposes of hair health too, because I don't wash my hair every day. I wash it like once a week, and it is definitely, I think it's better for your skin. Of course, yeah, it's smoother well.

Casey O'Roarty 10:29
And I'm thinking about my son, who is 16, and I'm really daily working on not micromanaging him, which means I'm not going to go in there and change his sheets on the regular, like, that's really his job. So I'm wondering too, knowing that he does it less often than I would do it, if that is another, I mean, if the mask is a, is a situation for this? Yeah, I'm wondering too around that kind of environmental,

Dr. Mona Gohara 10:55
yeah, and like, people, okay, oh, then there's, you, keep reminding me, thank you. You're like, the perfect post.

Casey O'Roarty 11:01
Thank you.

Dr. Mona Gohara 11:04
There's one more situation, because the mask is actually an example of what we call acne Mechanica. And so the typical, exact example of acne Mechanica is the athlete who has pads, or, you know, the sports bra. So it's frictional. It's this friction irritation on our skin. And so that's another form of acne that we see very, very regularly, is acne mechanic. That's what the mask is as a result of as well. It's just like frictional, like nudge on your skin. And so that that's a form of it. But, yeah, I think that just kind of basic hygiene, basic healthy diet. These are things that are extreme, like, remember, like, I want everybody to remember that Tiktok people didn't go to medical school. And, you know, these are very basic things that aren't a hack, and they're not like, you know, the newest trend. They're like, just basic that can really make a big difference in terms of your skin health. And I just want to say one thing as well. I think that people's self esteem can be further harmed with acne because of why they can filter it out. They can filter it out on the on, on, you know, yes, social media. And then they, they're like, oh, it's gone. And they think that they look like that, but then they don't, yeah, so we really need to my advice as a parent and as a mom and as a dermatologist, is to just listen to your kids. They may not be talking to you about it, but pick up on cues. This is something that can really affect their self esteem, and it's so manageable and it's so normal, and, you know, like everybody goes through it to some extent. So how,

Casey O'Roarty 12:41
but how do we talk about it? That's the That's, I mean, I know myself. I you know, it feels like this line, this, like landmine, right where it's like, oh, I'm noticing. It's not terrible, it's not cystic, it's just, but it is for my son, it's like, right along the hairline, and I, I want to encourage him to keep up with, you know, all the things his sister is telling him to do. And I don't want to be like, Hey, I'm noticing all your zits. Yeah,

Dr. Mona Gohara 13:11
I would. So the way to broach the conversation is about skin health, as opposed to the way it looks okay to me if you notice the cavity in your kids teeth, you Beebe, we gotta go get that filled, buddy, like, you know, without like, you can't walk around the cavity in your teeth, because that means your teeth aren't healthy. Yeah. And so for me, it's about skin health. That's how I, you know, deal with it with my own children who have acne. Hey, it's not about, oh my god, Kieran. That looks awful. It's hearing acne means that maybe your skin isn't as healthy as it should be. And let's work on it. Let's get your skin like, I like talking in terms of health.

Casey O'Roarty 13:49
Yeah, I like that. Like, you're like, the indication, right? That acne is an indication on where this Yeah, so, so something that I mean, and this trips me up when I look for my own products, let alone thinking about my kids. So you're talking about the hormone surge and this overproduction of oil. So are any of our do any of our teenagers have dry skin? Or are we really trying to manage this over production of oil? Like, what? How do we know? Yeah, I

Dr. Mona Gohara 14:20
think it's really important. So oftentimes people try and take matters into their own hands. And they think that acne is a result of, like, dirt or, you know, something else, and so they start to scrub. And so, like, your biggest goal in life is, like, get rid of that freaking oil. Listen,

Casey O'Roarty 14:36
St Ives apricot scrub. I went berserko with that when I was you just

Dr. Mona Gohara 14:42
like, go into this overdrive when we really should be like, you know, looking at gentle cleansers, which we'll talk about some. Yeah, clean and clear definitely has a lot of great gentle cleansers and cleansers that have the right ingredients for acne, right and so I think that the key is, don't dig matters into your. Hands, because what happens? And people go into overdrive. They start scrub, rub, a dub, dub and baby that don't do anything good.

Casey O'Roarty 15:06
Yeah, is there a possibility that you dry out your skin so much that it's even more infection? Not only does that

Dr. Mona Gohara 15:13
so dry skin is a sign of skin barrier malfunction. It means your barrier isn't functioning properly. Your skin barriers job is to lock water in and to keep irritants out so you're hydrated and not irritated. When your barriers compromise, water evaporates out and the skin becomes very irritated. That's what happens. So it means that you really need to work on repairing that barrier so that the skin has the ability to heal and repair itself. So that's why, using things, you know, there's a really, there's some great cleansers from clean and clear that are not medicated, that are that have aloe in them, you know, clean and clear, aloe vera, body wash and clean and clear. Aloe vera, gentle cleanser. That's a perfect opportunity to cleanse the skin, use ingredients like aloe that are soothing and decrease inflammation. There's not specific ingredients that are helping acne, but they're helping your barrier. They're helping that's because my second tip on managing acne is to keep it simple. There need to be this like 17 step routine where you're like, Oh, I did this mask, and then there's this toner, and then there's like, this serum. Like, I really think it's important to keep it simple. It should be cleansing medication. If medication is necessary, we'll talk about good ingredients and moisturizing,

Casey O'Roarty 16:39
yeah. Yeah. And I just want to tell listeners that Dr Mona is connected to clean and clear. She is a spokesperson for clean and clear. So she's going to bring up and I, and I feel like, you know, I'm not alone in being a parent at Rite Aid, looking at this wall of options. So I do appreciate that you can be really specific. And, you know, we all get to kind of play around, like even Rowan, you know, hooked aunt my son up with some products, and they just didn't work for him. And so sometimes we get to try something out and find what works for us. But you will hear clean and clear in our conversation. So when we're looking at products ingredients wise, so we're keeping our kids in mind. We're looking at all the options. Yeah, are there things that we definitely are red flags, and are there things that we want to make sure are a part of the product?

Dr. Mona Gohara 17:31
So if you're let's just go through the different types of acne. If you're a child has typical kind of Whitehead, blackhead acne on their skin, there are certain ingredients that can help with that before you even, you know you can try before you even go to a dermatologist. Those would be benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. Okay, those are great. Now, the reason I like those ingredients are because they're specifically ingredients that help to cut through oils, they help to target the bacteria that's involved with acne, so they're targeting the pathophysiology or the reason that acne is happening. I personally like that. I like benzoyl peroxide. Washes clean and clear. Has one

Casey O'Roarty 18:14
what's a wash? What does that mean? A wash is that different than like you would

Dr. Mona Gohara 18:18
use in the shower or to wash your face at night. Okay, okay, sorry. One, that's

Casey O'Roarty 18:24
kind of a no brainer, but for some reason, hearing you use that language, yeah, perfect

Dr. Mona Gohara 18:30
is a better word, yeah. So clean and clear has one called pursa Gel 10 and that has benzoyl peroxide 10% now the way I recommend patients use it is not to squirt the bottle onto your hands is to just do like a finger. Tell your child to do fingertip to fingertip, apply it to his or her skin, really in small amounts. So yeah, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, short contact like either in a cleanser or a lotion. Those would be good. That's for Whitehead, blackhead acne, okay? When we get into the deeper acne, the more inflammatory acne, the ones that you just want to pop, oh yeah, ones are on the surface. Undergrounders that start, that's what we used to call undergrounders. Are cysts. Those are okay, that's different, okay, inflammatory ones, then you're kind of treading on that territory. Maybe it's time to see a dermatologist. Do we need prescription medication? Okay? And then the deeper cystic ones, it's almost always you should be doing that because, why? Because they can leave scars. And even though, if your body, naturally, kind of like gets through the process of it, it can leave a scar, and the last thing you want is a long lasting like pitted acne scar, because inflammatory acne and the cystic acne really, truly are better suited with oral medications if they're not going away. Okay?

Casey O'Roarty 19:52
And I know everybody that's listening, I know we all have our own relationship and experience. Response and response to hearing, you know, any kind of conversation around medication, and you know, you get to, you know, make your choices for your kids with your dermatologist. But I'm appreciating, Mona, you being really clear on when you know when it's time to go and see a dermatologist, because there's a there's purpose there, right? Like, there are things, you know, just like we talk a lot about, when's the time to go to a therapist, right? Or go to the doctor when you see you know your when it's out of your skill set, it's time to go see someone who's life, or, you know, and work revolves around skin health. So thank you for that, and thank you for pointing

Dr. Mona Gohara 20:46
that out. Because, you know what it is, Casey, I think that people think skin is like low stakes. Skin is an organ. It's not bloody and gutsy, but it's an organ like the rest of our organs, and people think it's low stakes, and they, you know, oftentimes we all are just like, overwhelmed over, you know, prescribed, there's too many things going on, and we're like, okay, it's freaking acne. Like, who cares? Deal with it. You're gonna get through it. It's not a big deal. But it is kind of because if any one of our other organs were not functioning the way that they should be functioning. There's no way we would ignore it. So it's something that I try and impart again, putting skin skin health on an even playing field with the other biologic and physiologic parts of our body. Yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 21:36
our dermatologists. So, you know, like when you're looking for a therapist, you can kind of look them up and see what their specialties are, see who it is that they work with. Are dermatologists the same way? Like, are there people who specialize in adolescent skin and things like that? Yeah,

Dr. Mona Gohara 21:55
so that's a great question. Actually, I'm really glad that you asked that there's, there's actually a group of dermatologists who are specialized. They're pediatric dermatologists, meaning that they deal with everything 18 and under. I'm not a pediatric dermatologist. I'm a medical dermatologist, meaning that, but I see patients from three zero to 110 you know, like so. But there are, if you feel more comfortable, going to a doctor that is a pediatric dermatologist, there are those, and I think it's important to find a doctor that matches your child's personality, because we know that when there's some type of resonance, personality wise, culturally, gender resonance, the outcome is going to be better. Your your your son or daughter is going to be much more likely to listen to what the dermatologist is saying, if he or she can relate to what they're saying. Yeah. So I think it's really important to kind of take the time to find somebody that vibes, that gels, that resonates, because the outcome will inevitably be better.

Casey O'Roarty 23:04
Are there places to go, like, Are there websites, places to go to locate who's local to your area and to get any kind of background?

Dr. Mona Gohara 23:13
Yeah, you can go on to the American Academy of dermastology, www.aad.org, there's a tab for patients and there's a tab for doctors, and so for the patients tab, if you type in your zip code up, will pop a whole bunch of dermatologists with their designation and specialty. But you can also use little Google. And then I think that it's really cool to just like, pick up the phone, you know, like, for example, I'm a woman of color, you guys can't see me because I'm on, we're on a podcast, but I'm a woman of color, and I have a lot of patients who are black and brown who come see me because they can relate. I can relate, you know, like there's that cultural resonance. There's no reason for you not to pick up a phone and ask, you know, ask, Does this person see kids? Does this person see a lot of acne? You know, those are questions that are totally fair and we get every day.

Casey O'Roarty 24:15
So going back to I've got a kid, maybe, maybe one of the listeners has a younger adolescent, when should you know? My guess is, I have a I have a feeling. I know you're gonna say, but you know, a lot of us don't kind of kick into gear until we start to see some changes happening in our kids skin. When is a good time for kids, for parents to start to encourage. I mean, of course, we're brushing their teeth for them when they're really little. When should we? When should we start to make sure that they have, like, a good skincare routine? As far as their sweet little. Faces go.

Dr. Mona Gohara 25:00
Well, I feel that that's a really good question. And I think when they can start brushing their teeth, they should start washing their face, and they should start applying their sunscreen. And I you know, because, again, we're putting skin on the same playing field as any other organ, and it's health, and that's how you keep your skin healthy. And even when you're a cute little in your prepubescent and there's no, you know, a gentle cleanser. That's okay. You will be running around outside with your friends and buddies. And so I think the question to that is, I don't, I never wait until there's a problem. It should just be part of the daily routine, because then it won't be as onerous to implement. Then you say, Okay, put on this medication or use this wash. It'll be second nature to them. You switch dental wash for, you know, the benzyl peroxide wash. Okay, no big no, Nbd. Like, no biggie. But

Casey O'Roarty 25:54
yeah, yeah. And that makes perfect sense. I'm trying to think back, like, well, what, what were we it wasn't like my kids didn't watch their face, but it was more of like, here's a wet washcloth, wipe your face, right? And that was the extent of it. But what I'm hearing you say is, you know, finding some, you know, like you said, a gentle cleanser, getting them in the routine of we brush our teeth, we wash our face. This is what we do in the morning. This is what we do at night. That's why I like washes, like, you know, the clean and clear one that we were talking about, because we do it anyway. Yeah, what, you know, like, it's not like we're adding, we're asking you to do another step. It's just swapping something out the other cute trick I

Dr. Mona Gohara 26:30
like to do. So it's really funny. So my son has, you know, some Whitehead, black head, acne and I, we like do our routines together. I'm washing my face at night and putting on my retinoid for my wrinkles, and he's washing his face tonight and putting on his retinoid for his acne, and it's great. And like, we're like, yeah. We're like, hey, yeah, we're doing our routine. So I think it's actually like, you know, it's good modeling for them to see you do it. And they do it kind of very with complete facility, because they're just used to seeing me do it, yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 27:03
it's just a part of their what they do. What about Moisturizing Lotion is that? Tell me about that. Yeah. Okay,

Dr. Mona Gohara 27:10
so remember that cream. So lotions and creams are not the same thing. Okay? Lotions start with L and they're lighter, okay, creams are heavier. So lotions are primarily water and less oil, okay, creams are more oil and less water. So if somebody has a tendency to have dry skin, they're going to want to go with a cream. If somebody has oily skin, they're going to want to go with a lotion, but under no circumstance should you compromise the process of moisturization. It should be cleansing and moisturizing, and sunscreen application should be part of like a daily routine. And so I like that if you want a if you want a moisturizer with an active in it that can help with acne, acid would be a great one. Again, clean and clear has one of those. And so I think that salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide are good places to start. But clean, you know, taking out ingredients, taking out skin conditions, the actions of cleansing and moisturizing and sunscreen application are the basics to skin health.

Casey O'Roarty 28:28
I love that it's simple. I also love all these words that you're using listeners you know that you can get into my show notes, and My sweet daughter, Rowan, who writes my show notes. She listens to every podcast and writes out the show notes she's she's gonna get to look up how all of these words are spelled. So Rowan, you're really earning your money this week. Oh, well, you know, this makes me feel so much better in my own experience of supporting my son. My daughter seems to be doing just fine with all of this, but definitely with my son, you know? And you mentioned athletes, and I'm gonna circle back around that, because I do. Ian is a sports guy. He plays basketball. He gets really sweaty. Is there anything that you can share to consider just when you've got kids that are really active, and I mean washing in the morning, and night is there, like I'm watching him, you know, he just had a game the other night, and I'm watching him all sweaty and then pulling his shirt up and wiping his face with his really sweaty shirt. And I'm, I mean, in the moment, honestly, I was not thinking about his skin, but now that I'm thinking about it, it's kind of gross. But thoughts on that,

I think, should I get

him his own little packet of towelettes? I

Dr. Mona Gohara 29:43
mean, this is, this sounds actually really funny, and I'm just thinking about this. If I ever suggested this to my son, who's also a basketball player, he would be like, Are you fucking kidding me? If you know, instead of like, scrubbing it, you know, like, maybe he just like, kind of like, dabbed his face, it would probably be better, because. Is that's making it worse. But I, like, you know, like, wipes, wipes in those situations, not in the middle, like, not coach, hold on, let me get my that would really go over well with him and his teammates. I think that they'd love that, but, but that would be really funny. But like, if you can't come home right away, or if she can't come Yeah, I think I like the dabbing, yeah, definitely the dad, because we're like, a scrubbing culture. We do we like aggressively and scrub and like, yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 30:34
it feels like we're doing something when we get our scrub on. I

Dr. Mona Gohara 30:37
always tell my patients the only thing that anybody should scrub like, you know, is like our dirty floors, like we shouldn't be scrubbing our faces, our skin is really gentle. I mean, it's fragile, and so, yeah, ABS, baby dabs, baby

dabs.

Yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 30:55
this was way I have to just, I mean, I was looking forward to this conversation, but this was way more fun than I thought it would be. So I love so much. It's really great to connect with you, and this information is so, so useful. Before we wrap up, is there anything else that you want parents that are listening to consider in the context of their teen skin?

Dr. Mona Gohara 31:16
I just want you to know that number one, this isn't something that you're in alone. There's tons of resources. There's no reason for you to be struggling with the stress of your child struggling with it. And if, even if, your child is kind of ambivalent towards it and doesn't really think it's a big deal, just talking to him or her about skin health and why this is a reflection of how they could, you know, their skin could be more healthy, I think would be great. And I think just keeping in mind that there are over the counter actions like, don't be overwhelmed, go. Hopefully some of the suggestions we made will be helpful today. Go into the aisles. Look for that benzoyl peroxide wash. Look for that salicylic acid lotion. And then if it's not helping, or if you feel overwhelmed, this is why we trained dermatologists. Went to four years of med school, four years of residency, you know. So this is, like, what we did, like, this is why we're here. So I just there's, there's much more serious problems in our world that aren't easily fixable. Don't make acne one of them,

Casey O'Roarty 32:18
yeah. Oh, I love that. Well, I end all of my interviews with this question, and I'm going to send it out to you. What does joyful courage mean to you? Mona,

Dr. Mona Gohara 32:28
what does joyful courage mean to me? I think that joyful courage means living, living your life kind of like unabashedly and honestly in every aspect

Casey O'Roarty 32:44
I love that be joyfully courageous and wear your sunscreen. Where can people find you and follow your work?

Dr. Mona Gohara 32:52
I love that. Thank you so much. So on Instagram, that's probably my biggest platform. Is et Mona Gohara, m o n, a G, O, H, A, R, A, dermdoc, D, E, R, M, D, O, C,

Casey O'Roarty 33:04
awesome, and we'll link that in the show notes. Thank you again. So great to spend time with you and have you on Thanks.

Dr. Mona Gohara 33:11
It was absolutely my pleasure. Have a wonderful evening.

Casey O'Roarty 33:19
All right, we did it. We did it. Another super useful interview in the bag. I loved that conversation, and I hope you took away value from it as well. My friend, if you have any questions, you can always reach out to me at Casey, at joyful courage.com. I do read every single email that comes my way. If you loved the show, please show your support by writing a review wherever you listen to podcasts or take a screenshot and post it on your social you sharing helps us grow our impact, and that's the goal, right world elevation. Thank you to the team at sproutable for all of your back end help. And of course, [email protected] for your stellar editing. Love you, man. And yeah, I'm so honored and excited that you listen each week. We are all doing the best we can in the moment, people, that includes you. Have a beautiful, beautiful week ahead, see you on Thursday for another episode of The becoming sproutable limited series. Don't forget that that's happening here in the podcast feed on Thursdays. So check that out, and I will see you next week. Bye

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