Derm-it Trotter! Don't Swear About Skincare.
Feeling frustrated or overwhelmed with everything skin? Does the skinformation overload make you want to swear about skincare? Join Dr. Shannon C. Trotter, board certified dermatologist, as she talks with fellow dermatologists and colleagues in skincare to help separate fact from fiction and simplify the world of skin. After listening, you won’t swear about skincare anymore!
Derm-it Trotter! Don't Swear About Skincare.
From Hormones to Gut Health: Why You're Still Breaking Out
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Acne can feel mysterious until you zoom out and see the pattern: your skin is responding to signals from blood sugar, hormones, inflammation, stress, and even your environment. Dr. Shannon C. Trotter sits down with board-certified dermatologist Dr. Katie Varman of Shine Functional Dermatology to unpack what’s happening under the surface, and why treating acne is often about finding your biggest driver rather than hunting for a single “bad” ingredient.
We dig into the science linking insulin to acne, including how frequent high-glycemic foods can activate growth pathways (including mTOR and insulin-like growth factor signaling) that increase oil production and pore-clogging skin buildup. We also talk dairy and why it can be a powerful trigger for some people, plus how a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can help you personalize what actually spikes your blood sugar. If you’ve ever wondered why one person can eat pizza and be fine while another breaks out overnight, we explain the “threshold” concept and how to test changes without living on a permanent restriction plan.
From there, we connect the dots on gut health and the gut microbiome, probiotics and postbiotics, and why processed foods can quietly undermine skin health. We also get real about stress and acne, breaking down the HPA axis, cortisol, and how your skin can behave like an endocrine organ. Finally, we cover endocrine disrupting chemicals like phthalates and BPA, why synthetic fragrance is a common exposure, and simple swaps that can reduce your load without panic.
If you want clearer skin and a smarter acne routine, hit play, then subscribe, leave a review, and share the show with someone who needs a little skincare sanity.
Insulin And Blood Sugar Acne
SPEAKER_03Reason, like you were saying, blood sugar and insulin are so important is there is very, very, very clear science about insulin levels as being a very big trigger for acne. And I have absolutely seen some people just genetically they don't do dairy well and and their acne gets way better just without dairy. But stress really does play a very, very big role. Um and when you kind of dig deeper into how stress hormones affect not just you know your skin, but your whole body.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Dermot Trotter, Don't Swear About Skin Care, where host Dr. Shannon C. Trotter, a board-certified dermatologist, sits down with fellow dermatologists and skincare experts to separate fact from fiction and simplify skincare. Let's get started.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to the Dermotrotter, Don't Swear About Skin Care podcast. This is going to be a great one. We're tackling acne today with Dr. Katie Varman. She's a board-certified dermatologist, owner of Shine Functional Dermatology in Northern California, and recently founded the Shine Skin Academy, which is empowering patients to heal their skin through lifestyle and dietary changes. Welcome to the podcast, Katie. It's great to have you here.
SPEAKER_03Thank you so much, Dr. Cutter. I'm happy to be back.
SPEAKER_02Well, it's an exciting thing to revisit acne. This is always on everyone's mind, I think, at different points in our life. And we're always searching for kind of, I think, you know, the underlying cause or things that might be contributing to acne, despite, you know, obviously trying to treat it. So I wanted to kind of set, you know, our tone and talk there about sort of these root causes, you know, of acne and tackle things like diet and the gut kind of being out of balance, and just have you kind of set the scene on what we know and how we think it contributes to acne forming in the skin.
SPEAKER_03Yes, and we have learned so much in the last few years about the role of all of those things that you mentioned, the diet, the gut health, the chemicals in our environment. And we've really learned a lot about these underlying drivers of acne that go above and beyond just, you know, we're usually taught about the skin features of acne, you know, the oil and the pore plugging and the bacteria and all these things. But there's a lot, there's a lot of information coming about about these really root drivers that are underneath the surface. And so I've been really passionate lately about trying to explore those root drivers and then more importantly, trying to teach people about them because it does get very complicated.
SPEAKER_02Well, and I think, you know, uh, you know, today I did pretty well with my diet, although I have to admit there was an afternoon snack brought by, and there is a June blizzard sitting in the freezer still for me later. I know. I want that. I told them I didn't want anything, but my front staff still ordered me something, so it's still sitting in that freezer. But things like DQ and other enjoyable treats that have that high glycemic index that impact you know on insulin production. How do we know that that's fueling the acne? Like, how does this contribute to acne forming in the skin? And that's like you just commented on like the perfect storm for acne, right?
SPEAKER_01It's like it's like the it's all of the sugar, it's the saturated fat, it's the it's the the dairy and it's all at once.
SPEAKER_03Um then you throw some like blue dye in there and it's like it's like the perfect.
SPEAKER_02I should have gotten like cotton candy or flavored one. That would have just made it perfect.
SPEAKER_03But you know what? I was I was gonna say, so the best um the best tool to try to stay away from those kind of things is getting like a CGM. I don't know. Have you ever worn one of these? Like for fun. Can you explain that? Yeah, for our listeners, what's a CGM? That's embarrassing. So it's not the end of its life, but um, you can get a continuous glucose monitor. And what's really neat about it is you can really personalize that, the, the sugar loads that you're getting. Um, because some people will have, you know, like a potato and their blood sugar doesn't really spike, and another person can have a potato and it really spikes. Or some person that does have a spike, if you pair it with, you know, some fat, then you don't get the spike. And so um it can be a really nice way to personalize your dietary um, you know, goals. And um, the reason, like you were saying, blood sugar and insulin are so important is there is very, very, very clear science about insulin levels as being a very big trigger for acne. There's no question about it. And that's because insulin is itself a growth factor. And what we know is there's a couple main root causes, triggers, drivers for acne. And one of them is this kind of overabundance picture where we're in a constant fed state, constant nutrient abundance. And um, and that's from proteins and amino acids, that's from saturated fats, that's from sugarslash the insulin that um that rises. And all of those things tell your body that you're in a fed abundance state, and that is like a grow pathway, right? So we call them growth factors, and they tell your oil glands to produce more oil, they tell your skin to produce more skin, and so it causes um that growth around the follicle and it plugs the pore. Um, and and then insulin has other ways that it you know specifically contributes to acne as well by decreasing sex hormone binding globulin, which increases that male hormone, androgen. So it's like insulin is terrible for acne. And an appropriate amount of insulin is is really important because it brings blood sugar into your cells. But when you have constantly high levels of insulin, it serves as a big growth factor for acne. Um, and it's a it's a huge trigger. So one of the main pathways right off the bat.
SPEAKER_02Well, what about some of these other things we think about diet-wise? You mentioned that uh my blizzard is kind of the trifecta and bad things. So uh what about the dairy component or obviously the fat component? How could that play a role?
SPEAKER_03So it's that same, it's that same nutrient abundance kind of picture, right? We're supposed to have intermittent meals and then rest in between. Um, but when your body is sensing nutrient abundance, then that's saturated fats, that's amino acids, um, and um it just triggers that growth factor pathway. Now, dairy is a very special one because it kind of is hits all the parts because dairy, remember, is intended to grow a baby mammal into a big, you know, thousand-pound beast. And so it specifically has growth factors, it specifically has the fats in it, it specifically has insulin-like growth factor, has all the things in it that tell your body to grow. And then when you put that into a system like an adolescent, a teenager who's their own body is telling them to grow at that point, um, it just overflows that system, and then you get acne. So I don't believe there's anything inherently wrong with dairy. I love it makes like cultured yogurt and whatnot. But um, when your system is kind of at capacity, it can definitely push you over the edge.
SPEAKER_02So it's probably what a lot of people are thinking, you know, as we're sort of talking about the diet concept here. What are your thoughts on, you know, is this relevant for everyone with acne? Like, do you feel like it's more foundational? Do you feel like certain people are more sensitive to that being, you know, a true trigger? Like, how do you counsel patients or somebody is sitting here listening? Like, oh gosh, you know, do I need to give up certain foods or how relevant is it actually for me?
SPEAKER_03Dairy specifically is just one piece. And I think that's where a lot of people fall short. Is like, if you just get rid of dairy, or if you just get rid of sugar, if you just get rid of gluten, or if you just take the supplement, you do the one thing, it's gonna clear your acne. And I have absolutely seen some people just genetically, they don't do dairy well, and and their acne gets way better just without dairy. Um, but for most people, it's just one piece, and you can't just get rid of dairy and expect your your acne to go away. It has to be part of the whole bigger picture.
SPEAKER_02So, like anything else, probably a well-balanced diet. So the the occasional dairy queen may not cause me to break out, maybe.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's it's just where your starting point is. You know, there's a lot of people who I treat where we have to pull everything off, you know, that's a trigger, and then you start reintroducing and you know, reintroducing them and seeing where, you know, where they lie. Like how can you get away with going out and getting pizza and a beer with a friend? Or is that like off the table for right now because you break out instantly afterwards? And so there's kind of that threshold. And then as your body heals and you get a little bit more resilience, then you know, whatever, have a dairy queen and get your Dutch bros, you know, it's like it's not a big deal. You want to live your life. But when you're in that kind of healing beginning phase, I usually try to encourage people to be pretty strict about it.
Gut Microbiome Food And Supplements
SPEAKER_02Now, is this a part of like also, you know, a skincare approach with this? Or are you talking about because I wonder if people are out here listening, like, oh, I'm just gonna eliminate these things, then my acne should automatically get better. Is this a part of a more like holistic approach of treating their acne? If you do a diet modification.
SPEAKER_03The diet, diet is a huge piece, and and you know, not just the dairy, but um the sugar, like we talked about, because of the effects on insulin. Um, and then just processed foods in general really do a very good job of disrupting the gut microbiome. And we all know how important the microbiome is on so many different levels. But when you're eating processed foods, not only are you not getting good nutrition, but you're getting emulsifiers and dyes and all sorts of things that are really disruptive on the good microbiome. Um, and so it's not just the dairy, it's not just the sugar, it's the garbage food that has worked its way into so many people's diets. And so it's really a whole overhaul on um on how to eat, you know, to support your whole body, not just your skin. So the diet is a huge, huge, huge piece of it. But the other two pieces um that I always like to talk to people about are um stress. So it's and that's one of those things like in the five-minute dermatology visits, like, oh hey, and be less stressed, it'll help your skin. Um it's like, oh, you know, that's really helpful. Um, but but stress really does play a very, very big role. Um, and when you kind of dig deeper into how stress hormones affect not just you know your skin, but your whole body, it paints a very clear picture of um, you know, damaging um digestion. Um the cortisol, you know, causes all sorts of problems with hormone balance. Um, we see lower levels in in my clinic with of estrogen, which is um, you know, in line with what we see in the literature, women actually tend to have lower estrogen, higher androgen levels with acne. Um and um I think people just intuitively know that they get stressed out about an exam or whatever and they break out. Um, we see that with every skin condition that's inflammatory, eczema, alopecia, areata, all everything gets worse with stress. And so it really is sometimes not easy to talk about, but it's really a critical piece too to help people understand that like they gotta, you know, kind of get off of that sympathetic ledge and let their body rest and digest sometimes. Um, and then just to comment on like that third piece that I was saying. So um, we're learning a lot more about endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment and just what a huge player they are as far as disrupting hormones. And um, and we have really good studies that show specifically for phthalates and BPA a direct link with acne. Um, and now hydroadenitis as well. Um, but um it's really very clear and pretty science for how they cause acne. And they're everywhere now. And I would say the biggest problem are the fragrances in the environment. The synthetic fragrances are full of phthalates.
SPEAKER_02So it's no sad. I do love fragrance. As much as in Durham, I recommend obviously fragrance free and going bland, but I am a sucker sometimes for a good fragrance. It's a terrible thing. You're you're really making me consider my entire like lifestyle here. Yes, as we're talking about. In fact, it's depressing a little bit, but I I get the importance. So, first, you know, we talked about the garbage food. I mean, I'm thinking, gosh, but it's so delicious. But I understand your point, right? I mean, I think for a lot of people not appreciating how important, you know, the gut microbiome or all those microorganisms that live in our gut really are strong determinants of health. And we know when it's there's an imbalance there, that predisposes us for a lot of conditions, acne of which could be one. And so you're right, I think these processed foods, things we tend to consume a lot of. That Taco Bell I had a few days ago, I'm now really regretting. Now, knowing, and people are wondering my diet out there, I'm sure DQ and Taco Belly's been a little stressful, which has not added to anything either. It's gonna make acne worse too. Got all of these things going on. But it's true, I think it's reality that this is lifestyle for a lot of people, right? And I don't think we're thinking about the consequences, not only for acne, but obviously overall health of what you've been talking about and just kind of how it promotes inflammation, you know, systemically and throws that, you know, off balance. I want to talk about microbiome a little bit more. Can you just comment on like the value of kind of looking at, you know, people hear like probiotics or postbiotics, and they're probably wondering like, what the heck is that? And is there any evidence that just that may be beneficial for acne if they're thinking about, you know, sort of rebalancing the microbiome with one of those supplements?
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. And we spend a lot of time at my clinic talking about gut health and you know, the gut microbiome. Um, I do kind of a split conventional dermatology, but I also do some functional medicine with the gut microbiome tests. And, you know, they're still new and a little bit fringy in like what do you do with them? But I think it's really where the future of dermatology and a lot of medicine is going. It's just learning what to do with the information at this point, but there's no shortage of information showing that people who have acne and, like you said, all these other things, um, you know, have an imbalance in the gut microbiome. And for acne specifically, we know that there's a reduction in diversity, so just how many species there are flourishing in there. And then we have a reduction of the beneficial um bacteria, like the chemobacterium and some of some of those. There's also an increased rate of H. pylori infection, which is a bacteria that can live in the gut, very common, but can cause a lot of inflammation for people who um who have it. So um we know that there's these imbalances, and then the question is just like, well, what do you do about those? And that's where, and that's where the long form discussions and education come in because taking a probiotic, right? We know that you add that to doxycycline and people actually do better. So it's like we have these little glimpses into just what one little probiotic can do, but really it's it's a much bigger picture. You can't take a probiotic and then go eat dairy queen all day long. Like it just doesn't work like that. Like you have to my plan for tonight. It's it's it's it's you know, your biome, your gut biome is dictated by, I mean, there are some other things like stress will influence it, but largely by what you are eating. And if you are putting food into your gut that is full of preservatives and additives and processed garbage, like you are gonna have a wasteland, and the stuff that's gonna thrive in there is the stuff that can eat garbage. And that's not good bacteria because it produces all sorts of kind of you know suboptimal byproducts. Um, what you want to do is put high quality food, nutrition, diversity of fiber in there, and that feeds the good bacteria. And what defines them as a good bacteria is that they eat those fibers, they eat those polyphenols, they eat all the good stuff, and then they poop out postbiotics, which is what you were saying. So um, so the definition of a good microbiome is the bacteria that creates the byproduct that supports the gut lining, so you don't have a bunch of permeability. They produce short-chain fatty acids, which are little molecules that shower your body like acetate and support skin health. Um, and then they're also anti-inflammatory and um they play a role even in hormone management, what we're calling the estrabilome now for estrogen, which is a fun word to say. So what what what you eat really, really dictates. It's like what you put in is what you get out. And so um you can't just restrict this or that or add a probiotic. You have to, and I I use probiotics all the time. I think they're a really important part of a protocol. But at the same time, the goal is to not need outside supplements and products. The goal is to eat the things that help your body thrive. Um so it's bigger than just one supplement.
Stress Hormones And The HPA Axis
SPEAKER_02And I think that's really important because people do look for a simple fix. We all do, right? Or we kind of want excuse to have the bad behavior that we can just easily correct it by taking a pill, but a bigger commitment to change is what I think we're all striving for. And then you talked a lot about stress because I I think you know, who doesn't have stress? Obviously, patients report it, we've got it. We all know before that big dance or something that was going on, you could break out with a pimple, stress that brought it on, you get a you know, a test coming up, presentation at work. How does stress influence kind of what we call the the HPA access? If you can explain that a little bit, because I think a lot of people are wondering like what happens, or they might be familiar, oh, I heard like cortisol goes up. Like, how does that impact my acne?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And um the stress is such a it's such a vague word, you know, because we all feel stress and there's this idea of hormetic stress, right? Where certain amounts of stressors on our body are actually good for our health. But the problem is that kind of low grade, chronic or high grade, that chronic stress that your body never gets to rest. Um, and we talk a lot about like the sympathetic, parasympathetic branches of the automatic autonomic nervous system. And sympathetic is that, you know, that you're kind of you're kind of hyper-vigilant, you know, you're always aware of what's going on, controlling the situation around you. You got a hundred things going on, you're eating in your car on the way to work to drop your kids off or whatever. Um, and we all do that. Um, but the idea is that you need to find time to dip out of it, you know, the parasympathetic mode is when our bodies are able to digest better. And if you're not digesting well, you're gonna have bowel problems and um constipation and all these kind of things too. And so, um, and that's when our bodies go into the repair mode also, um, and then everything balances out. And so um, our brains are really neat and they take in all these features from the environment. So, um, you know, we we have like the hippocampus with memory and the amygdala with fear, and like our brainstem, and we're taking all this information in from memories and experience and current situations, and um, our bodies process it, and then there's a part of the brain that will then signal the rest of the brain and start that HPA access. Um, and if it's constantly firing because we're stressed out and hyper-vigilant for whatever reason, um it does end up, you know, like um kind of triggering this hypothalamus, you know, um pituitary adrenal access, and then our body is in this fight or flight state all the time. And the cortisol has all sorts of downstream effects when it's chronic, and one thing can be um worsening acne. Um, and one thing that's really cool about the skin, too, that I don't remember learning about in my training is it's it's really its own endocrine organ, it makes its own androgens, it makes its own cortisol, so you don't even need stress from the inside. Like your skin can stress out all by itself. Um, so I think there's people out there like it can also heal itself and make all sorts of cool things. And so um the skin is pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_02It is a fascinating art. And I think people do underestimate sometimes the impact of stress. Obviously, we might see it manifest on ourselves with skin or other changes of the body, but that's crazy what it can be doing to overall health. So if we talk about, you know, you mentioned like kind of the cortisol and impact, you know, there's other pathways we know too that might play a role. We talked about insulin, obviously, and insulin-like growth factor too. Uh, you know, and hormones I want you to touch on, or there's this also this, you know, m-torque pathway. People probably like, what the heck is that? Um mechanistic target erapomycin complex. You know, we'd call it m torque for short. But you know, how did these you know pathways play a role and why people are potentially getting acne?
Fragrance Plastics And Hormone Disruptors
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and m-torque is of is part of that. Um, I keep calling it, you know, the nutrition overabundance pathway. That's that insulin, insulin-like growth factor, a very clear pathway through m torque to cause acne because it causes oil production and it causes all the skin overgrowth. So that's like a very, very clear pathway. The other pathways that a lot of people are familiar with are the sex hormones pathway. So testosterone and androgens, and um, I call them, you know, metabolic acne patients. And it's the way I kind of divide it up, but people who have this kind of metabolic picture for acne, it's kind of that PCOS picture for women where um it's high insulin causing high androgens. Um, and then those androgens specifically cause acne with oil production and skin production also. And so um most people are gonna have some of all of the features, the androgens, the insulin, and the inflammation, but people will kind of fall into one primary category. And that's what you have to kind of tease out like, is this kind of a metabolic picture where if we can really get fasting insulin and their HOMA IR, their insulin sensitivity like really good, um, then the androgens are expected to balance out, right? Or is this a hormone picture where metabolically they actually look really healthy, but their hormones are all out of whack because their gut's out of whack or because they're really stressed out or something like this, um, or they're getting a bunch of chemicals in the environment. Or is this an inflammatory picture where every time their, you know, their Crohn's flares up, their acne breaks out? And it's clearly a systemic inflammatory picture because um, you know, they have all these inflammatory, you know, chemicals raging in their body. So you kind of have to, you know, see where people's primary drivers are, but there's pieces of all of those in all of them. So um, those are the three pathways that that I kind of um use to kind of start a treatment protocol for people.
SPEAKER_02And then you mentioned like obviously they could. All be going on, but one might be the predominant one. How do you figure that out? Or is it is it important to know if one's more predominant than another? Because it may impact how you make recommendations for somebody.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's essential for me. And sometimes it's not, you know, sometimes it's in more of a balance, like they have a little of this and a little of that. But a lot of times using just a good history and um and labs, I love getting labs. I get fasting insulin and blood sugar on on like everybody because that could pretty quickly right off the bat, um, you can um get a sense if somebody is insulin sensitive or insulin resistant. Um, and you know, if a woman has PCOS, you're already kind of thinking right in that kind of category, that metabolic picture, and you know that their androgens are probably high. And testing is fun to show people you can be like, and look, you know, um, and so that's why I like picketing labs too. But um, but I think, you know, because then you can give people all of the information. And like on our courses, we have hours of content, right? Hours of education and boring science information, but they want to know like what's what's where did they target? Um, and if you know that blood sugar and insulin resistance is a problem, like you put you put all your effort in there to start. And you don't worry about you're like, oh, you know, how um, you know, are you getting a lot of plastics and you know, are you touching receipts and stuff? Like you're really dialing in, like, what did you have for breakfast? What did you have for dinner? Um and you can focus on those things versus somebody who like metabolically is like great, right? They look they look perfect, but um, did they have Crohn's or like I was saying, some other systemic inflammatory condition? You're not gonna like harp on you know the the sugar as much.
SPEAKER_02So I guess you know, if if we have you know people out there listening, they're like, great, like what do I do with this information? How do I you know put this into action, if you will? What what are some steps, you know, and obviously I know you would recommend they get evaluated first, but what are some reasonable sort of general recommendations you could even make to people that maybe aren't evaluated, but how they can look at their you know their diet are affecting you know their gut health, or if you think there's environmental, you know, things that they should avoid as well. And of course the notion that's gonna be on your list as well.
Three Acne Pathways And Lab Clues
SPEAKER_03Of course, it always is, but um, you know, it's it's a very complex like science topic, but it really can be simplified quite a bit too. And so um eating real food is one way to simplify it, right? Like um cook at home and eat real food. And um, and just even starting there by getting rid of processed foods um and all the added sugars um is really gonna do your body um just it's just gonna be such a huge benefit for your gut and your health in general. Um, from an environment standpoint, um we know, like I said, BPA phthalates are our endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment that have a very clear um line to acne, where we know they can cause acne. And so removing um the plastics like in the kitchen, so obviously not heating in plastic. I think most people know that now, but um, you know, finding all those other sources of plastics um and Teflon pans and um fragrance, sorry. You know, the fragrances now are bound with phthalates, and the phthalates specifically cause acne, and the phthalates are there so that the fragrance sticks to your hair and your clothes and penetrates your skin. And so and so I always encourage people, I'm like, and I know dermatology, it's like taboo, but like essential oils, like when used appropriately, are beautiful and they're lovely. And might you get a rash? Like if you have a contact allergy, yeah, who cares? Stop using it. Um, but they're not gonna be poisoning your body and your hormones. Um, and so I usually encourage if you don't have an allergy to use a nice um essential oil and get the synthetic stuff. I mean, all day long, right? The contact allergies. People come with a rash on their neck and you're like, okay, what shampoo are you using? Um, because it's all just loaded with this synthetic garbage of thousands of chemicals and bound at that length. And so um, cleaning up the environment with fragrance and plastic is usually a good place to start for people. Um, whole foods, get rid of the sugar. I, for with the programs, we have people dairy and gluten-free um to start for the healing process. I do think that dairy is something a lot of people can bring back in. Gluten is a whole other discussion. Um, but and then like the that last arm of stress. Um, it's easy to poo-poo it, but it's really very real. And so starting with baby steps and working in some stress management, even if it's like literally five minutes a day, just to start that habit of taking just a couple minutes to breathe or go for a walk, uh, or just um just sitting still for a couple minutes, which shockingly, like a lot of us don't do. Um, and you know, even if it's not every day, just making sure to pause um and reflect. And there's so many fun, amazing strategies out there for um, you know, for um, you know, getting into the parasympathetic mode. There's all these funny things that you can do, but even just pausing um and reflecting um can you know bring down that sympathetic tone.
SPEAKER_02But it sounds like don't handle the stress by emotionally eating your dairy queen because then you just ring the bell.
SPEAKER_03Right, including yourself and your synthetic fragrances.
Simple Lifestyle Steps And Closing
SPEAKER_02Exactly. But it sounds collectively, you know, what you're saying, you know, look at these factors, how they might contribute to, you know, your acne, talk with your board certified deram and how it may play a role. And it sounds like making these modifications as a part of a you know holistic approach to treating your acne, potentially with prescription treatments as well, people can obtain, you know, great results. And it it sounds like you've seen this in clinical practice, and it's great to other people know about this that you know these are contributing factors potentially to their acne as well. And there's some things they can do about it.
SPEAKER_03All the time. People can clear, you can clear your skin. Your skin can heal. Um, and the medications are a great way to help treat the symptoms, but then you got to do the work, you know, like you you help use your medicines, you talk to your dermatologist, you help clear your skin with medicine, but then you get off of your medicines by doing doing the day-to-day um, the work behind the scenes, and that's only gonna help your health um for the entire, you know, the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_02Fascinating. Well, Katie, I want to thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It's been great to have your insights today. Thank you so much for having me. I always appreciate seeing you. And you've convinced me now I gotta forego the TV, I've got to forego this uh you know waiting for me, and you know, and I gotta dump the fragrance. So, you know, I got a lot of lifestyle changes that I've got to make coming my way, but you know, all good things to come, I guess, for my health in the end. But thanks again for coming on and stay tuned for the next episode of Dermitrotter. Don't swear about skincare.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening to Dermotter. For more about skincare, visit dermitchmatter.com. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone who needs a little skincare sanity. Until next time, stay skin smart.
