(upbeat music)
- Hey guys, welcome to another installment
of Ask Doctor Mike.
This time, all of the questions are coming from you.
So I'm really excited to answer all of your questions.
Let's get to it.
- Gotta question, I just recently got my wisdom teeth
taken out, and I have four huge holes in my mouth.
How can I get them to close as quick as possible?
- Getting your wisdom teeth taken out
is definitely a painful experience.
I had all four of mine taken out,
and they were all impacted.
It really did hurt, so I feel you.
There is no secret way to speed up the healing process.
The best thing that you can do is prevent infection
by keeping the area clean.
Really what's the number one thing
that you shouldn't do is smoke.
Smoking does prolong healing time,
and that's the number one thing
that we talk to our patients during surgeries
is that they should stop smoking as soon as possible.
- So I just found out that I'm gluten intolerant.
Can you explain what is gluten intolerance,
why it can happen, and what is the effect
to my body if I still consume gluten?
Can I eat like one, two, three, four
or five small bites for a treat for myself?
Is it dangerous?
Thanks Doctor Mike.
- Bella, gluten intolerance is a very popular subject
right now, but the way that I like to break it down
to my patients is that there's two types of gluten issues.
One is celiac disease, you've heard about it in the news.
And celiac disease is actual damage,
in your intestines, from eating gluten,
which is a protein byproduct of wheat.
In celiac disease, when you consume wheat
your body has an auto-immune response.
Which means that your own body attacks its own cells
because of an over-reaction to the wheat product,
and you get physical damage in your intestines.
Now, the second part of this is something
called non-celiac wheat sensitivity.
There's people that are sensitive to wheat,
but not necessarily to the gluten component.
In non-celiac wheat sensitivity
we don't have the research to back up
what happens if you continue eating wheat.
However, my opinion, you should not eat wheat,
because it's gonna make you feel better,
and you'll be in less of a fog.
You'll have less diarrhea, less bloating.
So if you do have symptoms from eating wheat,
just don't eat it.
Okay, that's a great question Faez,
and it really does give strength to the statement
that you can die of too much of anything.
So yes, you can die of taking too much water
because you limit your body's ability
to properly manage the electrolytes within your system.
Electrolytes are crucial for managing
everyday life functions, like making your brain work,
your heart work, or even your kidneys.
- What do you recommend for people with IBS,
'cause we both worry about our intestines on a daily basis.
Thanks Doctor Mike.
- Hey girls, if you do have IBS and it's true,
treatment depends on which type of IBS you have.
There's IBS that's mostly diarrhea-predominant.
There's IBS constipation-predominant.
And there's also a mixed version as well.
For mild disease or symptoms you can do
some dietary modifications.
There's a specific diet that we put patients on
who suffer from IBS, called a FODMAP diet.
What that diet does is it excludes certain foods
that your body's unable to digest,
and the bacteria in your stomach are able to digest.
So it causes that uncomfortable bloating feeling, pain,
and it really does mess with your bowel movements.
If you're able to eliminate those types of foods,
people do see an improvement in their symptoms.
If you do have a moderate or severe form
of the illness, there are medications
that you can use to treat your illness.
However, in order to get those medications,
and to find out what medications
are suited best for your symptoms,
it's important to go see your doctor.
- Hi Doctor Mike, my question for you is
how can I improve my eczema, because none of the products
that my dermatologists have recommended towards me,
or pretty much anything that I've been attempting to doing
hasn't really worked that well.
What can I do myself, like involving nutrition,
or stuff that I can kinda control
that's not super financially expensive.
- Eczema's a very tricky illness,
and I understand your frustration.
If you've already seen a dermatologist they've probably
discussed some of the treatment options with you.
Talking about UV light therapy, steroid creams,
maybe even medications that affect your immune system.
But like you said, those are expensive modifications,
expensive treatments,
some of them do come with side-effects.
Links between eczema flares and diet
has been a popular subject that's been up for debate.
It's not clear what the link is,
but we certainly know that a link does exist.
I don't like recommending to my patients
eliminating certain foods from their diets,
but this is a great time to have a conversation
with your dermatologist or your primary care doctor
to get tested for food allergies.
Because there is a relationship
in those who have food allergies
to those who have worsening eczema.
If you're able to find out early on
that you have a food allergy, and you're able
to eliminate that specific food from your diet,
it's possible that your eczema flares will decrease,
or at least that when they do happen they won't be as bad.
- Hey Doctor Mike, my question for you is
how and when did you know which area
of medicine you wanted to specialize in?
- I chose family medicine specifically,
because I love continuity of care.
I love being able to communicate
with my patients every single day,
and also I love not limiting myself
to focusing on one specific body part or organ.
I think the beauty of family medicine
lies in that I'm able to see the effect
my treatment has on my patient.
I'm able to see how it improves their lives,
and that's incredibly rewarding.
- Hi Doctor Mike, I'm involved in a lot
of sporting activities, and I tend
to sprain my ankles when I play sports.
I was wondering if there is anything that I can do
to help strengthen my ankles, like an exercise.
That way I won't hurt them as much as I do.
- Hey Anna, the way that you prevent ankle injuries
is through improving your proprioception,
which is your body's ability to know where your limbs
are at all times, even without seeing them.
The best way to strengthen your ankle and prevent injuries
is to do proprioception exercises.
The first one that I want all my patients to try
is to stand on one foot, of course without a sneaker,
with their hands to their sides, eyes open,
and see how long they could hold that position.
Then to make the exercise a little harder,
you can take your arms and put them at your sides,
which will make it, the balancing a little more difficult.
And then the next part, very challenging,
is to do the same thing with your arms
at your sides, but close your eyes
and see how long you can hold that position.
The longer you can hold that position
the less likely you are to have an ankle injury.
You can certainly see your physical therapist
who will teach you more advanced exercises
and work with you directly to prevent future injuries.
I see, over and over again, people claiming
that vitamin D's the cure-all for all illnesses.
And clearly it's not the case.
There's been a huge uproar, and uptick in studies,
and articles coming out recently
saying that Americans are taking too much vitamin D now.
I've said this maybe two months ago
in a YouTube video called Are Vitamins Fake News?
Check out that video and see the real deal on vitamin D.
- I would like it if you could explain to people
why asthma has many different levels.
Why some people find one puff with an inhaler
will help them, and other people with severe asthma
like myself need nebulizers and oxygen therapy,
because I feel like people still take asthma
as a bit of a joke, and they seem to think
that people with asthma are hypochondriacs and things.
I've spent many times in ICU, I've been critically ill.
I've had pleurisy, I've had many things
and I've been told by friends,
"You know, if you're gonna be making that noise
"can you go home, 'cause you're annoying me."
I've been asked if I could be quiet.
And so, if you could maybe feature this
and answer the question, that would be amazing.
And I would really appreciate it because
I feel like (laughs) I'm talking to a brick wall
when I try to explain to people.
Coming from a doctor it might be better.
Thanks Mike.
- First of all, to all those who said,
"Asthma's a joke," they are completely wrong,
they don't know what they're talking about,
and I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
Asthma's a very serious illness
and I've had to intubate otherwise healthy
16-year-olds with the illness.
There are levels to asthma, you have mild asthma
moderate asthma and severe asthma.
There's further classifications,
but that's for your doctor to worry about.
And the difference between the levels of asthma
is the difference between the types of medications
you need to take.
So for the more severe asthma, you're gonna need
to take controller medications,
ones to prevent asthma attacks
from happening in the first place.
Versus for mild, intermittent asthma
you can just have a rescue inhaler and use it as needed.
You clearly have a more advanced case of asthma,
so you do need to be on a controller medication,
and I'm so sorry you had to go through
all of this ridicule from your friends,
because they don't know what they're talking about.
Alright guys it's time for the lightening round.
What is the healthiest way to burn fat?
HIIT, high intensity interval training.
It's where you build muscle and burn fat at the same time.
How can I get fatter?
Really though?
Well, you could sleep less than six hours a day,
eat a ton of carbs and be a huge couch potato.
How to deal with insomnia.
Insomnia's tricky because you need
to get a full history, and a full physical exam,
and sometimes get some lab work done.
Not an easy question to answer, go see your doctor.
If you weren't a doctor, what other career
would you have pursued?
Detective, I love investigating,
and that's frankly what I do every day as a doctor.
How do you remove eye bags?
Eye bags make me not confident, thanks.
Eye bags can be removed with a cold spoon,
or fillers, I've seen some great results.
What type of doctor are you?
Family medicine, the best specialty out there.
(bell pings)
What's the most challenging part of being a doctor?
Constantly refreshing your knowledge.
Things change every single day,
and it's important that you stay up-to-date.
I really enjoyed answering all of your questions today.
I wasn't able to get to all of the questions,
and if you still have something
that you're itching to learn about,
leave a comment down below, I'll make sure to get to it.
And I hope you're excited for the
next installment of Ask Doctor Mike.
"Leave a comment down below, I'll be sure to get to it."
Why did I highlight, "be sure," it doesn't make any sense.
And it's really one of those diagnoseses
(rolls tongue) (blows raspberry)
- [Speaker] Diagnosises.
- Yes, that's a mouthful. (clears throat)