- [Dr. Mike] Sunflower Bae.
So if you didn't know already, we're married.
And I just want to know how many kids we're having.
(jaunty, cheerful music)
♪ Cha, cha, cha ♪
Sunflower, I think it would take me meeting you
in order for us to be married and having kids, right?
I don't think we've met yet.
(gasp)
(laughs)
Hey guys, I'm back at it this week
reading and responding to your YouTube comments.
"So this must be a very stupid question.
How often does a person need to change undies?"
Mico, I would do it daily.
Fungi love warm... wet...dark environments.
When you re-wear the same underwear,
that fungus can start growing on your skin
and you will get a condition known as jock itch.
Or, some women can get a yeast infection.
So, Mico, change up that underwear daily, please?
"Hey, Dr. Mike."
Hey, Ruthie.
"Apparently pollen season started already.
I think a spring allergy video slash pollen video
would be awesome.
Since that is something I've been suffering for
for about six years."
It's a little bit of a complex answer.
For those patients of mine who have springtime allergies,
there's definitely something to be said
about taking a daily controller medication.
There are websites you can visit to see pollen counts,
like the daily pollen forecast for that day.
There are days when the pollen count is so high
that a person like you should not be outdoors,
or should at least strictly limit the time spent outdoors.
Perhaps getting a filter for your home
that is certified to remove pollen from the air
would be ideal.
"Would you wear a shirt with a few buttons left undone
when you (laughing) publish your next video?
I think you would get more views."
Well Shawn, I appreciate the compliment.
Yeah, uh, I would do that.
I have no problem wearing a shirt
with a couple buttons undone.
I don't know how low you want me to go,
like those old school Russian gangsters.
When I grew up--I'm Russian--I used to hang out
at Brighton Beach, and the guys would have their shirts
down to here, and I'd be like what is going on?
(fabric ripping) (gasp)
- [Dr. Mike] "What's the maximum frequency
that one should eat fish in a week?"
That's a great question, Omar.
Are you eating wild fish versus farmed fish?
Are you eating smaller fish like tuna or salmon?
Or are you eating large fish like swordfish?
Larger fish, predator type of fish
generally have higher levels of mercury.
I do think it's relatively safe to do like
three or four times a week eating a tuna or salmon.
Peachy Montoya.
What a name.
I don't know if that's your name
or your username, but it's awesome.
I love peaches, by the way.
That's why I'm obsessed with Peach Snapple.
(shushes) (whispering) A lot of sugar.
"Dr. Mike, how long will it take
for large stretch marks to fade away?"
Stretch marks, once they're there, they're there.
And while there are some laser procedures
and surgical procedures that can get rid of them,
it's very difficult, near impossible,
to get rid of stretch marks because it is scar tissue.
It's basically damage that's happened to your skin.
How do stretch marks happen?
Well, your skin is naturally somewhat elastic, right?
If I pull on my skin here it just doesn't tear
and rip and bleed, right?
But, if your body size changes rapidly,
you gain muscle too quickly, you are pregnant,
you put on a lot of weight
because you've been eating poorly,
any one of those drastic changes
where the skin has to adapt rather quickly,
you're gonna get some damage there.
When you have damage, you get scar tissue.
"Hey Dr. Mike, is it true alkaline water
better than regular water?"
Diana, I have never seen this to be true.
I understand why some people are promoting it,
and I think it's based on flawed science,
or at least incomplete science.
What you put in your body, whether it's alkaline or acidic,
it doesn't change the acidity of your blood.
That's not how it works.
"I was wondering if you would have become
something other than a doctor,
what would it have been?"
Maggie, I would have been a detective.
I love investigating, and putting pieces together,
and seeing little things that other people
don't see--little details, like Sherlock Holmes style.
And I think being a doctor is very similar
to being a detective, so.
Lauren Garcia.
"Does muscle really weigh more than fat?"
Well, that's like the typical trick question
that people ask.
What weighs more: a pound of feathers,
or a pound of gold?
They weigh the same.
Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat,
and fat doesn't weigh more than muscle.
Now, that being said, muscle is more dense.
So, it would look like less muscle
is needed to weigh the same as more fat
'cause fat is less dense.
But in reality, one pound of muscle
equals one pound of fat.
"What do you think of cranberry supplements?
Do they really prevent UTIs?"
Well, Andrea, I'll tell you this:
cranberry supplements, the way that they're supposed to work
is that they're supposed to acidify your urine.
When you acidify your urine it makes it less likely,
or supposedly makes it less likely
that you'll get an infection,
'cause bacteria don't like to live in an acidic environment.
That's the premise behind taking cranberry supplements.
Number one, I don't like supplements.
So I would much rather you just have (laughing) cranberries
or drink cranberry juice.
Natural stuff, not the concentrate.
The evidence, honestly, like I've looked at it,
it's fairly weak.
But again, because we look at harms versus benefits
in these types of situations
I think the benefits probably outweigh the harms.
If there's even a slight chance
that cranberries can help your UTI
or prevent a UTI,
go eat some cranberries.
Because, what's the harm in eating some cranberries?
They're rich in antioxidants,
and if they help prevent UTIs, boom.
You've got yourself a two in one deal.
"Dr. Mike, I think you would look good
with (laughing) bleach-blonde hair.
This wasn't a request, it's a demand."
Chill!
Beach-blonde hair...
(laughing) I think I'd look really weird, I don't know.
Maybe if we get this video to 200,000 likes
I'll dye my hair blonde.
(muffled) Oh my god, I probably shouldn't have said that.
I didn't commit to that, there was no handshake...
Don't get your lawyers involved.
"Hey Dr. Mike, I have a question.
Why is it that I always get ear infections?
I clean my ears every day, use nasal spray,
and sleep on a heating pad each night."
Okay, Emma, you make one of the biggest mistakes
that my patients most often make.
Cleaning your ears, I assume, with Q-Tips.
Q-Tips, what they actually do,
number one, instead of getting earwax out
they just end up pushing the earwax
back into the ear and clogging it,
therefore making it more susceptible to infection.
The second thing they do--because the Q-Tip,
the cotton is slightly rough,
and the area within your ear is very gentle,
very sensitive,
when you put the Q-Tip in your ear
and scratch your ear, it may feel good.
But what you're doing is you're creating
micro-tears, little irritations in the skin,
that basically make it more susceptible
for bacteria to get in there and cause an infection.
So, by cleaning your ears everyday with a Q-Tip
you're actually making it more likely
that you're gonna get an infection.
"What are your thoughts on colon hydrotherapy
and coffee enema,
and would you recommend these therapies?"
Melinda, no I would not.
Never, in no way, sense, or how of the word
would I ever recommend a coffee enema
or colon hydrotherapy.
This is the definition of garbage.
Please do not waste your money on it.
As you can tell, my vein is popping out right now.
'Cause I'm quite angry that these people
are taking your money, and misguiding you,
and giving you lofty promises.
Coffee enemas are B.S.
Anyone who tells you that they're good for your health
is a P.O.S.
- [Woman] Just calm down.
- [Dr. Mike] Sueda Gunes.
I'm sorry if I said that wrong.
It's--I don't know what the double dots represent.
"I already have black rings under my eyes.
How can I get rid of them?
People always assume that I'm sick."
So I think this is a great question.
If you have a lifestyle where you're not sleeping well,
where you're not well-hydrated,
if you eat too much salt,
all of those things really affect
the area underneath our eyes.
Because of the bone formation surrounding our eyes,
the skin is very thin.
And the way that the light reflects
from light that's generally above us, in this area,
can make it seem darker than it actually is.
Also, because this skin is thinner,
you can generally see more blood vessels there.
And blood vessels being veins,
and veins are generally a bluish color,
how the light reflects off that area
can seem darker or blacker than the rest of your skin.
First and foremost, what I would recommend:
make sure you're getting enough sleep.
Make sure you're eating a healthy diet,
not over-eating salt, and you're staying well-hydrated.
Get your exercise in, because I say it all the time,
exercise is basically a cure-all
that helps with almost every aspect of our lives.
Finally, if you're still unhappy with your appearance
there are some cosmetic things you can do.
There are bleaching creams
if it's a--seriously a color issue.
There's also injections that you can put
right below the eye here
which basically act as a filler.
It basically lifts the skin up off of the bone,
and it changes the way the light reflects
off of the area.
And therefore the area seems more full, and less dark.
"Hey, so I'm a sophomore in high school
and I'm super interested in the medical field.
Do you have any recommendations for classes I should take?
Your videos are great."
I don't think in high school you should
specialize your classes to get you ready for med school,
and I'll explain why.
In college, you're already gonna be forced
to take a specific set of courses
if you wanna get into medical school.
And then once you're in medical school,
obviously there's a curriculum.
So you might as well spend your time in high school
to try and learn as many different topics,
very broad categories,
so you can figure out if med school is for you
or maybe you're drawn to something completely different
like politics or something.
Even though right now the political landscape is crazy.
But, take a broad diversity of classes,
see what you enjoy, see where your passions lie,
and I think that's what's gonna make you
a great candidate for medical school.
Tom.
"Do you wanna live in NYC your whole life
or move away in the future? (high-pitched whine)"
I don't know why you added the (high-pitched whine)
in there.
(chuckling) I don't know, I'm a New York City guy
ever since I moved here when I was six years old.
I've lived in Brooklyn, Staten Island,
Long Island, now in New York City.
I love this place, I call it home, my family's here.
Roxy's here, Barry's here, so I don't know.
I think I'm staying here.
If not for my whole life,
definitely for the foreseeable future.
Good question, Tom.
(high-pitched whine) (laughs quietly)
I love reading and responding to your comments.
So please continue filling up the comments section.
As you know, I answer them within the comment section.
I'm very active there.
And I also do this monthly segment
where I read and respond to your comments.
Please subscribe to the channel,
'cause it tells YouTube that you really enjoy my content
and that you want more of it.
As always, stay happy and healthy.
(jaunty, cheerful music) ♪ Cha, cha, cha ♪
♪ Cha-ch, cha-ch, ♪
♪ Cha-ch, cha-ch ♪
♪ Cha, cha, cha ♪