131 | Simplifying Skin Care Routines for Teenage Boys with Dr Sheilagh Maguiness

As the world of adolescent skincare often goes unnoticed, today we crack the code on self-care for teen boys. My enlightening chat with Dr. Sheilagh Maguiness, a pediatric dermatologist and co-founder of Stryke Club, reveals the untold hurdles teen boys face as they navigate the stormy seas of skincare. We're busting myths left and right—from charcoal's real impact on acne to the proper way to wield a razor. It's about time we tailored conversations and routines to the reality of boys' lives, helping them, and their parents, foster confidence through simplicity and clarity in their self-care practices.

Skincare doesn't discriminate, and neither should we. That's why this episode also casts a spotlight on the significance of gender-neutral products and the fine print on those 'natural' labels that might do more harm than good to young skin. Ever wondered why your child's skin reacts unexpectedly to that botanically-infused lotion? We've got you covered with personal stories of navigating allergies and the lowdown on ingredients that could trigger them. Plus, for those teens breaking a sweat in sports or life, we share the ins and outs of choosing the right antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory body washes, making sure your child's skin stays as resilient as they are.

Lastly, we wrap up with some hard-earned wisdom on managing eczema and acne—the twin peaks of teen skin concerns. Discover the art of rehydrating and shielding skin from the sun, and why starting conversations early about self-care can make all the difference in destigmatizing these routines for boys. And for those moments when over-the-counter just doesn't cut it, Dr. Maguiness and I lay out the roadmap to professional dermatological care. So, whether you're a parent looking to guide your child or a teen ready to take the reins of your skin health, this episode is your ally. We're here to share a laugh, shed some light, and support you through the journey of growing up skin-savvy.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to Moving Through Midlife. I am your host, courtney, a personal trainer and movement specialist who wants to help you move through midlife with more grace. Each week, we will discuss ways we can show up better for ourselves and our children without the burnout. We will focus on overall health through habit stacking to help increase energy, provide movement snacks to help you move more throughout the day, while also moving your body more, and learn from professionals on moving through midlife with ease so that you can feel confident with aging. Gracefully, grab your earbuds and join me on a leisurely walk while we discuss moving through midlife. Today, I am speaking with Dr Sheila McGinnis, who is a pediatric dermatologist and co-founder of Strike Club, a personal care brand for boys. She is here to speak with us about normalizing self-care for teen boys and discuss teen acne and how to help them care for their skin during this change in life. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Hi Sheila, how are you today?

Speaker 2: 1:16

I'm great, Courtney. Thank you so much for having me on.

Speaker 1: 1:19

Yes, I'm excited to have you on. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Speaker 2: 1:25

Absolutely. I am a pediatric dermatologist and I think maybe some of your audience might not even realize that pediatric dermatology is a subspecialty of dermatology. We're board certified subspecialty of pediatric dermatology. We do a little extra training after dermatology residency to gain more expertise on how skin diseases and disorders show up in children, all the way from newborns to adolescents and young adults. I have a busy academic practice in Minneapolis and I'm mom to two tween boys myself and like to think of myself as a little bit of an advocate for teens and tweens, especially boys, and I'm co-founder of Strike Club, which is a personal care brand aimed at teens and teen boys.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Why do you feel that you started really moving into teen boys? Was there a personal reason or was there something you were noticing different with boys compared to girls in your office?

Speaker 2: 2:29

Gosh Courtney all of the above. As a mom of two boys and seeing so many adolescent boys in my practice, there was a stark difference in the way that boys and girls show up for themselves in that space, which is really interesting. The girls in my office I love spending time with teens and tweens in my office. They would come in. Maybe they had an issue, they wanted to talk about acne. They maybe wanted to go down a care-based, prescription based care plan for their acne. But they would come in with a list of 10 things they were doing or using or things they'd seen on TikTok. They'd talk about all these active ingredients like snail mucin, niacinamide and everything and my mind was blown.

Speaker 2: 3:19

I was like, wow, these girls are really learning a lot out there about caring for their skin, healthy habits, social media and then certainly some boys are like that and they really are very compliant and do a great job. But a lot of them would come in and say they were there for an acne visit. They'd be in the hoodie, hood up, head down, harder to talk to, to draw out and less interested or willing to comply with a 10 step program for skin care. As I was noticing this one of my good friends in San Francisco. Darcy Rosenblum came to me four years ago with an idea for developing an easy, effective skin care plan for teens, but kind of aim it at boys, because that was really the missing piece and the white space in the market. There was really nothing aimed for self-care for boys.

Speaker 1: 4:22

You are spot on. Like I'm thinking of my children. So my daughter, which is so strange to me because I have never been one for like self-care and she is in the bathroom and she's putting on every lotion and oils and just you know, she's like I have to practice my bedtime routine beyond me. And then the boys, like you said, they're not comfortable with it. And my daughter's younger, so she hasn't really gone through the whole skin irritation, acne, all of that stuff. But my boys did and the information you know. Honestly it wasn't as much as it is for girls and is it the same? I'm not even sure how you would work with boys compared to girls in the way of acne and things like that.

Speaker 2: 5:20

Yeah, great question. So boys and girls skin is very largely the same, with just a couple minor differences. You know, men's skin tends to be thicker and have more oil glands, interestingly, and so they certainly the males can struggle a little bit more on the severity spectrum with their acne. Another reason for that is that one of the components of acne is hormonally driven, so the male based hormones, the androgens, the testosterone, can make acne a lot worse. So on the scale of severity, you know, 80 to 90% of everyone is going to get acne in their lifetime, but sometimes boys get it a little earlier and a little more severely than girls.

Speaker 1: 6:04

Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know that. I was wondering if maybe it had to do with the fact that they're more like shaving and things like that. But they probably weren't shaving. I'm just thinking because my older son, but he probably wasn't shaving by that point. Yeah, you know shaving.

Speaker 2: 6:20

Shaving's a whole other topic because there's like a host of different like skin irritation and conditions that you can get based on shaving practices, from folliculitis or razor bumps even to little scarring, you know, around the hair follicles there's. There's different things that can happen if we're not shaving in an appropriate way or a very hygienic way. Okay.

Speaker 1: 6:42

My son he my middle son. He had mentioned at one point like charcoal wipes or charcoal things to help with that. How do you feel about all of that?

Speaker 2: 6:55

Unfortunately, charcoal is not one of the recommended active ingredients for treating acne. There's really not a ton of evidence that it's helpful at all. So let's let's back up a little bit about what you said in terms of girls and boys. So with girls in the office, a lot of times I'm paring down the regimen. You know there's too many things going on and sometimes the girls want to even use, like the products that their parents are using, which, if they're, you know, gentle, hypoallergenic, fragrance free, that can be a good thing. But if moms really got a lot of actives going on, like the vitamin C, the topical retinoids, all of that on a teens or tweens changing kind of more delicate, more sensitive skin can actually lead to problems like irritant dermatitis, contact dermatitis, lots of, lots of issues. So a lot of times with the girls I'm paring down and then with the boys we're just trying to get them to wash their face.

Speaker 2: 7:50

And you know what you have to ask, because with those boys coming in you you can say you know how often are you taking a shower? You know, just starting the conversation of like self-care for boys is a great opportunity for both moms and parents and for doctors. You know, sometimes they'll come in the office for a different reason, but you recognize there's a little acne. And you can even open that conversation with saying hey, brian, are you taking a shower every day? How often are you bathing or showering, and what are you using?

Speaker 2: 8:20

And you might be surprised to find that that teen is using whatever is in the shower, like whatever shampoo is in there, head to toe, panting all over, and you won't know that unless you ask. So it's a great conversation starter and a wonderful opportunity for moms to be like hey, you know what, I didn't know. You were using panting to wash your face. Let's go to Target, let's go to Walmart, let's go out and like, we'll together get you something that is gentle and effective. And this is a great time to learn the healthy habits of washing your face and taking care of your skin.

Speaker 1: 8:52

And what age do you usually recommend children start washing their face, Like I mean, are we talking even when they're little?

Speaker 2: 9:04

No, not really little, like the tweens and teens. I think 10 to 12 is like a great time to start it and even just having something in the shower and saying, hey, you know what that shampoo is really for your hair, but this could be used on your face and your body and is really safe and effective. So just make sure you rinse that down and you know when you're in there. At least you know once or twice a week, for sure for 10 year olds, and hopefully every day for the teens in your life OK, and then they're supposed to be so if they're washing their face.

Speaker 1: 9:36

Do you recommend once a day? I do.

Speaker 2: 9:39

Once a day is definitely a great place to start. And then if you're starting to see some concerns come up, like a little bit of oiliness, some blackheads, the early, like blackheads and whiteheads in the T zone, nose forehead you know, chin, you could say you know what. There are studies that even show washing your face twice a day might help with your, with your complexion problems. So even getting them to do twice a day at that point, and then if you're starting to see even more, or those like red bumps, inflammatory acne or pimples, pustules, that's when you want to say, hey, maybe we need a little help with this, because when the acne starts getting more inflammatory or if the comedones, like the pores, are getting really stretched, that's when you can have that little scarring start. And what we really want to make sure is that kids don't develop permanent scarring from their acne.

Speaker 1: 10:31

OK, and when you do, like when they are getting scarring, they are washing their face. Have you noticed? Or can it happen to where there's too much, like maybe they've got to pull back? Is that usually? I'm not sure with boys, like with the sensitive skin, is that common where they might need to pull back a little bit with that? Or, if you notice that, do you usually recommend different products that they use?

Speaker 2: 10:58

I think you're right about frequency. You know, if you're washing your face three to five times a day, these athletes who are in sports, who really feel they need to do that, they can develop some irritation. And then, of course, the products that you're using matter to, because we can choose something that is really gentle, has a really gentle surfactant. The surfactant is the foaming agent in the soap or the cleanser. That's what makes it foam up and bubble. If it's really gentle, it shouldn't strip or dry the skin. And then you want to watch for active ingredients.

Speaker 2: 11:30

If you've got a lot of acids like there's a lot of different cleansers out there with the two for acne that are really common and very effective for that concern are the two ingredients are salicylic acid and benzyl peroxide. Both of those are proven to help with acne to reduce bacteria on the skin, be a little anti-inflammatory and those can be helpful. But of course, while they're helping, they can also be a little bit irritating or drying. So you do have to be careful with what's in the product, how frequently you're using it and just stay attuned to how the skin is feeling. If it feels super tight, dry and chapped, you know apply a moisturizer, get that you know going into the routine, but if it's getting to the point of redness and true irritation, the skin barrier is showing signs of damage, you need to back off, stop and choose a different direction.

Speaker 1: 12:20

And with the acne. Can you talk us through things that they can do, like once it starts to appear, because I'm sure you have seen children who tack it with their hands. They're trying to figure out. They want it gone. What is your recommendation with all of that? I mean, are we just trying to keep the area clean? What do you recommend? I've heard so many things. I mean I remember as a child we used to put toothpaste on it. You know, that's a myth, that's still out there?

Speaker 2: 12:58

Courtney, yes, but unfortunately toothpaste doesn't work and the fluoride in it can even make things worse. So please don't put toothpaste on your acne. That one's been debunked.

Speaker 1: 13:08

Okay, so what do you recommend? Obviously, you probably don't want children trying to get rid of it by popping it, and all of that Exactly.

Speaker 2: 13:20

I think it really all starts with just that basic hygiene, that conversation of I'm seeing a little bit of acne. Let's start this great routine. Let's give you a gentle, hypoallergenic, fragrance-free cleanser to start washing your face once or twice a day. That's it. If that's not helping, improve the situation with, you know, taking off the oil, dirt, debris and you're still seeing acne. You may think, okay, well, perhaps it's time to choose a cleanser that has, like, an active ingredient for acne in it, and that would be one of those two I just talked about the salicylic acid, the benzoyl peroxide or, in the case of the line that I created and formulated several years ago, our hero ingredient, as we call it, that we use is sodium hypochlorite, which is antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and pretty gentle. But one of those three things can help at least the basics with acne.

Speaker 2: 14:14

In terms of picking and popping, that's definitely a pitfall. You want to keep hands off, and one of the greatest things in the last, like several years, that I've seen for this are those little hydrocolloid patches. I think those pimple patches are a great idea because they provide a nice moist environment for wound healing and they keep hands off. So that's a great win for teens with acne and I think it's also getting normalized. You know, social media trends and things about these pimple patches have really normalized using it and I see kids come in and they're not embarrassed at all nor should they be, but it's great that that culture is out there saying, hey, you know what acne is normal, 90% of everyone is going to get it. It's okay to wear a pimple patch. Let's not try to, you know, pick and pull at the skin, because you end up with more risk for scarring when you do that.

Speaker 1: 15:07

Yeah, yeah, I love that they've got the different, like the stars and the different things, the different colors and everything, although I feel and maybe I'm wrong because my boys are older, but I feel it's geared a lot towards girls again, a lot of the little patches that they use.

Speaker 2: 15:27

Yeah, you know, I think girls might be more likely to pick it up and try it for the first time. Some of the brands are doing a great job with that gender neutral packaging though, which I think is great, because you know, you only need to walk down the aisle at Target or Walmart and see all of the fruity, pink scented things that are really geared towards girls and that aren't that great for girl skin either, and notice that there's really not that much geared towards like a teen with like an active lifestyle, or boys, you know, for that matter.

Speaker 1: 15:59

Right, okay, speaking of that, how do you explain to girls that do get caught up in that all the smelly, fragrant stuff? How would you recommend we speak to our children about that? Well, like pulling back from that, because that's another thing that they love to get into. They love it.

Speaker 2: 16:21

And you know, I think what I have found is that sometimes it's actually really important to get the mom on your side and have the moms and dads that are caring for them and providing them with the products Understand why, as a pediatric dermatologist, you're not recommending highly scented, fragranced, irritating products for skin. You know teens and tweens, their skin isn't quite mature yet, it's still kind of undergoing those changes through puberty, and so if we start to use a lot of highly irritating substances, botanical ingredients, you know a lot of different actives you're going to actually strip and damage the skin barrier. That can, you know, make acne worse, but it can also cause a whole host of problems like eczema and irritant dermatitis and flare up other conditions. So having the parents on your side about that is really important. And then educating the teen. You know you don't have to. You know, step on to the latest TikTok trend. Your skin is super healthy. You don't need all these actives, but you do need to find something that you like, that's gentle, that will work for you and you know, between the three of you or your family you can work that out. You can go to Target, you can make that run, which is also a nice, I think, bonding experience for parents too. But staying away from things that can be irritating is important, and it's even gotten to the point of being a huge issue, like a big umbrella issue, as marketing and all of these trends are tending towards the natural, like natural products, green products, all of this, which can also be another potential area of problem, because natural is not always better for skin.

Speaker 2: 18:09

You know, all these really intense botanical extracts can lead to irritant or even allergic contact dermatitis. And what people may not realize about developing an allergy to an actual product is that that is a lifelong allergy. It doesn't go away. You have to avoid that substance for the rest of your life, and I think that there's some nice data coming out that shows clearly, especially even in younger children, that allergies to botanical ingredients like lavender, linoleal there's these two ingredients that are related to lavender extract is really on the rise, and that shouldn't surprise us, seeing as, like, every baby thing has lavender in it.

Speaker 2: 18:48

Right, but it's a lifelong allergy. A contact dermatitis means you have sensitized your immune system against that chemical compound and that repeated application is going to make you react again and again. So you will have to avoid that compound for the rest of your life. I like to phrase it like poison ivy right, what is more natural than a plant like poison ivy? But yet you know many people are allergic and when they do get repeated exposures, the allergy and the effect is even much worse and can be very, very severe, itchy, irritated. So we have to have a healthy respect for natural ingredients, intense botanical extracts and especially for those with sensitive skin prone to eczema or acne, I recommend steering clear of that all together.

Speaker 1: 19:35

Yeah, I noticed for myself. I deal with that. I have a contact dermatitis to plants. I don't know it actually started I think it started with mangoes, and then now I cannot touch any plants. It's very strange. I get this like so it's welting that occurs.

Speaker 2: 19:57

Yeah with yeah so mango is actually a pretty common allergen and you would be surprised at how many products have mango extract in them. And I'm going to tell you something that's going to maybe surprise you but in the pit of the mango and in the skin there is a compound called your Ruchial, and your Ruchial is the exact same allergen as in poison ivy. So mango and poison ivy kind of cross react, and many botanicals cross react. So I'm not surprised to hear that you have this kind of plant based allergy and contact dermatitis. And it just really surprises me that more companies that are producing topical, topical creams and things that people are putting on their skin have things like mango extract in them. It's certainly not something a dermatologist would recommend that you spread all over your skin.

Speaker 1: 20:48

No, no, no, definitely not Going back to the acne with kids that are boys or girls, that are in sports and start to deal with like the back acne. Do you recommend different for that or do you handle it very similarly?

Speaker 2: 21:11

It's actually pretty similar because when you have back acne again it can be really red and angry and inflamed, and so a lot of times those children will really benefit from an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory body wash. So having those same ingredients, like especially benzoyl peroxide, is a great one in that environment. But the sodium hypochlorite is two, and then including that cleanser in the shower where they can wash head to toe, that is a great idea. And then one thing that is really nice for teens on the go would be throwing a wipe. The wipes that I formulated have a little bit of sodium hypochlorite in them, so they're really nice for cleansing and reducing bacteria on the go. Throw it in the gym bag, use it right after sports. Even then, just after you wipe your face, wipe down your helmet or other equipment, and I think that's nice and fits really well into a teen's active lifestyle. So go with a wipe.

Speaker 2: 22:10

There's also a really great spray that's more available in the last three years. It's called hypochlorous acid. Have you heard of that one? It's like a spray and it's like marketed under SOS spray, but it's really widely available and what you do is antimicrobial and a great thing to spray on your back, on your armpits, even just to reduce bacteria, help with body odor and even that, in a way, is also helping with people prone to acne or eczema, where you have bacteria playing a role in flaring of both of those conditions.

Speaker 1: 22:44

And since you mentioned eczema as well, for those people that are dealing with eczema, what do you recommend that they can use to help with itching and just trying to calm everything down? Is it the same as like what you use with acne, or do you then take a different route?

Speaker 2: 23:03

Well, you take a little bit of a different route, I would say. So you know, with eczema you really do need to sue the skin barrier, because the primary problem with people and children prone to eczema or atopic dermatitis is that their skin isn't able to retain the water the way that people who don't have eczema skin can retain the water, and that's due to a little defect in the skin barrier. There's a little protein that's either missing or deficient, and because of that you lose a lot of water through the surface of the skin. So for children especially, and even teens with eczema, I really like to talk about the soak and smear mantra.

Speaker 2: 23:41

When you have eczema, we've got to put water back into the skin. And how do we do that? Well, soaking is a great way. In just plain warm water we soak the skin and then we try to keep the water in the skin by putting on a nice thick occlusive moisturizer. So the soaking itself is really helpful and then a good occlusive moisturizer on top, one again that's fragrance-free, hypoallergenic. In babies and toddlers I really love just plain white Vaseline, plain petrolatum. But you know, as they mature there's other white creams and things that can do the trick too Vannecrime, cerave, cetaphil. There's a lot of great brands out there doing a nice job with these types of hypoallergenic moisturizers.

Speaker 1: 24:28

Okay, and then do you recommend that, like, as kids get older, do you recommend lotions and things like that for beyond the skin care that you're recommending. Is there like, should they be putting a lot of lotions on their face?

Speaker 2: 24:49

I mean, obviously for teens that come into my office, I'll say you know, here's three potential things that are the basics that you can do. Number one wash your face twice a day. Keep it gentle, hypoallergenic. Number two wear a sunscreen this is a great opportunity to have that conversation about healthy skin habits and wearing a sunscreen, spf 30 or greater, every morning and definitely reapplying throughout the day in the summertime or when the UV index is really high. And then, thirdly, if your skin is dry, maybe a moisturizer is something that you need to kind of have on hand. So those three things I think are the basics for like a teen skin care regimen, just like a cleanser, a sunscreen, a moisturizer. That's really the basics and hopefully most teens can comply with that. Some can't, but at least if it's on hand, they've got it there ready if they need it and even if they're not applying it every day.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Okay, perfect. I think that's very simple for kids to be able to handle. Parents can help provide them that information. Is there anything that you would recommend To make it more comfortable to start this conversation with our children? I know you mentioned at the very beginning just asking them what they're using in the shower, but if there's some of these children that are real hesitant to talk about things, is there a way to just discuss self-care on a whole with them? Is there anything that you recommend on how to go about that?

Speaker 2: 26:27

That's a great question. So I kind of told you my secrets were in the office, kind of opening up the conversation, discussing it. But I think you've kind of hit like a larger topic here, courtney, and that is that this is like the selfie generation Things are online, faces are online and there's been a little bit of a difference that I've perceived between the way boys and girls are handling this. The girls are kind of conditioned and taught you need to care about your appearance and here's what we need to do and, as we've talked about throughout the podcast, they're a little more likely to engage in that. But I think that boys sometimes are conditioned to feel like they shouldn't care, that it's not masculine to care.

Speaker 2: 27:11

And one of the big things I think that we need to do as health care providers and parents, is try to start remove that stigma about self-care for teens in general and especially for boys. And so, starting the conversation with hey, you know, here's what happened to me when I had acne. You know, kind of trying to normalize it Acne is normal, your body odor is normal, all the things that you're experiencing are normal. Here's how I dealt with it. Let's talk about it from a personal level, you know, let's say you know it's okay to care about it, it's totally fine if it's getting you down, but we can together make a plan to have it better, within our power to do that. And so I like to talk a bit about it in terms of stigma. Let's remove the stigma, let's normalize it so that our teens are not afraid to talk about it or not as hesitant as I think that they have been. Like you said, yeah.

Speaker 1: 28:10

And I do think, like you mentioned, social media is helping because it just it's normalizing all of this for everyone. Is there a point in time where we need to go see a dermatologist? If we're dealing with certain issues on the skin, when should we then take it out of our own hands and move into a dermatology office?

Speaker 2: 28:36

Great, question yes, there's definitely a time where you might need a medical intervention. You know, after all, acne when it's, you know, on the more moderate to severe spectrum, is certainly an inflammatory skin disease disorder. So we do need, you know, help at those times. I think if you're seeing more than 10 really large inflamed papules and pustules or if you're seeing any large areas where the pores look like they're getting little pits in them or scarring. If you see that, then it's time to get help. And that could even be just taking them in to their local family doctor or pediatrician. You know they're trained, you know, in basic skincare and acne, and so they might have something that they can do just in that primary care office.

Speaker 2: 29:27

And then, as if things progress and it's more severe or scarring, the primary care physician may say you know what, this little now out of my wheelhouse let's have you go refer to dermatology. And so there's. It can be a two step process. Or if you're lucky to be in a urban city with a lot of access to dermatology care and can just make your own appointment, then that's great obviously. But there are parts of the country where access is very, very difficult to dermatology and especially pediatric dermatology. We're a really small subspecialty. We're growing, but we are small, so sometimes access is a little bit difficult.

Speaker 1: 30:04

Okay, okay. And then can you sort of answer this Is there a certain time where they like age, where they need to see pediatric dermatology? I guess it just depends on if there's anything local to them. If you may not have people that specialize in that, right, right, if you have access.

Speaker 2: 30:23

It's always great to see a pediatric dermatologist, but I'll tell you the one time. There are different ages where acne is not normal. So acne will start to show up around age eight or nine, sometimes with that first surge of hormones that's called adrenarchy, when you're starting to see that first body hair come up and you might see a few blackheads in the ears or on the forehead, and so around nine that's pretty typical and normal to see. But if you have a five or six year old showing that they've got actual acne with blackheads and pimples coming up, mid childhood acne is not normal and can be a sign of precocious puberty or early onset puberty. And that might be a time where you do need some expert help or even taking the child to your local primary care or a pediatric dermatologist, if you had one, or even a pediatric endocrinologist, because mid childhood acne is not normal and needs to be evaluated and worked up.

Speaker 1: 31:24

Oh, perfect, that's good to know. All right, well, can you tell us where we can find you and then, if you have anything that you want to let us know, like something that we can apply today for our children?

Speaker 2: 31:42

Oh boy, that's a tough one, courtney. So you know you can find me. So the past few years, after the pandemic and after really digging in deep over a decade in terms of trying to educate people with respect to pediatric dermatology, I started volunteering with my national society creating great handouts and information for patients and even primary care doctors, because, of course, access is sometimes hard. So educating our first line providers is so important. And then I worked my way up and joined in the American Academy of Pediatrics and we did lots of great work with them and their content on healthychildrenorg.

Speaker 2: 32:27

But during the pandemic, I watched in kind of amazement as more and more people were online, taking to social media, and a lot of it was education themed, and doctors became present on social media educating people, and some of those were dermatologists who I thought were doing a really great job educating in that space. And I kind of changed my pathway a little bit because I started to see, you know what there could be room for education on social media with respect to pediatric dermatology and I started to post, you know, a little bit. So you can find me on social media I'm Dr Sheila on TikTok and Dr Sheila dot M on Instagram and I really try to create things that would be helpful to parents. So those are the kind of education based things that I like to do on social media. I want parents to feel like they have a trusted source.

Speaker 2: 33:25

You know to talk about different things that affect children, whether it's eczema, acne. You know different things that affect children's skin or what products to buy. I like to give some educated advice about it. Okay, and then, in turn, oh sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 1: 33:40

Oh no, go ahead. I was actually going to ask you is there anything that you've seen out there that you would say that maybe they shouldn't follow the advice of? Not meaning doctors, but some of that common information that gets thrown out there on social media?

Speaker 2: 33:59

Oh my goodness, we could have an entire podcast talk about that one topic, courtney, there's so, and that's a prime reason why I decided to join in the conversation and meet patients where they are, because there is so much spread of medical misinformation on social media. You know even about supplements like what supplements you can take internally that would help your skin. Well, guess what? Most of them don't work at all and it's a completely unregulated environment, so anyone can make any kind of claim and the FDA is not monitoring that. That's an area that I think needs to change and where we do need a lot more of that input and regulation that to help prevent those kinds of claims from being made without any medical or evidence-based you know information or data.

Speaker 1: 34:49

Okay, and then what is one thing that we can do this week to help support our children in their skincare routine or self-care routine?

Speaker 2: 35:01

Make it fun, make it easy, make it accessible. Have that first conversation. Go and grab you know something at Target that they are gonna actually use, you know, and check in with your kids. Check in and see are you able to do this? How is it going? You know what can we do together to try to make this a long-term healthy habit for you. And I often tell some of the teens in my clinic nothing looks better in your 40s and 50s than sunscreen in your teens and 20s. So that's another piece of advice that I like to give that healthy sun protection stuff is a really great thing to work into. So it's the time when the self-image is really forming, when those healthy habits are being laid down, and it's just a fun, exciting time to be involved. As you know both. You know a mom in the family and as a doctor who gets the chance to care for teens and tweens.

Speaker 1: 36:00

Perfect, and then I do wanna make sure that you let people know about Strike Club, and is there any specific product that you would recommend people start with?

Speaker 2: 36:14

Well, we're so proud of Strike Club. You know it's for moms, all female founded, and you know we really did see the need for a teen-based and kind of marketed towards boys effective, simple, locker room-worthy products that they will actually use. And you know I said at the beginning of the podcast, it all starts with washing your face. So of course, I'm a really huge fan of our face-first face wash. It's really, really gentle but yet it fights bacteria, helps reduce inflammation and I think it's great for kids who are prone to acne. So that's a wonderful place to start.

Speaker 1: 36:47

Perfect, excellent. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day for this conversation.

Speaker 2: 36:52

Well, thanks for having me. I hope that your listeners will resonate with some of the things that we talked about and hopefully find a little bit of humor in it too.

Speaker 1: 37:04

I hope you enjoyed this episode and found something to take away to help you practice healthier habits, move more or handle the midlife in aging with grace. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review to help us reach more moms just like you. Head to movingthroughmidlifecom to join the free community or learn how you can move more and feel better in your daily life.