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June 21, 2024 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:47
Montel Williams' Emotional Journey with Multiple Sclerosis | Dr. Oz | S6 | Ep 116 | Full Episode
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The Dr. Oz Show.
Emmy-nominated six seasons in a row.
Coming up next, does this look like a guy who needs a wheelchair?
The first doctor to diagnose me said, go home and die.
Montel Williams' life-changing decision.
How he has defied the odds and how you can too.
How he used his mind to heal his body.
I'm wondering about it every day.
And the moment he never expected.
Today I get to surprise you.
What?
Coming up next on Oz.
Welcome everybody!
Alright, you know who this is?
This is my friend Montel Williams.
He recently posted, I love him too, he recently posted this video on his Facebook page.
Here's the caption, it says, 15 years ago, when I was diagnosed with MS, I was told I would be in a wheelchair in four years.
Instead, I chose to live up to my own expectations, not down to those of others.
Not bad for an almost 60 year old.
That's his text.
Today he is here to reveal how he has defied the odds and how you can too.
He's the man who knows no limits, Montel Williams.
It is so good to have you.
Good to see you, sir.
Let's go over this thing.
I saw this video, of course, captivated by it.
Having known many friends with MS who have suffered so much, you developed a whole different philosophy.
It was to choose to live up to your own expectations, not down to others.
How has this gotten you there?
How does the snowboarding help you?
We have to.
What happened is, when I got diagnosed with MS, and this is almost now 99, first time, 2000 to reconfirm, the first doctor that diagnosed me looked me in the face and said, oh, Basically, go home and die.
Because you're not going to be able to work.
You're going to do this.
He starts telling me all these things that he thinks I'm going to be.
And I'm not knocking docs, doc.
But, you know, if docs were God, none of us would be sick.
And he doesn't have a crystal ball.
So I got really angry and I thought, how dare you tell me that I have to live down to your expectations rather than up to mine.
I'm not going to go home and figure out how I can die easier.
I want to go home and live the rest of my life.
And so I applied myself to live it.
So, obviously, having a life-training illness like MS, it focuses you.
For the many folks out there who just want to live a better life, how do they apply this philosophy?
But here's what's so amazing, Doctor, is that for everybody sitting in this room, do you know that right now we have 100 million people in this country who have stated unequivocally that they have pain that affects their life on a daily basis?
100 million.
100 million.
And this isn't something special about MS. Stop listening to people who tell you that you can't.
This is what your grandmother said to you, your mother said to you.
Let's go back to this science issue you brought up.
There's real meat here.
The brain is hardwired.
Most of us think that.
Sort of like you might hardwire a battery or a car.
And when you have damage of those wires, I was taught, and even going through med school, that it's permanent.
You have to fight the odds.
We're finding out the brain has the ability to heal itself.
God gave us that.
We are in nature.
There are things that we can do to focus around our damage.
So what have I been doing?
Wait a minute.
What have I been doing?
So for when they told me that I had MS and I'm not going to be able to walk, I'm not going to be able to do this.
So I start walking a lot and walking and concentrating.
Doctor told me, pay attention to my hip flexor.
So for five years, I walk with a mirror in front of me.
There's a mirror there.
I look at my entire body, my alignment.
If you go back and look at the tapes of me coming on your show four years ago, I limped out that door.
You did.
I just walked to you because I'm working on it every day.
Yeah, absolutely right.
Every day.
I remember that.
Every day.
I remember that.
Sorry.
So...
I was told, like so many other people, you can't do this.
You can't overcome your pain.
Remember the first time we spoke about it?
My primary symptom from MS is neuropathic pain.
I've been diagnosed by the top doctors in the world.
My pain was on a scale of a one to ten five years ago, probably about a seven, five, six.
I'm not, this is a miracle.
I pay attention to some techniques that help me put that pain in a box.
How do you do that?
Explain that for the many, many folks who are held back daily by this.
Watch this.
While we sit here, my feet are on fire.
Okay, but, techniques I've learned.
This entire interview, I've been pulling a string in between each one of your questions.
What's that string about?
I take my pain and mentally put it into a box, okay?
Just like you at Christmas, I put it in a box, I put paper over it.
I put a lid on it.
I tie a string around it and I pull it tight.
I do this mentally.
I put my pain there.
When it comes back, like it did a couple seconds ago, that's where this tear comes from, because when I stop, Concentrating on it, it can come up.
Pull the string.
I tighten it up.
Now, this isn't something that's going to happen overnight.
It took me six years to get it down to now where my pain is only there when I want to think about it.
And I try my best not to think about it.
I'm rewiring the things that said you hurt, and I'm turning it into, guess what, I feel pretty good.
You know what I love about this?
It's not just about pain, folks.
It's about depression.
Yeah, all the chronic things, the anxieties that hold us.
Yes!
How did you learn this?
Let me tell you, what was really kind of crazy is that I was seeking out every bit of information I could.
And this is something I'm going to say to everybody here.
You said, Montel, you have MS. I don't care what your illness is or what you think you have.
The first, most important thing anybody can do is get knowledge about your problem.
If the doctors knew everything, you wouldn't be sick.
You need to look at it yourself and understand what you can do to make a difference.
So what did I do?
I started studying this disease.
And I found this really strange article in a book that was called The Brain That Changes Itself.
So I look at this book.
I'm going, really?
Come on.
But this is kind of what I've been doing.
So that's when I put the mirror in front of me.
That's when I started paying attention to everything I do.
I pay attention to my illness, guys.
I'm telling you, two to three hours a day.
But what does that do for me?
I'm living what would be, I think, a very normal life.
I'm living a really very rewarding life because I can do anything I want to do, and my illness will never hold me back.
Who wrote the book?
There's a gentleman by the name of Dr. Norman Deutsch.
Deutsch?
Deutsch.
D-O-I-D-G-E. Have you ever met him?
No.
And he's got a brand new book out right now.
The brand new book out is called The Brain's Way of Healing.
Yeah, I don't want you to have to introduce that because I never get to surprise you.
Huh?
Today I get to surprise you.
What?
Dr. Deutcher Shortness.
What?
That's right over there.
Wait a minute.
I looked at you.
Congratulations.
Thank you, sir.
I mean, I just looked over there in the crowd.
I'm looking over here.
I've never seen your picture.
Is this crazy?
Now, you would think that I should have pulled your book up and looked for your picture.
But, wow.
Wow, thank you, sir.
Honestly, wait.
Can I say this?
Again, I'm in the middle of the brain's way of healing, and it's amazing because this validates what I've been doing.
Is that true?
I don't know.
Yeah, Dr. George, why is it you and I, and not just doctors, most people who can hear our voices right now have believed that we could not heal the brain the way Montel has?
Well, we really thought of the brain as a machine, and as you said, we thought it was an electrical machine, and electrical machines are hardwired.
Machines don't grow new parts.
They don't reorganize themselves.
And, you know, one patient after another, in the two books I describe, We're told they wouldn't get better.
People with Parkinson's, not only MS and chronic pain, but stroke, traumatic brain injury, autism, learning disorders, certain kinds of attention problems.
And they're being told this every day.
And it turns out not only Can the brain sometimes change?
But that's actually how it works.
It works.
It changes every time we do activities and have new mental experiences.
So we can use this to drive change.
And one of the reasons we can get really good results is we thought of the brain We thought that when a person had one of these many illnesses, what happened is brain cells die, and that's all there is to it.
But in fact, only some brain cells die in these illnesses, or some nervous system cells die.
A lot of them are sick, and they're firing at unusual rates, like a heart arrhythmia.
So they're giving off a lot of noise, and your healthy cells are receiving that noise, so they can't work.
So what we can do is we can find ways of speaking to the brain, talking to the brain in its own language of electrical firing to re-synchronize it and get really rapid results and lead to improvements in symptoms.
Thank you.
Come over here.
I want to show you what Dr. George is talking about.
Thank you, Dr. George.
So, basically what he's saying is that we are like radio towers.
Right.
That's your brain.
And when some of the brain cells, by the way, when they're functioning normally, it sounds melodic, it's beautiful, you can dance to it, you can snowboard to it, right?
Absolutely.
But when something goes wrong, It's attacked by some injury, some virus.
It starts to make this crazy staticky sound.
The brain is not only sending out the wrong kinds of sounds from some of its cells, but it can't receive it the right way.
It's like your radio receiver is not quite where it needs to be.
So Dr. Deutsch's goal is to reset this, to eliminate the static.
Again, using things you hear, things you see, things you feel, the way you have activity.
So it sounds, again, the right way.
So the brain functions appropriately as a receiver.
And what he's saying about adding exercise to conscious thought.
I not only walk and look at my body, but I also talk to myself in a 20 minute period of time about my pain.
You can take away what is considered chronic pain by trying to hardwire good thoughts.
So as I'm walking and exercising, I'm thinking about suppressing my pain.
And it's working.
And it's working.
It's working better than anything I've done.
I'm not taking any pain medication.
I'm not taking pain medication, very little.
And I'm not taking any antidepressants because as I've been working on this, it's working on my whole self at the same time.
I'm going to try this.
You may not notice my fingers, everybody.
See, they don't look so straight right now.
I just broke this finger playing basketball over the weekend.
And it hurts a lot.
And I'm too vain to put anything over it.
And as a surgeon, I can't.
But these are techniques I'm going to start playing with because it hurts a lot.
Okay, easiest one for you to do right here is while we're walking.
I'll tell you what you do.
Today, each time that that thought hits your mind, when you move it and it hurts, the second you move it and it hurts, think about your granddaughter's eyes.
Oh my goodness.
I want you, every time you have a feeling of pain, and I know how much you love your granddaughter, think about those eyes.
Okay?
Pain, eyes.
Look at those eyes.
Pain, eyes.
All day long.
Within the next three days, you're not going to feel that pain.
And it's not just because it's going away.
It's because you've made your brain think, when I sense pain, I think eyes.
I love it.
I love it.
All right.
Last thing, obviously, from day one, you have changed what you've put in your body.
Absolutely.
So walk us through this morning drink.
You've been bragging about this darn thing everywhere.
I know that it's made a big difference in your life.
Well, you know, I've told you over the last five years, I drank an inordinate amount of coconut water, about 30 to 42 ounces of coconut water every single day.
Guys, I've been doing it.
It's one of the most hydrated liquids on the planet.
And I've been doing it.
So I've been in search of really good product.
And then...
As I started reading the labels of some of the coconut water I'm drinking, there's so much garbage in this stuff.
It's been pasteurized.
They add the nutrients back in.
So I found a brand, and I'm going to make sure everybody understands, I've now become a spokesperson for it because I want to change the way you out there are consuming your coconut water.
I found a brand.
It's called Actives.
This Actives brand, I want you to do me a favor.
Just all you got to do is look at the back.
There's only two ingredients.
Coconut water and rice powder.
There's no extra added salt, no preservatives, no additives.
Why?
Because the way we process this, it's 100% nutritious coconut water.
So I take that as my base, and I'm taking somewhere around...
I take, in this picture, it's one scoop for every four ounces.
So I've taken one scoop right here.
I think we've got...
Three scoops.
And then I take watermelon, because I love lycopene.
I like all the extra nutrients in watermelon.
I'm sloppy.
That's okay.
I'll put them in.
I only have three fingers I can use.
I'm also taking a banana, a pineapple, and a banana, and I need a little water.
But once we add water to that, it comes up to this incredible shake.
Now, remember, I gave you some of this coconut water in your office, and compared to other stuff that leaves you that nasty taste, there's no nasty taste, because there's nothing in there except for coconut.
You know, don't drink it.
Give it to Dr. Dorj.
This is our thank you present to him.
Doc, now you've taught us all how to heal.
Thank you.
How to heal with the mind.
I'm going to teach you how to heal from the inside.
I love you, man.
Thank you, my friend.
I tell Williams.
Thank you, guys.
We'll be right back. - Do you have back pain?
How do you naturally relieve it?
I had a car accident four years ago and have been dealing with back pain ever since.
Every morning I make sure to stretch for 15 minutes as soon as I get out of the shower.
It keeps you loose and pain-free.
Share yours on Facebook.com slash Dr. Oz.
Next, looking for a better body and a longer life?
We've discovered healthy new foods that taste great and are great for you.
From fighting disease and ending exhaustion to getting rid of your belly fat.
The top five new health foods that are worth your time and money.
Next.
All new on the Emmy-nominated Dr. Oz Show.
She took a year off her marriage to sleep with 12 strangers.
What were you hoping to learn?
What she discovered that may help you.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
One of my biggest thrills is discovering healthy new foods that not only taste great, but they happen to be good for you, too.
From fighting disease to ending exhaustion and getting rid of your belly fat, today I'm counting down the top five new health foods that are worth the time and your money.
So, let's start with number five.
We're going to work our way back to number one, top health foods.
At number five, this is for a healthy heart, the top new food is amaranth, which I really like.
It's good for your heart for a lot of reasons.
It gets no applause, but it should because I want, you know that quinoa?
Move over, quinoa.
There's a new grain in town.
Amaranth is high in phytosterols.
That helps control your cholesterol and keep your heart healthy.
And there's a, you know, if I look around on the web, there's a little Pinterest thing out there going on around Amaranth.
And all these images of people, they're posting them, all kinds of fun recipes.
Cindy, in fact, posted a picture of an Amaranth protein cookie that she makes.
She's passing it out to the audience as I speak.
They're looking at it.
Cindy, how'd you come up with this idea?
Well, Dr. Oz, I'm a food blogger, and I love to create new recipes.
And I was at the market, and I found the amaranth.
And I knew I need to take this home and create a recipe with it.
And I decided, how about a cookie?
And I had all of the ingredients right in my pantry, Dr. Oz.
Everything was handy.
But most importantly, what does it taste like?
Audience, what do you guys think?
Honest opinions?
Really?
It's so good.
No negatives?
No reservations at all?
All right.
That's an emphatic yes.
Congratulations.
All right.
Let's move on to number four on my list of top health foods.
This may actually help lower the risk of cancer.
It's broccoli sprouts.
Now, for all the complainers out there about broccoli, broccoli sprouts, they look like this.
They actually have 20 times as much of a cancer-fighting compound than plain old broccoli.
You can add them to salads, soups, or sandwiches.
They even taste good raw.
Number three of my top new health food countdown.
This is for weight loss, which I know you guys are all gonna love.
It is actually bean pasta.
It comes in many forms.
There's black beans, there's mung beans, there's garbanzo beans.
These are non-wheat noodles.
They're bean pastas that are higher in fiber and protein.
They're lower in the glycemic index, which means you get fuller faster.
Now, Nina is in the audience.
She actually says she lost 52 pounds by switching to bean pasta.
Spin around.
You look fantastic.
How'd you do it?
What made you try these?
Well, Dr. Oz, my husband and I were on a mad dash to lose weight for our wedding this year.
And we're always looking for healthy carb alternatives to wheat.
So I always hear you talking about quinoa and beans on the show.
And when we found bean pasta in the supermarket, we were really excited.
So we brought it home, and we loved it, and we've been eating it ever since.
So have you gotten married yet?
Yes, in June.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Well done.
How do you prepare them?
Sometimes I'll have it with marinara, just like a regular pasta.
My favorite way to eat it is with a veggie stir fry.
And my husband, who's getting a little creative, he will make it a little bit more al dente and then toast it and then use it as a garnish on our food.
Yeah, he'll lose that creativity after about a year.
Don't worry about it.
Thanks very much.
All right, number two on my new health food countdown, helps with gut health.
It is umabashi paste.
You guys have never heard of this, I bet.
It's made from pickled umabashi plums, which look like this.
This is a fermented Japanese condiment.
It's an excellent source of probiotics.
In fact, many people find umabashi to be beneficial for bad breath for that reason.
So, who in the audience is willing to admit they could use a little breath freshener?
Any volunteers?
We have a victim right here.
How are you?
What's your name?
Allie.
All right, so I got to smell you to do quality control.
Of course.
I did have an onion bagel and coffee this morning, so a little warning.
That's an interesting combination.
No, yes, you did.
Yes, you did.
All right, so I think one of the best ways to get umabashi is to mix it with a vegetable, so they have these cucumber rounds.
Go ahead and try that.
Make sure you get the umabashi in your bite, though.
Let's see.
Who wants to get some help with their breath?
Enough people?
Yeah, there are enough folks out there.
Wow.
It's very, very, very salty, very good.
Definitely gonna cook with this.
Gonna help with my breath, absolutely.
Does it blow out your taste buds, or can you still taste yourself?
No, I can still taste myself, but it tastes fantastic.
Perfect amount of taste in it.
Perfect.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right, finally, the number one new health food.
It's designed to boost your energy.
It is coconut chips.
Now, these, I personally think, are the best tasting of all.
The good fat in coconuts burn very efficiently.
That way, you use them for energy and fuel.
You don't store them as fat in your hips.
Now, I actually mentioned my love of coconut chips in the show earlier this year, and Angie was watching, sent these photos of her favorite ways to eat them.
They look fantastic like that.
I love them all these ways, but I really like them straight out of the bag.
So, who wants to have a bag of these chips?
There we are.
There we are.
I want you guys to quickly taste them.
These things are to die for.
And one more up there.
Listen, we'll be right back.
Taste the coconut chips.
They're fantastic. - Coming up, they're excruciating and can crimp your style.
The uncontrollable muscle spasm.
What causes them?
And could it be a sign that something else is wrong?
A charley horse or something worse?
What you can do to find relief.
Next.
Is that horrible, tight squeezing pain in your leg that wakes you up in the middle of the night?
I'm talking about a charley horse.
The spasms start suddenly and it can be excruciating.
Looks like this.
Isn't that crazy?
Look at that muscle being pulled in.
I don't even know how they survive those kinds of things.
And it's agonizing when you get it.
But I didn't know if it's a muscle cramp or a sign of something that's much worse.
So help me figure this out.
And you have an assistant of the day.
Let's see, how about, you know what, 60% of folks complain about these charlie horses, painful leg cramps in their lives.
How about seat number 60?
We got a winner!
We got a winner.
How perfectly-- - - How are you?
What's your name?
Renee.
Renee.
Renee, we got the perfect outfit for you.
It goes, you know, look at this.
You got the sweater to go with it and everything.
Oh my goodness, Renee.
So, Charlie Horses, those are pretty eerie.
Look at those pictures there.
Yes.
Isn't that crazy?
Has that ever happened to you?
Yes, yes, yes.
They hurt very much.
Did I describe them right?
Squeezing, pulsing.
And you kind of feel paralyzed because you can't move the leg.
You're flinching.
It's horrible.
So today we're going to talk about how to deal with them, but first I want to show you what they are.
Okay.
To do this, I need a little bit of help from you.
You're going to actually, Renee, play the muscle.
Okay.
You ever played a muscle before?
Never.
This is your first time.
So hop up here.
You get to be the muscle.
And if you don't mind, hold on to this for a second.
Hold on.
You're the muscle.
You should probably hold here just in case.
You'll see why.
All right.
So this is the nerve.
And the nerve comes to the muscle.
And when it touches the muscle, it sends it off and tells it to do things.
All right.
And sometimes, if it's not...
Not quite the way you want it to be.
It starts to shake you a lot.
How you feel?
Describe it.
Out of control.
Where are you from?
Long Island.
Does it feel like you're in Long Island?
Probably does.
Yeah.
We're trying to stop it.
You know, I'm going to leave you on there for the rest of the show.
No, no, we're just stopping.
It's off now.
Whoa!
That's something else in it.
It says it can be painful.
It can last for a short time or a long time.
You're a real true for being up there.
But you are shaking so much as a muscle, because it's the nerve telling you to do that, that you can't control it.
So the question is, when do you have to worry, and when is it not a big deal?
Let's walk through the different reasons.
A muscle cramp is always something you should pay attention to.
Okay.
So I'm gonna explain, really, this is a joke, but what's happening inside your body.
Some causes are more concerning than others.
So let's say you're sleeping up at night, right?
Let's go to the most common cause, which is just simple electrolyte problems.
Sodium and potassium, these nerves go to the muscle, and when you have the right amount of electrolytes, once in a while they'll twitch.
But if your electrolytes are off, instead of this nice gentle stuff happening, the spasm starts to get fast.
It starts to spasm like this, and you get those charley horses with those little quivering pieces that I showed you in some of those videos that came off YouTube that our viewers sent us.
Wow.
All right, so what can you do about that?
What do you do when you get a charley horse?
I thought you were supposed to eat bananas.
Oh, you're a smart woman, Renee.
I mean, that's what I heard.
I watch you.
Well, you're very kind.
That's good.
All right.
So, most people instinctively at night will grab their calf or whatever muscle is spasming.
And I suggest you do that because you're going to do it anyway.
But you can add a warm, wet towel.
It'll help soothe it a little faster just to break the spasms so you don't get the aching afterwards.
Okay.
Then the first thing you want to do is get a little bit more of the key electrolytes.
In particular, you want magnesium and you want potassium and you want sodium in your body quickly.
So, take a little warm water.
Take a pinch of salt.
Put it in there.
You're not worried about salt right now.
You need to get a little bit more in your body.
And just drink that down and get it in there fast.
And then in general, throughout the day, you want to get foods that naturally have potassium and magnesium in them.
And it turns out there are a lot of very common foods that have those two key minerals in them.
You mentioned bananas, which is why I adore them.
And they will absolutely work for problems related to electrolytes.
Cantaloupes, another source, beans work.
A lot of nuts have these as well.
Those are the classic ways of preventing it.
But then you sort of have to think about what other causes might be there besides the simple electrolytes.
So one little clue is how often you get the cramps.
So how often do yours occur?
I don't get them a lot.
I remember more when I was pregnant.
I remember getting them more then.
And even sometimes when I work out, maybe I'm not drinking enough water.
Right.
You get dehydrated.
That's what happens at night too.
You get dehydrated and without the appropriate amount of hydration in electrolytes, you'll get those problems.
But there's another one that worries me.
Another cause that's very common these days and has to do with medications.
Do you take any medications?
No, not at all.
Perfect.
So, put these purple gloves on to match your purple jacket and purple sweater.
Okay.
All right?
You're Miss Purple there.
And I'm going to show you something that's sort of cool.
This is a muscle.
I've never shown a muscle like this on the show before.
It's from our friends at Bodies the Exhibition.
It looks like that.
That is real muscle.
It's been plastinated.
I love how these are done because you can really see what's going on.
You see the individual fibers here?
Yes.
We can get a close-up.
I can show that to the whole audience.
And some medications can throw off electrolytes like we've been talking about.
They'll make you urinate more or the like.
But there can be some more serious reasons why you might get the Charlie Horse feeling.
Some medications actually damage the muscle themselves.
And when you're hitting the muscle itself, the muscle tissue sometimes begins to die.
And as it's dying, it will get that crampy sensation.
It won't be intermittent the way it is if it's electrolytes.
You'll actually have it pretty constantly.
So the things that don't cause this are cholesterol medications.
A lot of you have had those problems.
It's pretty common.
Blood pressure medications, diabetes medications, osteoporosis pills, and even over-the-counter diuretics will do this.
Wow.
So, go ahead and feel this.
So see how fragile it is, how thin it is?
Yes.
And when it coils up in some muscles, like a biceps muscle, it can be much bigger like this.
But these muscles have to be innervated one by one.
And every one little strand here has to be able to beat in unison or else you'll get that quivering that I mentioned earlier.
Wow.
So again, if you just started the medication and you notice the cramps are getting worse, or if you're having more and more frequent than you ever thought before, you should always think in the back of your mind, are my medications causing this?
There's one last reason that you can get a pain, especially in your calf.
You can take this off.
So this is actually the most significant of all.
I'm going to show you what it's related to.
This is a picture of what your calf may look like.
And the calf has beautiful blood vessels in it, but they're small blood vessels, like little, you know, like little spaghettis.
You see that little blood vessel there?
Yes.
Alright, so these blood vessels, when they get blockages in them, they can cause charley horses.
But they only happen when you walk.
Have you ever had your charley horse when you've walked?
Maybe once, not often.
You're going to sleep.
Typically, this happens in folks that have little blockages here, and that blockage is like giving a heart attack to your leg.
Without any blood supply, when you start to walk, because your muscles have to move when you're walking, there's no blood coming here, no oxygen, muscles begin to spasm up, and you'll feel that same charley horse type sensation, but this is called claudication.
It's a much more important cause.
This is something you want to see someone about, because we can fix this.
If you don't do it in time, sometimes we actually can lose toes and bad things like that happen, because you don't have enough blood going to the bottom of your foot.
But you don't want to have that?
You're not going to have that?
No.
What's been the best part about this?
The banana?
What are you proudest about?
Meeting you, Dr. Oz.
I've enjoyed you.
We'll be right back.
Next, is your neck a dead giveaway that you're getting older?
Whether you call it a turkey neck or the dreaded drop zone, stop being a slave to turtlenecks and scarves.
We've got solutions to help you get back that younger looking neck.
Coming up next.
Have a health question?
Ask on DrOz.com and get answers directly from Dr. Oz and his team of experts.
No question is off limits.
All new on the Emmy-nominated Dr. Oz Show.
She took a year off her marriage to sleep with 12 strangers.
What were you hoping to learn?
What she discovered that may help you.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
Some of you call it the drop zone.
Others refer to it as the dreaded turkey neck.
Whatever you name it, your neck is a dead giveaway that you are getting older.
So if you're a slave of turtlenecks and scarves, we've got some answers that help you get that younger looking neck that you've been dreaming of.
Welcome dermatologist Jeanine Downey's got all the answers for us.
So why does the neck seem to age so much faster than our face?
It is some of the thinnest skin on the body, Dr. Oz, so it does age faster.
And women forget, they just kind of moisturize or sunblock up to here, those that do sunblock, and they just forget their necks.
That Nora Ephron book is true.
People forget their necks.
And then they feel bad about them later.
So we're here to look at some of the most common signs of aging.
We've got three ladies with very specific neck issues.
Thank you all the way ahead of time, by the way.
I want to point out they're all wearing scarves, which it's unfortunate because we're going to have to ask you to remove them one by one.
Would you mind going first?
Okay, but it's pretty ugly under here.
Okay.
So Lori, before I ask you anything, just describe to us what bothers you about your neck when you look in the mirror.
Well, I started noticing in photographs that I have this turkey neck and it just makes me feel so conscious and just so much older looking than I really am.
So the excess skin is bothering you?
Yes.
And when did it start?
Oh, I don't know.
About five years ago.
Then I started wearing scarves.
I love this move.
This is the move.
I see this all the time.
I can't be very good for it.
No, it's not good for us.
Stop doing this is one.
Have you done anything besides this?
What else works to make it better?
Well, my mother taught me to do this exercise and that exercise.
What is this?
Is it peeing or hitting yourself?
I just don't know, but it's...
Let's all go like this and see if it helps.
Isn't it getting better?
Yeah, it hurts.
So what should women do for excess steam besides beating their smells?
Okay, so slapping your neck is not going to help you at all, okay?
So God bless your mother, but she was a bit incorrect.
So this is one of those skin tightening creams.
You want to look at a cream that has a lot of peptides in it.
You want to start on your chest.
Okay, let's not forget your chest.
Let's not forget your neck.
I want sweeping upward strokes, okay?
Really, really important.
Peptides, plant extracts, antioxidants, Dr. Oz, these are some of the ingredients in products that actually do tighten and firm your neck.
And so that's very helpful.
And obviously sunblock is king, so you have to wear a sunblock with an SPF 30 or greater.
Would that be helpful?
Oh, absolutely.
And it's much less painful than this stuff.
Yeah, it wasn't working.
All right.
Thank you.
Adela's joining us.
It is a beautiful scarf, I should say.
Thank you.
But would you mind removing it?
Okay.
And then describe, Des, as you do this, what is it about what you're hiding that you don't like?
Well, I have these deep lines for me.
I think I've noticed them now for five years, getting a little deeper, my permanent necklaces.
Permanent necklaces?
Yeah, so I try some over-the-counter, like anti-wrinkle creams as well.
Nothing seems to help.
I have the expert.
Dr. Donnie, what can you do to get rid of those neck lines?
Okay, so the necklace lines, people call them, and that was funny, permanent necklace lines.
I like that.
I've not heard of that before.
Use a topical retinol.
Use it every single night before you go to bed, and then use sunblock with an SPF 30 or greater.
Again, start with your Rub it all over your chest and then rub it up your neck as if you're defying gravity.
You get me?
So rub it up your neck and don't forget your neck at all.
What topical retinols do, Dr. Oz, is they build collagen and they help to decrease fine lines and wrinkles.
So they're actually terrific.
Now, the prescription retinols are 20 to 25 percent stronger than the over-the-counter retinols.
So you may even want to get a prescription retinol from your board-certified dermatologist.
We talked about using them on our face all the time.
I never thought about the neck.
Yeah, your neck and the backs of your hands.
And I do these little exercises where I blow kisses up in the air.
Like those are just tying up my neck.
Do that for your neck or for other purposes?
For my neck.
Your neck.
And just kisses.
That might help you pick up someone.
All right, Della.
All right, finally, Jennifer is here.
Now, Jennifer, as you all know, Jennifer is ducking down these patients, and she came in because she had brown spots and skin discoloration in her neck.
I'm not going to ask you to take your scarf off yet, because I want to show people a picture of before, because you've had something done about it.
I have, yeah.
So, describe the problem.
We'll show the picture.
I was incredibly self-conscious.
I did not take care of my skin as I was younger, and I had a lot of discoloration, brown spots, and I felt old and just not myself.
So let's show that picture so everyone's clear about it.
This is what Jennifer's neck looked like before the treatment.
So I see the sunspots there.
Dr. Downey, what did you do to help?
I did the Fraxel Restore laser.
It's FDA approved for all skin types.
It helps really obliterate the brown spots significantly.
And my patients just love it.
Jennifer did really well in four treatment sessions.
Most people are six treatment sessions.
She listened to instructions.
She's a great patient.
I adore her.
You're the best doctor, so how could I not?
Could I take a peek now at the results?
Absolutely, absolutely.
And just look after that camera right there so you can go, oh my goodness.
That's a big difference.
That really is a big difference.
I never expected that actually.
What do you think of when you look in the mirror now?
I feel more confident.
I feel younger.
I feel like myself again.
It's incredible.
And it was such an easy, easy process.
It was painless.
It was absolutely great.
Well done, Dr. Downey.
I appreciate it.
Thanks to all ladies for joining us today.
We'll be right back.
Thank you.
. . . . . . . . .
Helping city kids get off the streets.
Facing life's obstacles on the back of a horse.
Lessons we can all learn from the urban cowgirl.
Coming up next.
We are bringing a healthy back this season.
I want you to bring it too.
Grab your prescription pads for fun and sign up for free tickets today.
You can go to dros.com slash tickets and sign up.
Did I get it right?
I adore hearing stories about people doing whatever they can to help others, especially kids.
That's why I'm excited to meet my next guest, who's using the power of horses to change the lives of inner-city kids.
Hartford, Connecticut ranks in the top ten most dangerous cities in the country.
Connecticut is one of the wealthiest states, but Hartford is probably the third poorest city in the United States.
Over a third of its residents live below the poverty line.
Many of them children.
When you label a child at risk, it means at risk to fail.
And these kids understand that's the label they've been tagged with.
But retired Marine Patricia Kelly came up with a surprising way to make a difference in the lives of Hartford's urban kids.
And it's an idea that has legs.
Four of them.
Let's get these horses out.
Every time they step their foot in the stirrups, they are building on, you can do this.
Alright garlands, what will be your next move?
Cross over?
Here we go!
For 30 years, Patricia has been connecting inner-city kids with horses.
You don't hear any yelling when you come here, just peaceful, because we have horses here, so, you know, we have to be quiet.
To help steer them towards better choices.
Makes you calmer, softer, gentler.
And better lives.
I want to help out with the horses and the kids and get everybody who's, like, in the streets and make a big change for everybody, just like Ms. Kelly did for us.
Patricia understands firsthand why a horse can hold the key to self-esteem and success for even the most disenfranchised kids.
I have ridden four horses.
It taught me how to be brave.
It is not brute strength that controls the horse.
You cannot force them into doing anything.
But they are so willing to work with you if you're willing to work with them.
And when they make that connection, that's the ingredient for success.
Good girl.
Patricia's programs now reach over 300 kids a year.
If I didn't find this place, I probably would have been locked up or in trouble, and this keeps me out of trouble.
So this is a good place to be, and I'm thankful for it.
These are amazing kids.
They are, all of them, very amazing children who have not had a break, and they just need a shot.
And I just wanted to give them the shot.
Good job!
Patricia joins us.
So what is it about horses that makes such a huge difference in these kids' lives?
Well, you just said it.
Huge.
You know, these horses are very, very large, very intimidating, and when the child is confronted with the horse, immediately they're faced with their own fears and inhibitions.
You've been doing this for 30 years.
Yes.
30 years.
What kinds of success have you had with the kids?
Oh, my God.
We have one of our alumni is a civil rights attorney for the Obama administration in Washington, D.C. We've got lawyers and entrepreneurs and social workers and teachers and just good moms and dads.
You know, it's 30 years.
So now I'm not only looking at them, but I'm now teaching their children.
So we've had a tremendous amount of success with the use of horses.
I wish we could sit here and just celebrate you all by myself because I love doing it.
But I thought there's probably better ways of doing it.
And I thought I'd have some of these kids whose lives you've changed, where you've made a difference.
Tell me about you a little bit.
So I got a former graduate of yours, someone that you met when she was 14 years of age.
14. She's now a science and agricultural teacher.
And she says it's all because of you.
Wow.
Look over there.
I want you to take a look.
Oh, nice Stephanie Russell!
Oh sweetheart!
How do you Stephanie?
Oh, you're so pretty!
Did she grow up nice?
Oh, my God.
Well, she was always nice.
She was always nice, but she's always been beautiful, too.
But now she's a grown woman.
Oh, I feel so old.
Stephanie, look in Patricia's eyes and tell her why you wanted to be here.
Ms. Kelly, I just wanted to thank you because you've always been a life mentor of mine and you not only supported me and inspired me to now have a career where I'm inspiring and mentoring students like myself but there was one point where I was a shy girl and you called me Bambi and now I'm inspiring and mentoring students just like you and it's all because of you that I'm able to touch students.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I love you.
I love you too.
When you hear these inspiring words from Bambi, aka Stephanie and others, how does that make you feel?
Old, but also very grateful that God chose me to do this.
I don't think I started out with this as my life path, but I know that God chose this for me to do.
And so when I see these beautiful young people grow up and become productive and now passing it on, paying it forward, I... If God took me today, I'd be okay.
Because I've done what He asked me to do, and He is the truth.
I love you.
Thank you for being here.
Power of one woman, but just keep doing what you're doing to both of you.
with you.
We'll be right back.
All new on the Emmy-nominated Dr. Oz Show, she took a year off her marriage to sleep with 12 strangers.
What were you hoping to learn from this experience?
What she discovered about life, love, and relationships.
Plus, do you take worrying to a toxic level?
To the point of making you sick.
How to take control of toxic worrying before it takes control of you.
All new odds.
That's coming up tomorrow.
Come on, Phil Williams shared with us how he defied the odds and lived up to his own expectations, not down to those of others.
We were all inspired by his story, but now Montel wants to share a story that inspired him.
So I asked him to stick around for the extra 30. So you've got 30 seconds.
What's the story?
Take a look at this picture right here.
This picture right here is a picture that got millions of views around America in one day.
Millions and millions of views.
Why?
Because a young African-American male went into a store trying to find a tie, and a gentleman who was Caucasian spent about 20 minutes giving him the skills he needed for his interview.
Now, the whole country stopped and looked at that picture.
When I say a couple million, we don't know.
It could have been 12, 13 million, whatever it was.
That number of people stopped to do that.
Why can't we do that all the time?
Oh, I love it.
Why can't we just applaud?
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Why can't we?
And by the way, that's what helps lift your day.
See, things like that will lift your day every day.
Now, did he also teach him how to put his tie on?
He taught him how to put his tie on.
He also taught him how to answer questions for an interview.
Yeah, more importantly.
Just because he wanted to be a nice person and to help somebody else.
Can't we all do that?
We can.
I love you, man.
Michael Williams, back to sharing your story.
Now it's time for, in case you missed it, the top five new health foods that are worth your time and money.
Here's one.
It's one of my top picks for weight loss as well.
It's bean pasta.
All these things in front of me are non-wheat noodles.
They look like real noodles, but they're actually made from beans.
Made from black beans or garbanzo beans, chickpeas, or mung beans.
These bean pastas are higher in fiber and protein and lower on the glycemic index, which means you'll get fuller We've got some answers to help you get that younger looking neck because you've been dreaming about it.
Why not have it?
One key age-defying ingredient are retinols.
These retinols slow the breakdown of collagen that keeps the skin on your neck tighter.
You can get retinol over the counter, or you can get more potent formulas with a prescription.
Take your options, but make sure you do it on your neck as well as your face.
Finally, please be careful of dubious people online that make it seem like I'm endorsing their products, because they don't.
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