All Episodes
Previous Next
March 3, 2025 - Dr. Oz Podcast
40:57
Best Sunscreens & Bug Sprays: What Really Works? | Dr. Oz | S10 | Ep 165 | Full Episode
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
Three, two, one.
Imagine rewiring your brain with hypnosis.
It can make things that are there feel like they're not there.
Learn how to do it at home.
You've got a way that will help everyone at home.
You solve hypnosis.
And conquer your phobias.
Follow my finger and I'll take a deep breath in.
Hold.
Good.
Plus, could your dreams predict your health?
Nothing in a dream is ever random.
Coming up next.
Y'all ready for season 10?
Yeah!
I love you, Dr. Oz.
A new FDA proposed rule on sunscreen is leaving many wondering if some of the most effective sunblocks on the market can soon disappear from store shelves.
And with so many options out there, how do you know which sunblock will protect your family from what you dread most, which is skin cancer?
So today, we are investigating, and we got some audience members here who are concerned about which sunblock they are dying.
And Ella, for example, has lots of worries.
For example...
So...
With my family, I like to go natural whenever possible, and I buy mineral-based sunscreens, but I don't know if it gives us enough protection.
But you do use mineral-based right now?
Yes.
How many mineral-based sunscreen people are there out there?
Zinc oxide?
Titanium dioxide?
Nobody.
Good.
It's good to know.
The mineral ones, and I use them, so we'll get to your question.
Isabel, what's your sunscreen question?
You know, with so many choices out there, it gets overwhelming, so I just try to buy the best quality.
That's how I get duped into buying the most expensive one.
Yes.
The most powerful, you get the biggest SPF, right?
Yes, exactly.
But what SPF do you really need?
That question comes up all the time.
All right, here to navigate the sunscreen aisle is dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe.
She says picking the right sunscreen goes far past the inconvenience of minor burns.
Thanks for being here.
That's so correct, Dr. Oz.
Thanks for having me, because if you add up all the cases of skin cancer that have been diagnosed in the last year, that number is actually greater than if you combine the number of cases of breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.
So it's really, really common.
At some point in our lives, a lot of us will struggle with this, but it's all because of the sun.
So help us understand this new proposed FDA rule.
Okay, so overall...
The FDA is still saying that the benefits of sunscreen outweigh the risks.
But the FDA is recommending that we take a closer look at which sunscreen ingredients actually get absorbed through the surface of the skin into the bloodstream and what that means for our health.
So in general, there are these two categories, right, that you referred to before.
There's the physical or mineral blockers and there's the chemical ones.
So the FDA is saying the physical and mineral blockers are safe.
They just sit on the surface of the skin.
They really don't get absorbed.
It's the chemical ones that the FDA is looking into because we do have some small animal studies showing that they can get absorbed into the bloodstream and they can potentially have negative effects in those animals.
But what that means for humans, you know, we don't know yet.
Come over here.
Show us the difference between the two.
I asked the audience earlier.
I'm not sure yet they were all clear on this.
These are natural sunblocks, and we have the chemical-based sunblocks.
We're not judging.
We're just going to explain what they are and how they're different.
So take it away.
It really all comes down to the active ingredients.
So if you're thinking about the mineral or the physical blockers, which a lot of people refer to as the natural sunscreens, you're thinking about the ones that contain zinc oxide.
And or titanium dioxide.
So these are the ones, guys, that they sit on the surface.
It's almost like a shield.
So they reflect or scatter the UV rays.
And they're the ones that can be kind of chalky.
Like they're difficult to rub in, right?
Some of them.
You know, they cast for the ghost sometimes.
Yes, you can have a little bit of a ghostly appearance.
You got it.
Scares people.
The chemical-based sunscreen.
So these are ones that contain ingredients like avobenzone, oxybenzone, octinoxate, octisalate.
These work differently.
They act more like a sponge.
So they absorb the UV rays, and these are actually pretty easy to rub in.
So most of you use these because they are simple and straightforward, and you don't have to reapply them all the time, which is the other benefit, I think.
Both of them really should be reapplied every two hours if your skin is dry.
And if you get wet or you're sweating, you should be reapplying it even more often than that, so almost every hour.
They both have to be reapplied throughout the day.
All right, so we have basic game plans.
Come on over here.
Our friends at Good Housekeeping put the various sunscreens to the test.
Joining us now is April Frenzino.
Beauty director for Good Housekeeping Magazine.
Thanks so much for having me.
Knows all things beauty.
So she took those different sum marks we just talked about and you put them to the test.
What did you do?
So the Good Housekeeping Institute's beauty lab basically scans the market from drugstore brands all the way to the high end and looks at the formulas.
But first what they do is they blind the labels.
So testers don't know what brand they're testing so they can't be biased for or against a certain brand.
And then they distribute them to more than a thousand testers across the country in summer months so that they're getting exposure.
We're in everyday conditions.
They're outdoors, they're swimming, they're at the ocean, the pool, and then we get their feedback on how they work in everyday life.
So they tell us whether they leave any film on skin, how they look and feel, their scent, any irritation that happens to them, all the factors that go into whether you're going to use a sunscreen or not, and most importantly, whether they protect from sunburn.
So these are the things that we take into account when we're testing sunscreens.
We prefer the chemical sunscreens.
But in a laboratory setting, when everything is controlled, which one performs better, mechanical or chemical?
So in a laboratory setting, when it's done by third-party testers like Consumer Reports, the chemicals do perform a little bit better than the physical or mechanical blockers do overall.
So guys, big message here, any sunscreen is going to work.
It's better than nothing, for sure.
Right.
But we're trying to give you a little bit of edge here in terms of which ones you tend to be...
Benefiting for a bit more.
So what do you have to say when someone comes to the SPF number?
What's the number there is the most vital?
So when it comes to SPF, in a lab setting, again, when you look at that, 30 and above, those higher numbers, they don't seem to be much of an added benefit.
It almost seems to plateau.
Those higher SPFs can be much more forgiving because, as I spoke with April earlier, people do not use as much SPF as they're supposed to.
They don't reapply it as often as they're supposed to.
So it's nice to have that buffer.
So I do recommend that people look for that.
If you're going to the beach, look for an SPF 50 and SPF 60 because by the time you actually use it, you're probably getting more like an SPF 15 the way that most people tend to use it.
How many of you like a nice shot of alcohol at night when you get home?
I thought so.
You know how big that shot glass is?
That's the amount of sunblock you're supposed to put on when you go out.
You've got to fill up the whole shot glass, not with vodka, but with sunblock.
So most of us just don't do that.
And reapplying it and reapplying it and reapplying it, which a lot of people don't do.
There's one other issue, which is SPF talks about blockages of one of the kinds of the rays of the sun.
But there's actually two kinds of rays as well.
There's more, but two big ones.
The UVBs, what are they doing, and why does the SPF apply to this?
So SPF only applies to UVB. It has nothing to do with UVA. If you want UVA coverage, you have to look for the words broad spectrum on the label.
So the UVB, I say B for burn.
So they're the primary cause of a sunburn, and it only affects the superficial layers of the skin.
So this is a model of the skin.
We've got the superficial layer here, the epidermis, and then there's a dermis just beneath it.
And if we didn't realize, thank you for doing that, Scott.
You'll see the UVB. UVB only goes to the top.
So it burns the skin, but it doesn't affect the dermis.
Now what does the UVA light do?
Okay, so UVA goes a lot deeper.
So I tell people A for aging, because it goes all the way down into the layer where your collagen is made.
So if you're concerned about signs of aging, they both, UVA and UVB, can cause skin cancer.
But A goes a little bit deeper and can cause a lot of those signs of aging, like lax skin and wrinkles.
So that's why you need the sunscreen.
And when you get sunscreen, you apply it correctly on that superficial layer.
Now you protect the epidermis and the dermis.
They're both protected.
And the sunscreen, if it's doing its job, will do that for you.
But again, it has to be broad spectrum, which means it's protecting against the UVB and the UVA together.
You got it.
Clear.
Now, advice to folks on sunscreen.
Now we've given all the basics here.
What do you actually do in your family?
What do you recommend that we do in ours?
So what do I tell my patients?
Now, I got to tell you, my recommendations may change, you know, as the new research comes in.
But what I'm telling patients and what I do for my family right now is that I do believe that the benefits still outweigh the risks of sunscreen.
And yes, I do think that the chemical sunscreens do perform better than the physical.
But if you're concerned, if you're worried about being absorbed in your skin, I tell people look for those fabrics.
Find fabric, either a long-sleeve rash guard, a cover-up, that actually filters out 98% of the UVA and UVB rays, so it dramatically cuts down on the amount of sunscreen you actually have to apply and reapply throughout the day.
That's what, I think, for kids, probably the best solution of all.
In our family, try not to sit anyone out without a shirt on, and then you have to apply a lot less sunscreen, save some money there, and apply it to the parts of your skin the way it shows.
The back of your hands, the face, and you can use mechanical or chemical, whatever you happen to like.
In fact, you're so passionate about this.
Dr. Mo started her own line of UV apparel.
Congratulations.
I did.
Thank you.
So up next, our investigation into the summer health products that you use most continues with a deep dive into the best bug sprays on the market.
Oh, look at those guys.
Ooh!
Deep diving.
Take a look at this little guy having his lunch, right?
And look in the back.
You see the over-eager friend going faster and faster and faster?
Now, these have been called the deadliest animals on the planet.
Mosquitoes.
And they're not just a backyard inconvenience.
They are growing more deadly over time.
According to the CDC, reported cases of mosquito, tick, and flea-borne illnesses, they more than tripled between 2004 and 2016. So what are you going to do?
You're going to spread some bug repellent, right?
Or are you going to maybe light a citronella candle?
Those mosquitoes at bay, we are joined again by Dr. Whitney Bowe and Good Housekeeping's April Frenzino.
There are so many, so many bug repellent options out there, it gets pretty confusing as to which option to choose.
You're all asking me questions about it, so I got the experts here.
April, what are the active ingredients, what are the options that are supposed to repel mosquitoes?
So, what you'll see at the store when you're looking at bug repellents are three main active ingredients.
So, you'll see DEET, which is a chemical.
Picaridin, which is another chemical, and then eucalyptus, which is a natural extract people are familiar with.
I'm sorry, is picaridin natural?
It's a chemical.
Okay, so two chemical options, and they get whole-fashioned eucalyptus.
Dr. Bell, there's so many options available out there.
What do you recommend?
What's most effective?
The CDC actually says that DEET is the most effective, but from the research that I've reviewed, all three of these can definitely be effective, and they're all safe if used properly, even in pregnant women.
But, you know, Dr. Oz, just like we were talking about with SPF, you want to look for a certain number.
The same holds true for these.
So when it comes to DEET, you want to look for between 15% and 30%.
That's the sweet spot where you get the maximum efficacy, but you minimize the side effects.
And for picaridin, that's 20%.
Whereas for oil of lemon eucalyptus, right now, based on the latest studies, you want to look for a 30%.
A lot of my patients complain or worry that DEET isn't safe.
Yeah.
I know you just said that, but I want to highlight it.
If they're worried about it, what do you tell them?
And what are the other options that...
That would work as well or rather than not.
Right, right.
So the truth of the matter is DEET is extremely safe if it's used properly.
So this is what you need to know.
You really don't want to exceed that 30% concentration.
And this is a case where more isn't better.
So if you're heading out in the sun...
In, say, the morning, you know, you put on your sunscreen, wait 10 to 15 minutes, then spray on your DEET, and then, yes, reapply your sunscreen throughout the day, but no, you don't want to reapply your DEET. So here you want to look at the instructions on the label regarding how frequently to reapply, and don't overdo it, and you also want to be careful about ingesting it.
So, guys, you don't want to just spray it onto your face.
You want to spray it in your hands, right, and then pat it onto your face, and then wash your hands really well because you don't want to be licking your fingers.
After, like, a barbecue and accidentally ingesting DEET. And to be clear, DEET is safe, makes sense, once a day.
If you're going to use eucalyptus, it's a little different rules program.
You've got to keep applying continually throughout the day.
So, interestingly, this is natural, and I love natural, but...
It's actually considered less safe for younger children.
So look at the guidelines regarding what age it's safe to use them.
Why?
Why is it less safe for younger kids?
Because it has more side effects in younger children.
So I believe it's three years and up.
It's okay to use oil of lemon eucalyptus.
So this is one of those cases where natural may not be safer.
So just check the guidelines, the latest guidelines.
All right.
Bug repellent's great for individual protection.
We just covered that.
But what if you want to protect a larger area?
Like, for example, your backyard barbecue.
Or patio area.
April, what do you guys recommend at Good Housekeeping for this?
Citronella candles are what seems to be the standard.
Yeah, so everyone's familiar with citronella candles, and you're probably also familiar with still getting bitten when you have them outside at your house.
Do they work?
I think in some cases, but because the air surrounding you is, you know, it's limited what you're going to get emitted from the candle, I think it's a limited effectiveness.
So there's this interesting hack that we learned about at the Good Housekeeping Institute, and so I kind of...
I asked our scientists whether it's legitimate or not, and they said it is.
And it actually is a fan.
And it's something that everybody probably has.
So you can actually take a portable fan and you can keep it outside near you.
And mosquitoes actually don't have the strength to fly against the breeze of a fan.
And so it's something like you'll notice at the beach you're not getting bitten as much.
So same thing.
And so if you have a fan outside with you, it'll also keep you cool.
And it should keep the mosquitoes out of your vicinity without any such a low budget solution.
I know.
And our scientists said it really does work, which is pretty amazing.
Thank you very much.
We'll be right back everybody.
Can you hypnotize yourself out of chronic pain?
Up next, the doctor who says his self-hypnosis protocol is more effective than pain meds.
Is it for real?
Find out when we come back.
My entire audience is being hypnotized as we speak.
This is not a Vegas trick.
Psychotherapist Dr. Mike Dow says we can all learn to self-hypnotize ourselves to overcome obstacles like chronic pain, and there's no medication required.
Let's go see what he's up to.
And you can imagine that the balloons of any colors, any colors that you like, are beginning to allow this hand to float up, becoming almost weightless now, so that it's not...
So what are you doing to the audience?
What are you doing with them?
I am showing the audience the power of hypnosis.
The power and how easy it is that they can use their own mind because hypnosis actually has been shown to rewire the brain.
So audience, if you can, open your eyes slowly.
Don't move your arms.
Open your eyes slowly and see where your arms are.
I just noticed that yours don't seem to be even anymore.
No, they're not.
Does that surprise you?
It does.
How about you?
Yeah, surprised.
Any idea there'd be a difference in the height of your arms?
No, because I was trying to keep them level.
Couldn't even tell.
And I went through here.
I noticed it here.
I thought I had something heavy in this hand.
Well, he said you were weighed down with rocks in that hand, and so it affected your brain.
And your arm dropped almost immediately, I noticed.
It gets lighter.
It gets lighter.
Yeah, one arm's lighter, one's heavier.
It's heavier.
Stefania.
I noticed your arm came down and was touching your knee.
Now, you've got a chronic pain condition, I understand.
Yes, I do.
Severe pain after I've given birth to my daughter.
The pain has been there for about nine years.
So, Dr. Dow, to fully understand this, we're going to do some experiments today.
We want to understand how you can ease your feelings of pain so we can understand how the brain works and how it can control pain.
So, if it's okay, I'm going to bring you up with us.
Dr. Dow wants you to lead us through this process.
I must say, I... I was surprised...
You can come in the middle here.
I was surprised at how impacted the audience was by your little experiment.
You had them pretend that one arm was being pulled down by a bucket of rocks and the other arm was floating up with a balloon.
Yeah.
And they could choose either arm...
With their mind's eye.
With their mind's eye.
And imagine if you could use that for pain, right?
But first, we do have to understand how pain works.
So I want you to imagine that you have this...
A cup of coffee.
It's steaming hot.
And you place your hand on that cup.
You can actually hold it if you want to.
That's right.
And then if you place your hand on that cup, what's happening?
So pain is actually a signal, right?
And that signal is traveling from that hot cup, from the skin, on your hand, up your spinal cord, up into your brain.
So it's moving from the bottom up.
That's bottom up processing.
So that's what pain is.
Now, hypnosis has the power to change that.
And that's what's really incredible about hypnosis, is that we have this signal, that signal that can change traveling up.
But we don't all sense pain the same way.
Some folks experience pain more intensely than others.
Why is that?
That's right.
So imagine that day after day, day after day, moment after moment, you are touching this hot cup all the time.
So what happens, that signal now gets etched.
And if you have chronic pain, All of those signals are traveling all the time, and we need to change that.
So let me meditate to that for a second.
We'll be back with you.
All right, come over here.
You say pain doesn't just come from external stimuli like the cup.
It can also start in the brain.
Yes.
So walk us through the three different ways this happens.
The first, I guess, is selective attention.
Yeah.
So everyone, look at this picture right now.
You're processing this right now.
Focus with us.
Okay, Dr. Dow.
And while you do that, imagine that you're saying to yourself, red, red, red, red, red.
And look at what's happening, right?
Red, red, red.
It's enhancing red.
And that's the same thing.
So if you have a chronic pain condition, what your brain is doing is it's looking down in the body and it's saying, Pain, pain, pain.
Your brain is being trained to look for pain.
Seek and you shall find.
Yeah, and then of course that's all you do seek.
This turned red on us.
Next, expectations.
So imagine I was conducting an experiment and you came into my laboratory and somebody before you came out and they said, oh my gosh, Dr. Dow just burned me with that cup.
It was so hot.
Now it's your turn.
Now you come into the lab.
What's going to happen?
Your expectation is going to change the way you perceive pain.
It's going to amplify, intensify that pain.
It's going to send a signal, not from the bottom up, but from the top down to say, ooh, that signal that's about to come in is going to feel really bad, so get ready.
And then finally, emotions play a role.
I see this in the hospital all the time, but it's actually been studied.
Yeah, we know that negative emotion makes pain feel worse.
So, if before this experiment your boss said, hey, you're fired.
You're angry.
You're sad.
That negative emotion is going to make that pain feel worse as well.
And Dr. Oz, of course, when it comes to chronic pain, this becomes sort of a downward spiral.
Because if you're in chronic pain, you probably feel a little sad or depressed.
When you feel sad or depressed, you feel pain more.
I think a lot of the chronic pain syndromes come from that.
I'd have difficulty waking up every morning in intense pain.
Of course, it's going to make you feel down, and that reinforces the process.
How does hypnosis affect how we perceive pain?
Yeah, so what I love about hypnosis, it's really unique because it can change all of those things.
It's changing the top-down processing.
It can actually do this in a couple different ways.
So, Dr. Oz, if you were to give me a shot in this arm, and you had a nurse over here, and my nurse is tapping over here, that means that hypnosis can do the same thing.
It's sort of...
Bringing your attention over here to the places in your body where you feel the most comfortable.
But it can also do other things that are really incredible.
So it can actually transform sensations.
It can transform pain into pressure.
Or because it can create negative hallucinations, it can make things that are there feel like they're not there.
Negative hallucinations.
Yes.
Erasing your feelings.
Erasing feelings, sensations.
So you just don't notice pain at all.
So to see this hypnosis in action, Dr. Dow puts Stefania, who you met earlier, in a trance backstage just before.
Thank you for the show.
Take a look.
What I want you to do is I want you to follow my finger.
You're going to roll your eyeballs up, up, up, and now take a deep breath in.
In, hold, hold, hold.
Good.
Now imagine with your mind's eye that you're walking down 12 flights of stairs.
That's right, 12.
Becoming twice as dreamy and relaxed on every floor.
In your mind's eye, see your consciousness floating away, four, five, and you can see looking down at your body, the place where pain remains.
And now visualize that part of the body and shrink it.
Feeling yourself becoming a little bit more awake, alert.
Eyes fully open, 12. On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was the pain with 10 being the worst when you came in?
It was probably like a 9. And now?
I don't feel the pain right now.
You want to stand up and see how your back feels?
Yeah, I definitely want to do that.
That'd be a good test.
Holy!
So I guess you saw a change.
You can't even use the words that you expressed that change on television.
How does your body feel differently without the curse words?
I feel great.
I can't believe it.
At first, I was like, no, this is not going to work.
And then when I actually stood up, I was like, wait, I don't feel the pain.
I was like, all right, let me walk around a little bit.
Maybe I'm going to feel it then.
And I was like, I was so shocked and surprised.
I feel amazing.
I feel great.
Yeah.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Mike, come over here.
I've got it.
Address the criticism that's been used against hypnosis.
People say it's too good to be true.
We just heard Stephanie express that with curse words.
And self-hypnosis, some argue, is better than medication.
But others say it's impossible.
But you say there's proof that there's something there we should open our eyes to.
Yeah, so this is the proof.
This is my own brain.
This is a QEG. Here's my nose, my left ear, my right ear.
So this is my brain doing nothing.
And then I'm using hypnosis on myself.
And you can see that my brain is moving from fast to slow.
So that's a good thing when it comes to pain.
Look at the yellows, huh?
Yeah, orange, yellow.
Because we know that when you have a fast brainwave, when you're anxious or stressed out, you're going to feel more pain.
And when the brain slows, you're going to experience a lot less pain.
So when we come back, we're going to show you maybe how you can tap into this yourself.
A thanks to self-hypnosis trick to getting over any kind of phobia.
You can do it, again, yourself at home.
Stay with us.
Almost what in 10 Americans has a phobia?
Fear of speaking publicly, fear of flying, problems of heights.
I'm one of them.
And they hold back millions of people.
Dr. Dow says he has a revolutionary new way of getting through to your phobia.
With that three-step self-hypnosis trick, you won't have to deal with those phobias anymore if you pay attention to this.
So why is hypnosis so impactful when it comes to phobias?
So hypnosis is great for phobias because it actually tricks the brain into thinking that it's already experiencing the thing that you fear.
So take a look at my own brain.
This is a QEG. This is my brain before hypnosis.
This is my left ear, my right ear.
And back here, this is the occipital lobe.
The nose is at the very top.
Correct.
The back of your head.
Yep.
And then here, this is me on hypnosis, basically.
And my occipital lobe, even though my eyes are closed, I'm picturing myself doing something.
So my brain thinks that I'm doing that thing.
So it's basically exposure therapy on steroids using the virtual reality of your mind's eye.
Okay, come on over.
Maggie's here, a member of our audience.
And you are...
Afraid of birds.
Give us a little bit of the background.
How does that affect your day-to-day life?
Well, birds are everywhere.
Outside, hopefully.
And sometimes it's hard to just walk down the street, especially in New York.
I got back to my apartment the other day, and I went to go inside, and there were vultures circling the dumpster area.
And I ran back to my car.
I was on the phone with my mom.
I was like, what is going on?
I ran back into my car and I waited until they were gone.
You don't want vultures controlling your life.
No.
In any capacity.
Okay, not in doubt, you and Maggie are going to work on this.
You've got a way that will help Maggie and everyone at home potentially use self-hypnosis because you can do it at home.
To get past this.
You have a special device you believe in so much, you actually sell them.
Yep.
So I just want to point that.
But you can do it without this as well.
You can.
So this just makes it a little bit deeper.
So this is audiovisual entrainment.
You're going to see lights and sounds that are in the brainwave of theta, right?
So there's three steps in this.
Pretty cool, right?
Yes.
Feel a little trippy already?
I feel, yeah.
Trippy, right?
Trippy is a good word, yeah.
So I want you to just relax.
Okay.
All right, is that on?
Okay.
There we go.
Okay, now I want you to just...
Roll the eyeballs up a little.
And now, when you feel comfortable, just allow yourself to exhale and take a deep breath.
And imagine that you're floating down an elevator with ten steps.
Ten floors.
Ten, nine, eight.
Seven, six, five.
Yes, that's right.
Becoming twice as dreamy on every floor.
Four, three, two, one.
And what's interesting about this theta brainwave, this first step, is allowing yourself just to float back.
Back to that original encounter with that bird that led to fear.
And what I want you to do is you can imagine in your mind's eye that you are going to play the scenes from the start to the finish, but I want you to play it muted.
Playing it forward.
And then rewind.
That's right.
And now the second step is to enhance your present.
So what I'm going to do is, Maggie, you've done so many things in your life, haven't you?
Yeah.
And I'm going to have you imagine with your mind's eye that you're in a car.
And the accelerator pedal represents, in here in this right hand, all of the things that you've done, all of the things that you've achieved, all the things that you've been brave enough to do.
And as you remember those things, the right arm is going to become heavier and heavier and begin to float down.
And it's like you're pressing an accelerator pedal with your right hand.
And then I want you to also imagine that I'm tying a balloon to your left wrist.
And in that balloon is any fear that you have, any residual fear.
And now you can blow up that balloon with your mind's eye, putting all of that fear in there.
And you may even notice that the left hand begins to flow just a bit more, becoming just a bit higher now.
That's right, a little bit higher.
And now imagine that I'm untying that string.
And all of that fear is going to float away and you're seeing it in your mind's eye.
Yes, that's right.
And then those hands can just find that comfortable resting position.
And then now in your mind's eye, this third step is just to see your future.
So baby step therapy and exposure therapy is all about seeing things and experiencing things.
Now seeing yourself back in that elevator and you're going to come back to this room, back to this...
Couch to the stage.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Eyes open on.
Here we go.
12. So what did you see?
What did you experience while Mike was doing that?
I totally believe in the power of the mind and the power of suggestion.
And all the things that I've accomplished, I've done that.
Like, I can get from point A to point B. Right.
Nothing is going to hurt me.
Right.
So it really is that exposure therapy on steroids.
And it's just really empowering you so that the fear doesn't have to control you.
And what the subconscious brain can help you to see, it becomes just a little bit easier for you to do in real life.
So when you see a bird today, you just keep going.
You've been there already.
Hug it!
We're going to put this little intervention on DrRiles.com.
Dr. Dow's new book can help as well.
It's called Your Subconscious Brain Can Change Your Life.
We'll be right back.
Coming up, we're investigating your dreams.
Do you ever dream you're drowning or you're having car trouble?
Can they predict what's going on in your health?
Have you ever had the dream you were drowning, fighting to stay above the water, gasping for air?
So many of us had.
And what about the dream where you're surrounded by snakes?
They're slithering all around you.
You can't go away.
Or even where you feel like you are far at lightning speed to the ground.
You can't stop yourself.
What do these all mean?
What are these dreams about?
Well, today we're investigating.
Can your dreams predict your health?
Join me now is the ultimate dream team, renowned dream analyst and author of Cracking the Dream Code, Lori Lohenberg and Dr. Jennifer Cottle.
Dr. Carter, what do dreams say about us?
What do we learn about our health from analyzing our dreams?
You know, that's a really interesting question.
Honestly, researchers don't know exactly why we dream.
There are a lot of theories about this.
They range from anything of maybe dreams help us consolidate memories.
Maybe dreams serve almost like a form of therapy for us.
Or maybe they help us work out those fight-or-flight responses that we can do in a safe environment, working out our creative juices.
Who knows?
There's a lot of theories.
We still have a lot more to learn.
And Laura, apparently there's a window into our health from looking at our dreams.
Very much so.
There's actually tons of cases of people who get certain dreams before they have a certain illness.
For example, migraine sufferers will dream of getting struck by lightning or shot in the head right before the onset of a migraine.
Well, they describe it with those words when they're awake.
Yeah, because that's how it feels.
And so the dream kind of brings it to life as a warning to tell you to prepare.
So let me show you what's really happening in your bodies.
When we dream.
So we go to sleep at night, right?
And we start to have energy in our brain.
Because guess what?
Our brain is still wide awake.
And it's communicating with the rest of our bodies just like it does at daytime.
And because of this, we actually move when we're asleep.
We've all experienced that, right?
From people we love.
But when we get into a stage of sleep called REM, the path of energy from the brain to the spinal column gets blocked here in an area called the pons.
It actually disconnects the brain from our muscles so we can't move.
This is for our protection.
It keeps us from acting out our dreams.
That's when this important performance sleep called REM sleep happens.
At the same time, other parts of our brain, like the prefrontal cortex, become less active.
We begin to calm ourselves.
We see the eyes moving?
The reason our eyes move is because that part of our brain that's supposed to block the brain from communicating in the body, it doesn't block the eyes.
So we can tell you would be moving if you could when you're dreaming.
That's why it's called REM sleep.
Have you ever heard of REM sleep, right?
Rapid eye movement sleep.
That's why we can use it as doctors to tell what stage you're in.
And our dreams can seem illogical.
They can seem fragmented.
We want to get to the bottom of what happens.
What can some of our dreams really mean when it comes to our health?
So I ask my viewers to keep a dream diary.
Take a look at one of our dream diary confessions.
I keep having this reoccurring dream that I'm in the middle of the ocean, drowning.
I'm gasping for air and there's no land in sight, and I don't know what to do.
Why do I keep having this same dream over and over again?
So, Laurie, what can drowning in our dreams mean?
Typically, you'll dream of drowning when you're feeling overwhelmed.
However, if you dream of drowning frequently and wake up gasping for breath, that's a telltale sign you could have sleep apnea.
Oh, it's a medical problem we talk about.
Symptoms of sleep apnea, what do they include?
Yeah, sleep apnea is actually very serious.
And you talk about sort of drowning.
Oftentimes people with sleep apnea do feel like they're drowning.
Common symptoms are feeling like you're choking or gasping for air when you're actually sleeping at night.
It's a massive cause of illness.
Yes, it is.
Maybe the biggest of all the preventable problems that we have out there we don't realize.
Sandra from our audience is joining us.
You've also been dreaming about drowning.
Not a good feeling.
Does that dream describe what you were feeling?
Absolutely.
I was having very similar symptoms.
I would go to sleep at night and then I would, in the middle of the dream, feel like I was at the surface of the water and I just could not get a big breath.
And when you finally went to talk to a doctor about what this might represent, I guess they diagnosed you.
Yes, I went and I was telling them about the dream and about the palpitations and my doctor recommended a sleep study.
And it did come back positive, some mild sleep apnea.
So, did you think the dreams may have helped you diagnose this problem?
Absolutely.
I would have never have gone in without those symptoms.
And they really led to some major lifestyle changes.
I've lost 20 pounds, and I'm really more intentional about getting the rest of you.
Good for you.
Good for you.
Proud of you, Sandra.
Thank you.
All right, take a look at our next dream.
This is a confession, a dream diary confession from Rebecca.
The other day, I dreamt that I was in a tornado where it just kept spinning me around and I kept going higher and higher and higher and houses and cars and things were passing by me and I had no idea how to get out or make it stop.
Can you tell me what that dream means?
How do you feel when you wake up from that terrifying dream?
I'm panicked.
I'm stressed out.
I'm just exhausted.
It's just overwhelming.
Sometimes I want to just wake up out of my dream.
It's so miserable.
I feel that way sometimes as well.
So, Laurie, what kind of tornado dream do you mean?
So, tornado dreams are really common.
You are in good company.
Oh, good.
And they're typically caused by anxiety and worry.
However, if you are a very frequent tornado dreamer, like weekly, that's a good indication of anxiety or possibly even panic disorder.
So, your dream is showing you what this anxiety, stress, and worry is doing to your psyche.
Like a tornado, it's a destructive force.
Dr. Cottle, what do you recommend for folks with the stress that cause...
Well, certainly getting to that root cause is really important.
And I would say, especially before bed, there are a few things, at least in that particular moment, we could do to try to calm things down, whether that's sort of turning off and unplugging our devices, whether that's taking a moment of silence, meditation.
Some people like to journal, even a cup of tea.
But certainly before bedtime, that can be a really nice way to kind of wind things down and try to stay calm as we go into sleep.
Hope that's helpful, Rebecca.
It is.
I'm definitely not going to watch my phone.
Retail therapy.
Retail therapy.
Oh, please.
She's kidding.
Up next.
The most common dream that everyone has.
You'll be surprised by what it actually means.
Stay with us.
I love getting to talk with you on my show every single day.
But when the cameras stop rolling, the conversation is not over.
I still have a lot that I want to talk about.
So download the Dr. Oz podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
I keep having this dream that like I get up for work and I'm getting ready.
I head out the door and I try to start my car and my car refused to start.
And I'm having these car problems.
it's the sound it makes it's like and I'm like freaking out I'm like I cannot be late And then I realize That it's not true.
I wake up from a cold sweat.
I'm like, oh my god, I still have two hours left.
Dr. Oz, what does this dream mean?
We're back investigating Can Your Dreams Predict Your Health?
Our dream team is here along with Ivana, whose dream we just heard.
According to dream analyst Lori Lohenberg, car trouble is one of the most common dreams we all have.
So Lori, what does it mean?
Okay, so our dreams will often use the car to represent our body so that we can understand that like a car, our body needs checkups and maintenance.
In your case, you can't get your car started, so that's a very good indication of fatigue.
Do you sense a lack of energy during the day?
You know what?
I'm so busy.
I'm in nursing school, so...
Good for you.
Thank you so much.
I get up for the day.
Thank you.
I get up for the day and most of the time I'm in school.
I come home and I'm taking care of my son.
So yeah, I'm tired.
I'm tired.
Dr. Carl, what do you think is going on with Ivana's sleep?
Well, I think it's really important to remember that all sleep is not necessarily good sleep.
And that's one of the things here.
Sometimes when we have these vivid dreams where we're doing all these things, they can actually be exhausting.
You wake up the next morning and feel like you haven't slept.
So with that, we have to remember that it may not be the most restorative sleep, and we need to really get to the root cause of it.
It's very important.
I hope that helps.
And congratulations for being a nurse.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Alright, so one more member of the staff wanted to have their dreams analyzed.
It was yours truly, so I kept the dream diary.
Take a look.
I just woke up, but I do remember my dream.
I'm walking through this fantastic park.
It's beautiful, springtime.
And I've got a dozen people, including Melissa McCarthy, who are just verbally jousting with me, arguing with everything I'm saying.
I know exactly which way to go in this park, and they've all got a better opinion, they think, of how to head through there.
So we're all pretty bullish on this.
The idea of which way to go is essentially heading in circles because we can't get along with each other.
So essentially we have this fantastic potential walk which we're ignoring so we can really joust with each other.
Lori, help, please.
Especially when Melissa McCarthy got involved, it became really traumatic for me.
Okay.
So you want to look at any conversation in a dream as a conversation with yourself.
So the conversation you're having with Melissa and all these other people is you conversing with yourself about some kind of indecision you're facing right now or at the time of the dream.
Now, Melissa McCarthy seems random, but nothing in a dream is ever random.
So here's how you figure out the celebrity in your dream.
What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Melissa McCarthy?
Is it a movie?
A character she played?
What stands out about her to you?
What I enjoy is that she's argumentative in a funny way, but she often has a perspective that I might not agree with.
Okay, so your dream may be using her as an example on how you can come to an agreement with yourself or with someone else you're having a disagreement with right now.
And also notice the setting, you're walking in the park.
So your dream is telling you what really should be a walk in the park, something really easy to come to a conclusion with.
You might be muddling up because you're overthinking it.
Good insights, Lori.
I like that.
Fascinating.
I love this.
Do me next.
I know, I like this.
There's so much insight from the dream.
So what do you recommend to your patients if you want them to hack their brain a little bit, to get it to work differently while they sleep?
Sure, sure.
So we talked about obviously getting to the root cause, looking at our diet and lifestyle, things like that, and any underlying medical conditions.
There are some people who feel like they can kind of control what they dream about or how they dream by focusing what they think about right before they go to bed.
Now, there's a lot of evidence about this, but I always say it's worth a try, you know?
Maybe give it a try.
Dr. Oz, this might be for you.
Focusing on something particular and seeing it that affects how we dream that night when we go to sleep.
I'm going to start focusing on oceans.
I wonder if Melissa McCarthy can swim.
We'll find out.
I bet she can!
We thank my dream team, Lori and Dr. Cardo.
I'll be right back.
All right, today, a simple, quick test to find out how healthy you really are.
Are you ready?
Super straightforward.
You don't have to worry.
You don't need a fitness tracker for this one.
There's a free, simple tool that I personally use every single day to measure my health.
Take a look at this.
Yeah!
Ah!
I'm always telling the team to skip the elevator and take the stairs.
Now, as a heart surgeon, I often have my patients actually take a special treadmill test to evaluate their cardiovascular health.
But you can do it with a simple stair test.
According to new research, people who can walk very fast up four flights of stairs, that's the limit, four flights of stairs, without stopping to rest, are in excellent health and most likely have a lower risk for premature death from heart disease and even cancer.
But this matters.
So the next time you see some stairs, just try it out.
Measure yourself.
Walk up four flights of stairs as fast as you can without stopping in under a minute or get as close as you can to that.
If you feel incredibly winded or you need to stop, well, that's a red flag.
Wave the red flag.
It means you've got to get either more physical activity or you ought to make an appointment to see a doctor to make sure there's not something else causing you to have problems.
Give it a try.
Let me know how you feel.
Together, everybody, change is happening.
▲
Export Selection