Episode 56: Your Skin Reveals Your Hormone Imbalances, with Dr. Keira Barr

Hi, I'm Dr. Tabitha, the functional gynecologist. I'm a board certified OB, GYN and functional medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey. And I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. I want to be your functional gynecologist. So welcome. Hi ladies. Okay, so I listened to you. You told me you want to hear more about hormonal shifts, perimenopause, that time period, you know, 40s or 50s, where you're feeling different, you're looking different, what used to work no longer does. Like, you're exercising the same, you're eating the same, your life is still crazy, but you can't handle it anymore. You're feeling anxious, overwhelmed, you're gaining belly fat, you are getting acne on your skin, or you're getting wrinkles and sagging. Like all these things are showing up and you want to know why. So that is our topic today. So important. So many of us are going through that, myself included as well as my guest. So you're going to love her, Dr. Kira Barr. She has gone through this herself and that is why she's on this journey to help guide women like you through this transformational change in life to come out on the other side, the most amazing self that you can be. Right. So Dr. Kira Barr is a prominent leader in women's medicine. She's creating a bridge between hormones, skin and mind, body medicine to optimize women's midlife experiences. So that's pretty amazing. She is a classically trained dermatologist who now functions on women's health. So she's a fierce patient advocate. She's completely dedicated to uncovering the root cause of your hormone imbalances. She empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones in menopause. So Dr. Kira is an international speaker, a best selling author of the Skin Whisperer, which is an awesome book. She's a clinical educator and considered a leading authority on women's health. So she was a former assistant clinical professor at UC Davis in the departments of dermatology and pathology, an editorial reviewer of multiple leading medical journals, the medical advisor within the personal care and tech communities, and she's a researcher in clinical trials. Dr. Barr is seriously dedicated to providing the most cutting edge innovation solutions for women she's been Featured in mind, BodyGreen, Bustle, Reader's Digest, Glamour, Self, Oprah Magazine, and more like, how amazing is that? Those credentials are huge. But what impresses Me Most about Dr. Kira is her story and her compassion, her understanding of where you ladies are. Like, she gets your struggle, she's been through it and she's guiding other women on the daily to get through it. And what I love is that she talks about your skin as being your story, as being the window into your wellness or shows up all your issues that you're having in your health. And so I think that we are so often trained as women to cover it all up. What cover can I put on? What can I do? What serums? Can I fix it and get rid of it? And as Dr. Kira is going to explain, like, it's deeper. It's your inner health, your inner work that will show on your skin. Your skin will be amazing when you're doing the right things and taking care of yourself. So I love her. I think she has an amazing message. And, you know, it helps that we're on the same mission. We're, we want to empower you ladies to be your best self. I don't want you to be like somebody else. I don't think that we all need perfect wrinkle free skin, right? Or boobs that don't sag or whatever. Like, I want you to embrace you and love you. And if that means getting rid of your wrinkles, okay. But let's figure out, why are you getting wrinkles? Why are you graying so quickly? Why are you having breakouts? Like, we're going to have this discussion today and it's really informative and I'm hoping that you'll find one golden nugget that you can take from this episode and incorporate it into your daily life. Remember, consistency creates change. So figure out something that you can take from this episode to be your best self. And don't forget to share this with all of your friends. The moms out there, the grandmas, the sisters, the girlfriends, the daughters, everybody. I'm sure I left people out, but I really, we need to get this message out there. Like, we need to band together and stop taking crap and take care of ourselves, right? So this is a great episode. Sorry about the couple swear words, but let's dive in. Here we go. Well, welcome, Dr. Kira, to the Functional Gynecologist podcast.

Well, thank you. I'm excited to be here with you.

Yes, this is long time coming. We keep trying to connect. I know because we both are passionate about the same thing, Right. Women in midlife and how they're dealing with it.

We're not dealing with it.

Exactly. We need to have this important conversation because so many women are suffering unnecessarily.

Right? Totally.

Oh, my goodness. I would love for you just to quickly share, like, how the heck did you get into this? You're a dermatologist.

I got into it because I basically was a mess myself. Are we allowed to curse on this thing?

Literal shit show.

And so it dates back to like eight years ago. And I thought that I was doing everything right. I mean, I was running ultramarathons. I thought I was eating super healthy. And here I was. I was bloated, my cycles were out of control, heavy bleeding. I had no libido. And I would go to my doctors and they would just give me prescriptions. They wonder if I was depressed and wanted to give me antidepressants. They want to give me medicines for bloating and constipation, which just made me feel worse. And then on top of it all, as a dermatologist, I had to diagnose myself with melanoma. And that really. And the worst part was the focus of my career at that point was skin cancer and melanoma. So that really was the wake up call for me, that everything I thought I was doing right, I was doing wrong. And that there had to be a different way, that what my colleagues were offering just wasn't the answer that was going to solve my problem. So I really started to dive into more of an integrative and holistic approach and was able to help heal myself. And I thought, listen, if I'm a physician of 20 years and I can figure this stuff out, how is the average woman supposed to get a grip? Right?

Yeah, exactly.

I knew I had to pay it forward.

That's amazing. I mean, like you said, you thought you were doing everything right. Can we just talk about the ultra marathoning? Because I think women actually think that that's an aspiration, that we should all be running marathons. And I'm sorry, but it is taxing on your. Is it not?

It completely is. And for some people, it's fine for them. But for me now, knowing what I know, it really was not fine for me. I wound up actually tearing the labrum in my hip. I do believe it was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back for why ultimately had to have a hysterectomy and had so much pathology in my uterus because of it. Because of the stress. It was the stress. And yeah, I think movement is incredibly powerful. Exercise is so important. But it's a matter of tuning into your own body and understanding what's going to work for you. And I basically wasn't tuning in. I wasn't listening. I was deaf to all the messages that my body was sending me. The pain, the cycles that were out of whack, all of it. And so I agree, ultramarathons are not for everybody.

Well, I mean, yeah, you're making such an important point. Like, we as Western women, we are taught not to listen to our bodies. We are taught that our cycle is an annoyance to get rid of. Our symptoms are something to be masked with medications, you know, and all of these clues. Our bodies are trying to talk to us, and they are so wise. And we're just like, shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up. You know, like, this is how we live. And then you and I are physicians and we're teaching other people to do the same thing.

How.

How sad, you know? But now that our eyes are open, we know better. We do better, right? And I love that you are spreading this message because it's can't be screamed loud enough. Like, you have to listen to your body. You have to know what's right for you. And you have to know, you know, you think you're doing all the right things intellectually, but your body might be telling you otherwise 100%.

And as a dermatologist, I think this is where it becomes so useful in terms of looking at your skin, that intellectually, right, you think that you're doing everything right. But your skin can be your greatest cheerleader, and it can also be your worst confidant, right? It will tell all your secrets. So if you think you're doing all the right things, what's showing up on your skin is your opportunity to understand. Is that true or is it not true if you have dark circles under your eyes, if you are having accelerated fine lines, wrinkling, discoloration of your skin, your hair is thinning, you're breaking out. It is not your skin's way of sabotaging you. Rather, it's your body's way of.

Shouting.

At you that it needs your attention, your support. And you may not know exactly what that is, but that's an opportunity to ask for help, to get help.

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I think back to residency and just years of eating the donuts and the.

Garbage on the nurse's station and the break rooms, right? And being sleep deprived and Struggling with acne so bad.

Like, to the point where I remember my husband bought me a massage package at a getaway, but I was too ashamed to do it because I had acne so bad. And, you know, I missed out on so many things over the years because.

I was ashamed of my skin and.

What it looked like.

And really, it had nothing to do with my skin. It was what I was doing to.

My body and putting in my body. And now it's so obvious to me, like, if I go on a sugar binge, I will break out for a week and I will pay the price and be embarrassed and be like, there's.

My failures all over my face.

But now that I understand that connection and, you know, I can deal with.

It so much better because I know.

What the cause was, right? So I just, I love that you're showing women that connection.

Like, hey, your skin's just telling the story of what you're doing, what's going on, right?

It's so true. I mean, our skin does tell a story. It tells the story of what's happening in our life. And we get to decide if we want to celebrate that story, if we love how that story is going, if we want to edit it, if we want to rewrite it. And to your point, you said something interesting, right? That you know, when you eat sugar, that you break out and you're a bit hard on yourself, right? It's like you did what you did wrong, but you didn't do anything wrong. I think life is meant to be enjoyed. And I think that's one of the things as women we're so good at doing. We're so good at being ourselves up. And I would just encourage and invite people to have a little bit of compassion, a little bit of grace, like, listen, if you want the donut, have it. But know or be willing to own.

The aftermath, the consequences.

And it's not. It's not an all or none. We get to. Every time we pick up our fork or choose what we're going to eat, we get to choose again and again and again and start over again and again and again. There is no end game here. Everything is a learning opportunity. But with, with dairy and sugar especially, one of the reasons why you break out is sugar and dairy, notoriously, they turn on the insulin growth factor 1 receptor, which stimulates those oil glands. So not everyone is going to have issues, but you might find or pay attention to if, when you eat certain foods, what happens, right? It's like your life is your lab, right?

This Is.

It'S just an opportunity not to beat yourself up, but to get really curious.

Exactly. So you mentioned you were diagnosed with melanoma. As you're, you know, the expert in melanoma. What was your body trying to tell you?

So it was trying to tell me, cut that shit out. Stop doing what you're doing. So you talk about when you broke out, that you had a lot of shame or an embarrassment. For me, it stems to my childhood. I was born with two birthmarks on my face that kids made fun of me for when I was young. They called me coffee stained face, which is really ironic once I learned it, once I became a dermatologist, they literally are called cafe au lait spots. So they are. Cafe.

Didn'T make it feel any better.

At that point, I should have been like, oh, you guys are so smart. But at that point, I was like, you guys are so mean. And so I tried to hide those marks with a tan throughout my entire childhood and my young adult life. And as the daughter of a redhead, I was never meant to tan. And so I had a lot of that damage just accumulated over time. And my body was trying to tell me that. My body was trying to tell me, listen, you got it. You got to cut this out. Because I had moles that were changing. They were growing, they were changing colors, and I would just get them biopsied like it was no big deal. Because in dermatology, that's what you do. You see something, you do something, you cut it out. And it wasn't until I found that one spot on my arm that not only am I a dermatologist, but I'm a dermatopathologist who could look at that skin underneath the microscope and confirm it wasn't right. That was just devastating. But it was an opportunity to change. It was an opportunity to change what I was eating, who I was spending my time with. I literally. I quit my job. I got rid of some of that stress. So that was why I wrote my book, the Skin Whisperer. It's really your skin. Your body is sending you messages all the time. And the goal is to hear those messages when they're just a whisper, not when they're shouting. My body was shouting. I was deaf to it. My mission is to help other women, especially being able to just pay attention, take notice, don't beat yourself up for it. But from a place of curiosity. What story is my skin telling right now, and what might I be able to do to shift the story to one that I really love?

Yeah, I love Your story, Kira. I mean, thank you for sharing because I just think it's so important for women to realize that every thing that they experience is an opportunity to learn and to grow and become their best self. Right. And sometimes change is hard. Like you and I both left our probably very good salary paid physician jobs, like the security, all of it, the notoriety, whatever, you know, but, but we had to for self preservation. And there's women listening, I know, who are miserable in their jobs and it's affecting their health. They're not sleeping, they're stressed out, they can't even like be intimate with their husband anymore because it invades your whole life. Right. And so as two physicians, we're here to tell you like you don't have to put up with that. You can actually do something about your life and change it for the better. And it's hard and bumpy and you just find support, you find people like we did. That's how we connected. And you have to find a better way to live because that is no way to live. You know, I mean, that's crazy. And I, I find every day women are reaching out, like they're just at their wits end. They, they've tried it all. What they used to say worked no longer works, you know, and they just feel overwhelmed and over it and where do I go from here? So that's who you're seeing as well, right? Like women are reaching out to you. I love that you are just embracing this whole perimenopausal time and empowering women. What kind of work are you doing together?

Yeah, so I'm embracing it because I'm at that stage of life myself. I know that it is not a walk in the park. It is not like. And it's not easy. And like you said, it's a matter of identifying where you need help and then going to find it. Because we can't do this alone. We're not meant to do this alone. And so the way that I work with women now is a lot of it is I am replenishing our hormones. I think at a certain stage of life, there is no getting around it. Our hormones are diminishing and if not for the short term symptom, relief of hot flashes and mood swings and sleepless nights and all of that. It's the long term benefit of are protecting our bone health, our cardiac health, our musculoskeletal health. I do not want to wind up in diapers or in a wheelchair without the support of testosterone. Over time, sarcopenia is A real long term concern. Replenishing hormones is definitely a key part of the way that I work with women. But I also am very keen on, just like you, helping women feel more confident and comfortable in their skin. What's showing up on it tells us a lot about what's happening beneath it. But what's showing up on it also impacts how we feel in it. That shame, that embarrassment, that guilt. We're gaining weight, or especially around our middle, maybe our boobs are sagging a bit, there's a little bit more cellulite. And we don't feel sexual, sensual, we don't feel sexy. And it's really just a reframe, it's an opportunity, a shift because you're beautiful just as you are. You know, you earned those seggy boobs. You know, those thighs have powered you miles and miles. And for those of us who've had kids, like they've allowed us to hold our little babies on our hips and you know, wrap our legs around our partner, you know, and all, all the good stuff. So I think really working from the inside out is really the work that I do so that women can really radiate their glow on the outside. Because skin care does not come from a bottle. Glowing skin does not come from your makeup bag. It does not come from that $195 serum that Sephora wants to sell you. Although it might benefits. That is not where the magic is.

Amen. Oh my gosh, it's so true. You have to do the inside work. I love that. That's so beautiful. And I feel like that's where a lot of women are hung up. Because we want to be the person we used to be, but you can't, you have to be a new, better version of yourself, right? I mean, it is what it is. Just like we're not children anymore, we're not teenagers anymore, we're not 30 some year olds anymore. So we have to figure out how to be our best selves.

Sometimes that's a good thing. Like I still, when I was in my 30s, I was a yes, I was a yes woman. I was an academic, I was jumping through hoops. I was effing miserable. So now I'm in my 40s and I get to work for myself. I get to spend an hour to two hours with the patient if I want to, because that's what brings my heart joy. And I know that the most important thing for us women is to be seen, to be heard, to be validated. And I have that opportunity to do that. Now. So I don't want to go backwards, I just want to go forwards. And I can have sex with reckless abandon now and get in the mood. I don't have to worry about getting pregnant. Like, it could just be pure pleasure. So I just think like, yeah, this next phase is our life.

What did.

So Carl, you know, our mutual colleague said midlife isn't your end life. This is not a midlife sentence. Like, it is time to like shine. It is the best time of our lives because we can say what we want. It's like those old ladies have just say whatever they want and let them, like we're there. We can just do it, you know?

Exactly. I love it. I mean, I'm all about embracing it. I made it a mission to be in the best shape of my life when I turned 40 and I accomplished it and that felt amazing. And now I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to hit 50 because I'm going to have an even bigger goal. You know, I got jail low in my eyesight, you know, like, these women are incredible and it's doable and you don't have to be perfect. Like, I'm not thinking about her perfect body, but the fact that she feels confident enough to go out and dance in a little leotard and that she can move her body that way and not be winded and passing out. Like, I want to function like that when I'm 50. I want to still play with my kids. I have a grandson, for God's sakes. I need to be able to go out and have fun. So exactly. I am looking at like, how can we make this the best time possible? Because we don't have all those restrictions that we had when we were younger. And now we have the wisdom, right? Which is amazing because how dumb were we back in the day?

We were learning, we were preparing ourselves for this moment.

Yes, exactly. My hundred hours of working straight sleep deprivation surgeries, that was all a learning experience.

10,000 hours, right? 10,000 hours to become an expert. And it's an expert in knowing ourselves and knowing what we need and knowing what we want and being able to negotiate our non negotiables that we're not going to stand for whatever society tells us. Like the beauty industry is a $500 billion enterprise just telling us that we need to fix ourselves, that there's something wrong with this. Like, this is the dilemma. We are not broken.

You're right, we are not broken.

There is nothing to fix. Are there things that we could Optimize, maybe a gesture judge to help us feel better. Of course. But we're not broken.

Exactly. I love that you're sharing that message. It's so important. I mean, what would you say is like the number one thing that someone could just shift in their life and make a noticeable difference in their skin? What do you see the most? Is it the dairy and the gluten?

If we're talking dietary stuff, yeah, I think dairy and sugar and gluten are the tops. My number one literal skincare tip would be sunscreen. SPF 30 plus every single day. 90% of visible signs of aging are from sun exposure. And we both live in places where the sun doesn't always shine. 80% of UV rays get through those clouds 365 days a year. Your UV light comes through window glass. We also know that blue light can potentially impact our skin. And most unfortunately, most sunscreens don't have a lot of blue light protection. But makeups with iron oxides can be really helpful. So that's like the outside in. But honestly, looking in the mirror, looking at your hands, your arms, your thighs, and appreciating what our skin actually does for us, it protects us from the outside world is our biggest ally.

It protects us from infection, it keeps us warm, it generates vitamin D. It allows us to experience pleasure. If you can celebrate your skin rather than having contempt from for it when you look in the mirror, you know, not criticize it, but celebrate it, that would be. That creates the biggest shift, 100% for sure.

I love that. That's so good. Oh my goodness, you're so amazing. So you are in the process of doing a program or what do you have for the ladies and the listeners?

Yeah, well, I work. The bulk of my work is close, you know, co creating a plan with women working one on one so we can really replenish their hormones and optimize lifestyle. But yeah, come 2021, rolling out a group program to create a community and education. And like we both said, you know, it's so important women don't feel that they're alone. And there's so many women who are struggling unnecessarily and it just doesn't have to be that way.

So, yeah, I love it. I love it so much. So we'll have to reconnect when your program comes out, you'll have to come back on and talk about it. But where can my listeners connect with you? You do a free consultation, is that right?

Yeah.

So my website, drkirabar.com is probably the best place. And there you can actually schedule a complimentary consultation where we can, you know, identify where you're at now, where you want to go, and the best way to get you there.

Awesome. Yeah, I'll have those links in my show notes. And are you on Facebook and Instagram?

I am on Instagram. Rkira Barr, I bet is also a New Year's kind of resolution. I am working on increasing my presence. I have not. We all have room to grow.

That is my area of growth. Yes.

Well, I'm so glad we finally connected. Your message is so important, and you need to keep shouting it from the rooftops. And I'm there with you. We're doing this work together. We're creating a big sisterhood of women who don't feel alone. They feel like they can do this together. Right?

Absolutely.

So, yeah, I will have all your links in my show notes so people can find you and follow you and get connected with you because you are amazing and. Yeah, let's stay in touch.

Okay, Sounds good.

Thanks so much.

You're welcome. Take care.

You too.

Wasn't she awesome? I knew you would love Dr. Kira. She is like my sister from another mister. We're on the same path. We are just trying to figure out the this life, you know, and be better than we were the day before and share it with each other and lift each other up.

Right.

This is a sisterhood, not a competition. So I really want you to share this episode with every woman, you know, like, even if you don't feel like she's in menopause at the moment or having hormonal issues or skin issues, maybe she will be next to week and maybe she'll have listened to this episode and go, oh, my gosh. That makes total sense. Now I know what to do or now I know who to reach out to and get help. So please reach out to Dr. Kira or myself. We both are on this mission to give you the tools that you need to be your best self and to reclaim your health and to just have success in your daily life and to feel good doing it and look good doing it, because there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sorry. Right? When we look good, we feel good. So take one little golden nugget from this episode, add it into your day.

Right?

Consistency creates change. And then hit the subscribe button. If you give me five stars, that would be amazing. Let itunes know you want to hear more of this. You got value from it. I love you guys. Like, I do this for you. So Keep rocking it. Keep working at it. Don't be afraid of a little change. A little change will get you a long way. So it might be difficult. But we're here with you. We're doing this together. So please check out my sisterhood renew you Sisterhood. My program starts like January. January 3rd. It's right around the corner. Let's do this together and become our best selves together. Okay? So go out and have a kick ass week. I love you guys. Shoot me your questions. I am here for you. Thanks for letting me be your functional gynecologist.

Bye.