Bunny (Podcast Host) (2:35)

It's crazy because he's like that at home and I'll be like, who are you preaching to? I'm like, it's just me and the kid here. Like, you don't have an audience. Tone it down, Bubba. You know, so he's. That's literally what you see is what you get with him. So you are kind of like doing a podcast tour right now because you, my, my sweet sir, are a author.

Dr. Tony Yoon (2:57)

Yes.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (2:58)

Yes.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (2:58)

And you've written four books.

Dr. Tony Yoon (3:00)

Yes. So this is my fourth. This is an anti aging book called Younger for Life that I'm super proud of. And I really appreciate that you're having me on today.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (3:07)

Absolutely. I'm so excited to dive into what this is and stuff like that. You have three other books. One of them is called the Age Fix in Stitches and Playing God.

Dr. Tony Yoon (3:17)

Yes. So I actually wrote two memoirs about becoming a doctor and then becoming a plastic surgeon and kind of the craziness that happens that ensues. And then I've written two anti aging books, the Age Fix, and then this is my latest one.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (3:29)

I mean, I need all the anti aging tips that you can give me.

Dr. Tony Yoon (3:32)

You look like you're 12 years old. What are you talking about?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (3:35)

Do you want to make out? Because we. So, okay, I definitely want to talk about your, you know, whenever you went to medical school, because one of those stories actually resonated with me. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. But let's talk about how you were influenced by your father to become a doctor and take. Take me on that journey and stuff like that as a child.

Dr. Tony Yoon (3:55)

Yeah. So I basically grew up in a traditional Korean household. My parents immigrated here from Korea before I was born. And so the day literally that I was born, my dad decided I was gonna be a doctor. But it's not that I was gonna be any doctor. Like, that wasn't enough. Like I was gonna be either a neurosurgeon, a cardiac surgeon, a transplant surgeon, one of these high powered surgical specialties. And pretty quickly as I was in medical school, I realized that this was not my personality. The day that I saw a 60 year old man stumble out of a call room in the middle of the night to attend to a trauma, I was like, I don't want to be that guy. And Then even throughout all my training, I did three years of general surgery training, where I trained as a general surgeon. And you're working the ICUs, you're working in trauma bays. I was just honestly, deathly afraid that one of my patients would die and it would be my fault. And so it was always. It always stressed me out. And luckily, I went through all my training, and nobody did. You know, I mean, people died, but it wasn't because I didn't do something right. And so I realized very quickly that that just wasn't for me. And so I ended up finding the field of plastic surgery, which really talked to me a lot. The interesting thing is I initially thought I was gonna do family practice for a while, so I'm like, I don't want to be with this type of surgeon. Maybe I'll do family practice and work with families and stuff. And my dad was not approving of that at all.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (5:15)

Your dad was an obgyn, correct?

Dr. Tony Yoon (5:18)

Yes.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (5:18)

So that's kind of why he. And he was, you know, the traditional, you know, just, this is how you're gonna do it, and I'm planning your life out. How did that make you feel as a child? Did you feel like you just didn't have a choice?

Dr. Tony Yoon (5:30)

So. Yeah, but I was, like the middle child, so I was the dutiful middle child. You tell me to do something, and I'll do it. But, you know, for him, he grew up on a rice farm in Korea with six other siblings, and he became a doctor. They put all their resources into him, and then he literally lifted his whole family up out of poverty, and he brought half of them here to the United States, where they kind of now are living the American dream. And so for him, all he knew was that doctor equals success. And so he didn't want his kids to be living on the streets. But then his belief was either you live on the streets or you're a doctor, and there's nothing in the in between. Like, he didn't know.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (6:04)

He's like, look, it works for me. It'll work for you, buddy.

Dr. Tony Yoon (6:06)

Yeah. Yeah. So then I thought, maybe I'll. Maybe I'll do family practice. And I told him, and he was really unhappy with that. And one night, as I was visiting my parents, after I told him I was going to do. And he was really unhappy, and he.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (6:20)

Was just unhappy because he didn't feel like you were, like, being an overachiever or he felt like you were kind of slacking off.

Dr. Tony Yoon (6:25)

It wasn't. Yeah, it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to be proud of him. You know, my son, like, you know, we always want in our children more than what we have, right? You know, and for him, he looked at that was less than what he had.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (6:38)

That's gotta be a heavy, kind of a heavy cross to bear for you because you're like, damn, dad, I just want to do what I want to do.

Dr. Tony Yoon (6:43)

I mean, I think that is. But you know, what happened is I'm at home, I'm visiting for a night and I'm in my twin bed that I grew up in, you know, when I was a kid. And two in the morning, the door opens up and my dad tells me, move over. So here I go, I scoot over and the two of us, two adult males are lying in my twin bed looking at the ceiling. And. And he goes, tony, if you want to be a family practice doctor, you can. He goes, you will never pay off your loans. You're going to be poor for the rest of your life. You're going to be seeing 50 patients a day. But if you want to do that, then that is fine. And then shortly thereafter, after he gave me his blessing, I ended up finding the field of plastic surgery and absolutely loved it.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (7:23)

Well, plastic surgery holds a spot dear to your heart too, because as you say in one of your books, you, you talk about how you were, you had a feature that you were, you know, I don't want to say embarrassed by, but just didn't like about yourself. Can we dive into that a little bit?

Dr. Tony Yoon (7:38)

Yeah. So, I mean, I was quote unquote, normal looking until probably about the 10th grade. I went through a growth spurt and my jaw started growing basically twice as quickly as the rest of my face and the rest of my body. To the point where when I was a senior in high school, my jaw was huge. To the point where I could actually stick my tongue through the gap between my upper and my lower teeth. And I hated looking at pictures of myself from the side. And even if, like with my senior photos from high school, you could see that it just doesn't look quite right. So I ended up having plastic surgery. I actually had my jaw broken and set back between high school and college. And it really taught me the power of how changing your appearance can absolutely change the trajectory of your life. Because prior to that I had very low self esteem. You know, I had self image problems and I thought I looked deformed. And then afterwards it really did help me. Now, you know, I go to college and Here, I think that I'm going to, you know. Oh, I actually look actually pretty decent now like a regular person. And I thought, okay, girls are gonna like me now. And I couldn't find a date through all four years of college.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (8:48)

I find that hard to believe.

Dr. Tony Yoon (8:49)

No. Four years? Yeah. I don't know what happened, but maybe.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (8:54)

You were just too shy to like seal the deal.

Dr. Tony Yoon (8:56)

I don't know. But yeah, so. But that really did teach me how changing your appearance can really help to change your life in ways that, you know, I mean, I do all cosmetic surgery. I have a complete skincare center and stuff like that. But at the same time, you know, knowing that, I think personally that does make a big difference.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (9:15)

Absolutely. You had also said in one of your books that, that you had been, you were, you had some dark chapters dealing with certain physicians that were kind of self absorbed and money hungry. Can you take me on that journey too? I just called it like a God complex or something.

Dr. Tony Yoon (9:34)

Yeah. So, I mean, as a plastic surgeon, so I ended up doing three years of general surgery and then I did two years of plastic surgery. And then I spent a year out in Beverly Hills where, where I worked with a top name plastic surgeon. And I tell you, plastic surgery in Beverly Hills was a big eye opener because I did most of my training out in Michigan at Michigan State with plastic surgeons that I felt were ethical. They were there to treat, you know, take care of patients and stuff. Yeah, I mean, these are kind of midwest, down to earth doctors who are there to take care of people. Then you go to Beverly Hills and my gosh, it was, nobody has a smile. And it was all about money out there. I mean, it was a point. I remember there was a situation once where I was working with a plastic surgeon and we were working on a woman, African American, larger woman. We were doing liposuction on her and she was HIV positive and we were doing the surgery on her. And all of a sudden he says, yep, that's it, we're done. And I go, well, we haven't finished the operation. Like there's still these other areas that we can make better. He goes, you know what she has, she has hiv. She paid enough money, like we don't have to do that anymore. And I was just like, what? And I mean, I'm the fellow, so it's not my patient. I can't tell him, you know, we need to do this. But you know, things like that, you see these things happen over and over again out there. I knew a doctor who would actually Call the local news, lie to them about a death, let's say that happened in the OR of a competing surgeon. And so I was there once where a doctor called and said, hey, yeah, is this. You know, is this ABC News? He's like, yeah, you know, I don't. I'm not gonna tell you who I am. I'm a local plastic surgeon. But I need to let you know that Dr. So and so had a patient die in his operating room yesterday. You know, you need to look into that. And it was so not true.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (11:18)

Oh, my God.

Dr. Tony Yoon (11:19)

I mean, people. There are even stories of people sending patients to other plastic surgeons as a way to eventually sue them so that the patient gets surgery and then eventually sues them just to try to push these people out of practice.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (11:31)

You guys need your own reality show. It's like the House Husbands of Beverly Hills. That's crazy.

Dr. Tony Yoon (11:37)

Yeah.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (11:38)

So unethical and just wrong.

Dr. Tony Yoon (11:40)

Yeah. I mean, it's. The stuff that happens out there was nuts. And so I really. After being there for a year, I ended up coming back to Detroit, where my wife's family is from, and I started my own practice there.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (11:52)

And you're not working for anybody ever again.

Dr. Tony Yoon (11:54)

Yeah, it's like, I want to start. I want to do this the right way, where I'm actually. I'm here to take care of people. I've taken ER call for accidents and. And dog bites and stuff for 20 years. And.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (12:03)

Yeah, there was a story that I read that you had said there was a lady that you had worked for, and she said that they're the chronically ill in an emergency room. She had said something to you that kind of like, offended you about the people who would come in the emergency room. They're chronically ill, and they just kind of. They don't stay, they don't get better, and they don't die or something like that.

Dr. Tony Yoon (12:23)

I mean, there are so many, you know, I think, working the er, and it's hard because there are people who are. The health care system is so broken, and it's so hard because in the emergency room now is a place where a lot of people will go for everything, and they are completely overrun. The emergency room at the hospital I work out of, I had a patient who was there recently. She actually was a patient of a different doctor who was admitted to the hospital with an infection. They asked me to take care of her, and I said, sure, that's fine. And. And she was there for three days and never actually got a hospital bed. Like a room. She Was in the hallway for three days.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (13:02)

Oh my goodness.

Dr. Tony Yoon (13:03)

Because there just weren't any rooms available because so many people are using the er, unfortunately for things that aren't necessary. So there's a lot of stuff going on in healthcare right now that the whole system is broken and I'm not sure how to fix it. But throughout my training, that was something that you really saw a lot of.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (13:21)

Absolutely. I, I myself have gotten into holistic medicine in the past, probably, I'd have to say four to five years. And I love the fact that with holistic medicine, it treats the problem and it doesn't put a band aid on it like it tries to get to a deeper root of it.

Dr. Tony Yoon (13:38)

The root cause.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (13:39)

Being a holistic plastic surgeon, what does that entail? Exactly.

Dr. Tony Yoon (13:44)

So basically the story is, is that I, you know, so I go to la, I come back to Michigan, I start my practice, and you know, we're taught in surgery the term to cut is to cure, or the only way to heal is with cold steel. And the idea is that your goal is to bring people to the operating room. Now if you're a general surgeon, the goal, ideally the big surgery that you want to do is called the Whipple. And this is a large 10 hour cancer operation. And if you're so lucky that you can do a Whipple, you know, you've reached the pinnacle of success in plastic surgery. It's probably the facelift because patients may trust almost anybody to do their liposuction, but, you know, if they're trusting you to do their facelift, that you are, you know, the cream of the crop. And so for many years, Bunny, I actually gauged the success of my practice based off how many facelifts I was doing, how many I had on my schedule. It's kind of dumb, but that was how I gauged it. And I got to a point where I was the busiest person in town. I had a one year waiting list of people flying in all over the country to see me. And then I had a patient of mine who absolutely, completely changed the trajectory of my career. This was a 60 some year old woman who came to see me for a facelift and she looked like she was a good candidate for it. Her internal medicine doctor cleared her for surgery and then she was even cleared by a cardiologist. So I performed the operation on a Thursday. It's about a three and a half hour surgery. We keep her overnight in the hospital, which at that time I was doing routinely. And then the next morning I saw her and she was Doing great. And I sent her home. The weekend goes by, and Monday I get to my office and I have a message from her daughter. And the message was, why did my mom die? And it, I mean, I was absolutely floored. I had this nausea in the pit of my stomach. I literally couldn't form words. I eventually got on the phone with her and she said, my mom died on Saturday. Like, what happened? And I hadn't heard anything. So it turns out that she suddenly died that Saturday. So, like, the two days, like, literally after her operation, and I went to her chart and I looked and like, what happened here? I tried to find something that could have caused this. Was there a medication error? Was there medication interaction? Was there something about her health history that I didn't catch? And there was nothing, like, nothing that I could find. It turns out when her autopsy came back later on, she had a massive heart attack. Even though I had cleared her. From a cardiologist standpoint, like, I did everything. The only thing I could have done to prevent this was just not operate on her. So this sent me into a complete tailspin. And for months I considered quitting medicine altogether. I considered choosing a different, you know, going back to residency, finding some other type of way to, you know, practice medicine. And I really questioned everything that I was taught. And it, and it got me into thinking finally when I hit rock bottom and I just, you know, I prayed to God, like, you know, what do I do? You know, what am I doing with my life? You know, there's this Hippocratic oath of do no harm. Like, am I doing harm? You know, am I by doing these operations, doing harm on people? And it got me into really realizing that what I had believed was wrong. Like, the goal of the being a surgeon is not to bring people to surgery. It should be the opposite. It should be, how do I keep people out of surgery yet still help them to look and feel their best without going under the knife? And then that started me kind of delving into alternative and holistic medicine. And that eventually became this book and this concept of autojuvenation. And it really is. It's the fact that our bodies have the regenerative abilities to rejuvenate itself. We just have to give it the right tools and the right environment to do that. And it composes five main things that I focus on. It's what you eat, when you eat, nutritional supplements, skin care, and non invasive treatments. And I firmly believe that 80 to 90% of people, if you focus on those things and you do it right that you can look and feel your best and feel fantastic and look fantastic without having surgery and not feel like.

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Bunny (Podcast Host) (20:45)

And I love that message too, because in a world where we are literally just bombarded with plastic surgery and stuff like that, to hear an actual plastic surgeon say, hey, you don't have to go under the knife. You just need to do these things. And I really, truly believe you are what you eat. Like, a lot of people will argue with you and say, oh, it doesn't matter. No, it really does matter. The beginning of the year, I started having some really bad health problems that I had no idea where they, where it came from. Cardiologist appointments, I had to wear EKG for a week. I mean, I'm talking like everything. Come to find out, no doctor could pinpoint what was wrong with me. They tried to put me on blood pressure, blood pressure medications, they tried to do everything. And I had to be my own advocate. And I was like, I'm not doing that. Come to find out I was allergic to rice. Rice was really setting off my body. But in order to find out that I was allergic to rice, I had to cut out seed oils. I had to go, I've been non dairy for at least 10 years now, but no white flowers, no sugar, like nothing. And it has completely changed my entire being. And so you are what you eat and that's a huge thing. And then what's number two?

Dr. Tony Yoon (21:52)

Number two is when you eat. And so that's something where, you know, one of the main causes of aging of our body is, is a buildup of cellular waste. And so basically our cells, just the act of being alive, we create cellular waste products. And these are proteins and organelles and things inside our cells that can actually build up. And this waste product can build up in our cells unless we clean our cells out from the inside. And the way we do that, it's a process called autophagy. And that means self eating. And essentially when your body runs out of fuel and it starts to use this intracellular waste, these proteins and organelles inside our cells and recycles them for energy. And that causes our cells to actually clean themselves out on the inside to function more efficiently, more youthfully. And it's a great way to essentially turn back the clock and get our body working more youthfully again. But for that to happen, we have to stop eating constantly. So the problem is our standard American diet and our lifestyle, we are constantly snacking and whenever you're constantly eating, you do not allow that process to happen. And so one of the main benefits, and I encourage people, even if you just do, you know, a 12 hour, 16 hour fast, to try to do that, where you take just a period of time, even as little as 12 hours, where you stop eating at 8pm and you don't eat again until the next morning at 8am that's great because it allows your body that time for your gut to rest and for your body to kind of clean itself out from the inside using this process of autophagy.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (23:19)

Yes. I love fasting. I fast every day. Like, I'll stop eating at like 7 o' clock at night and then I won't eat until the next morning at like 12 or 1. But then every. I read a book called how to Fast Like a girl written by Dr. Oh gosh, I forget her name.

Dr. Tony Yoon (23:35)

Yeah.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (23:35)

And she. It was amazing. And it was life changing because, you know, around a woman's period, you can also do these protocols and where you go into ketosis and it's so healing. I have more energy when I don't eat and I fast than I do when I do eat.

Dr. Tony Yoon (23:51)

Isn't that interesting?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (23:52)

Yeah. The human body is so fascinating. We're our own science project.

Dr. Tony Yoon (23:59)

Yes. And I think the thing is that a lot of people don't realize, and traditional medicine is not good with this, is that I do believe that there's this thing called bio individuality where you may react poorly to rice. But I've eaten rice all my life. I grew up eating it. And I'm fine with it. But that doesn't mean, because I'm fine with it, that you should be fine with it. And traditional medicine is not really good with that part of it. And so really I think it's important to be aware of your own body and what your triggers are like, what makes you feel healthy and good and to follow that, even if it may not completely jive with what most doctors say that in general, people should do.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (24:35)

Absolutely. Have you ever heard of the blood diet.

Dr. Tony Yoon (24:38)

The blood diet, yes. Is that some type of vampire thing? I know you guys are into macabre stuff, so.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (24:46)

So the blood diet is you get your blood drawn and you find out what type, what your blood type is, and you.

Dr. Tony Yoon (24:52)

Oh, yes.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (24:53)

According to your blood type. And I always thought it was like kind of hocus pocus, and I didn't believe it until I went through the health stuff. And my body just doesn't react good to carbs. Some people can eat heavy carbs and I just can't, you know, come to find out. Both my parents are diabetics, you know, so it's like, it's just, it's crazy and it's fascinating. So what's number. We're on number three, right?

Dr. Tony Yoon (25:16)

Number three would be supplements.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (25:18)

Supplements. Let's talk about that because I. Have you ever heard of the MTHFR gene mutation?

Dr. Tony Yoon (25:23)

They call it the mother effort gene.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (25:25)

Yeah, the mother effort gene. Do you know a lot about it or some.

Dr. Tony Yoon (25:29)

Yeah, I mean, it is something that. There's a belief that you may have an increased risk of clotting with that. And so some people who have multiple miscarriages, that's something that GYN doctors will look at. For us, we look at it for surgery just because of the potential risk of bleeding after surgery.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (25:44)

Right? Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (25:45)

But, yeah, I mean, that's. I don't know, a ton. I mean, it's still the mother effrogene is still something that traditional doctors, some of them will poo. Poo.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (25:53)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (25:54)

And more of my functional medicine friends, they talk a little bit more about that, but I do think that that's a real thing that we need to pay definitely more attention to.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (26:01)

Absolutely. I think it's coming. I think it's becoming more widespread in the United States and I think more people are coming to realize that they. I, I was diagnosed with that gene. So I say all this to say that certain supplements react crazy with my body. I overdosed on supplements.

Dr. Tony Yoon (26:18)

I heard that by accident. Yes.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (26:20)

Like how who the can overdose?

Dr. Tony Yoon (26:22)

I've never heard of somebody overdosing on supplements and having those types of stuff, symptoms, but I heard that story.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (26:27)

Crazy, right?

Dr. Tony Yoon (26:28)

Yeah.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (26:30)

Anybody with mthfr, gene mutation aside, what kind of supplements do you recommend for a daily basis?

Dr. Tony Yoon (26:36)

Yes. So for me, you know, I have friends of mine who are quote unquote, biohackers where they'll take like a hundred pills a day. And that's just like, I mean, if you want to do that, then that's fine. These are people who like, they make their living just trying to biohack their body. But the vast majority of people, like, that's. That's not doable.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (26:53)

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Bunny (Podcast Host) (26:54)

I've never heard of that. Now I'm going to go study that.

Dr. Tony Yoon (26:56)

Yeah. And I have friends of mine who are like, well, depending on the time of day and how they feel that day, they'll take this drawer of supplements or that drawer. So the way I look at.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (27:03)

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Dr. Tony Yoon (27:03)

Yeah, seriously. So the way I look at it is very basic. Okay. Everybody should take a good daily multivitamin. One of the main reasons why our skin ages is nutrient depletion. There's a belief that our fruits and vegetables today are not as nutritious as they used to be. And this is a belief in holistic medicine. Yeah. And they say, oh, well, the soil has been. Because of industrial farming practices, it's been depleted of nutrients. So is there proof of that? Well, there actually was a study that looked at, from 1950 to 1999, looking at various fruits and vegetables here in the United States and found a significant reduction in six key nutrients. And three of those ones that stood out to me are iron, protein, and vitamin C. Yes. All of these super important for the skin especially. And so supplements can definitely help with that part of it. So I always recommend taking a daily multivitamin. I recommend taking a omega 3 fatty acid supplement. So, like fish oil for the good, healthy fats. I recommend taking a probiotic, because in the past we ate a lot more fermented foods. Okay. We've got a microbiome in our gut that is the trillions of bacteria that live inside our gut. And we are finding out over the last 10 to 15 years that the quality and the health of that bacteria is absolutely essential to our overall health.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (28:20)

Absolutely.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (28:20)

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Dr. Tony Yoon (28:22)

Yeah. And there's crazy things that they've done. They've taken actually a rat, and I've taken a rat that's overweight and a rat that's underweight. And they've actually done fecal transplants from the underweight rat to the overweight rat. And you know what happens? The overweight rat loses a bunch of weight.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (28:37)

Wow.

Dr. Tony Yoon (28:37)

Because you think that by transplant, try by moving the microbiome from one rat to another, it completely changes how their body reacts. And this is a lot of stuff that we just don't really know a lot about. So. But what we do know, once again, is the microbiome is extremely important. And so. And we don't eat fermented foods. In our diet at all, other than.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (28:54)

Like, I love kimchi, though.

Dr. Tony Yoon (28:56)

Yogurt. Yeah. And sauerkraut brats, like in the summer, like, that's it.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (28:59)

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (29:00)

Now, I grew up eating kimchi, a lot of kimchi. You know, we eat a lot of like pickled vegetables and stuff like that. So really important to take a daily probiotic. At least 3 billion colony forming units a day is what I usually recommend.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (29:14)

Do you recommend the ones that have to be refrigerated? Do the majority of them have to be refrigerated?

Dr. Tony Yoon (29:18)

Yeah, that's usually a sign that it's probably good. Because if it's not, then you got to wonder, is it high quality because you want to refrigerate them to make sure that they're still alive.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (29:26)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (29:26)

Yeah. And so then the next supplement that I would recommend typically is an antioxidant supplement. One of the main reasons why our skin ages prematurely is due to oxidation and free radicals. Essentially, these are damaging molecules that will damage the DNA of our cells. And these free radicals essentially are neutralized by antioxidants. That's why people say, hey, eat the rainbow of fruits and vegetables, because the actual color of those fruits and vegetables, the pigment is the actual antioxidant. And so by eating various colors of fruits and vegetables, you get a lot of different antioxidants to help fight those free radicals. And what food has the most free radicals? Ultra processed foods. And so trying to limit ultra processed foods in the diet is definitely healthy for your skin.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (30:12)

Yes. I had to cut those out too. So I eat everything fresh now, which a lot of people always say, oh, you know, it's expensive to eat that way. And it is. America has made it very hard for people to not eat bad.

Dr. Tony Yoon (30:25)

It's more expensive to eat healthy foods than it is to eat foods that are not healthy for you especially find them.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (30:30)

Yeah, especially if you buy organic and stuff too. Yeah, it's crazy. And then what was the fourth one?

Dr. Tony Yoon (30:35)

So the fourth one. So that was the fourth one where the antioxidants. And then the fifth one is collagen. Collagen supplements. Are you taking a collagen supplement?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (30:42)

So I've tried and my body is so weird. It kind of like sends me into like a little bit of a depression. So I really, ever since I did the overdose on supplements, I am just raw dogging life right now. But. But I try to get my supplements through my food so I eat really healthy.

Dr. Tony Yoon (30:57)

You can't out supplement a bad diet.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (30:59)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (31:00)

So doing it that way is Definitely better.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (31:03)

Yeah. You think?

Dr. Tony Yoon (31:04)

Oh, yeah, Yeah. I mean, if you.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (31:05)

Why can't I poop, then? I'm just kidding.

Dr. Tony Yoon (31:07)

You're not on a carnivore diet, are you?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (31:09)

No.

Dr. Tony Yoon (31:10)

I don't know how they. I don't know how they poop because I don't either. I don't get, like. If you get no fiber, yeah, it would be bad for me.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (31:19)

Really bad. Yeah, I can't eat, like, all eat. Eat red meat once a month, like around my period. But, like, I don't. I try to stick to, like, chicken, like, lean meats, you know, but, yeah, like, my digestive system is just completely thrown off. Since I got off supplements. It's been crazy. But I do love collagen. I love any sort. I. Anybody. Any time anybody asks me, hey, do you ever just wish that you were younger? And I'm like, the only thing I'm ever jealous of younger women is their collagen.

Dr. Tony Yoon (31:44)

Yes.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (31:44)

Like, I want it all. Give it all to me.

Dr. Tony Yoon (31:46)

Yeah. I mean, so we have six. 70 to 80% of our skin is basically made up of collagen. And so one of the things I really encourage people to focus on, if you're looking at the aging process, is really focusing on that collagen. Collagen, basically, they're like the logs of a log cabin. And the collagen is what causes our skin to feel tight and firm and smooth and youthful. And like everything in life, we start losing it. It starts getting thinner, starting at 1% a year when we're in about our mid-20s. And then women, once they go through menopause, it goes up to about 2% a year. And that's why you may see women who are in their 60s or 70s and they've got tissue paper thin skin, and they get scratched, and it literally can tear their skin. Oh, gosh. So that's one thing. You know, if you can tolerate collagen supplements, I do recommend them. I do think they help. Studies show that they definitely help with the thickness of collagen in your skin. The other thing, though, is collagen is a protein. And so eating higher protein, especially as you get older, can definitely be helpful with your skin as well as other body parts as well.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (32:44)

I. I preach to my team all the time. I'm like, you guys need more protein, because I eat, like, 135 grams of protein a day.

Dr. Tony Yoon (32:50)

Oh, wow, That's. That's not easy to do, especially if you're intermittent fasting.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (32:53)

No, it's not. Well, so I have perfected the art of an eating window. So, like, I get all my. I know, I know that they say that you're only supposed to do like 35 grams each meal or something like that, but I just really try to like break up three meals and just make it work, you know, So I. A lot of yogurt in the morning, A lot of protein. You know, the protein yogurt and then a lot of, you know, like ground chicken, you know, for dinner and stuff like that. So. But yeah, I'm always preaching to them. I'm like, you guys need to have more protein. They're like, shut the fuck up, leave me alone. And I'm like, no. It's like, it really helps your body.

Dr. Tony Yoon (33:24)

It is. And there definitely is a huge push now in nutrition and nutrition circles that the lower protein diets are definitely not the best, especially as you get older. You know, we developed something called sarcopenia and this is basically breakdown of muscle as we get older. And you know, one of the things that we worry about as we get older and a very common cause of death is breaking a hip. Okay.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (33:49)

And so, God, that causes death.

Dr. Tony Yoon (33:51)

There was one study that found that over the age of 50, and I'm like 51, so I guess I'm in that group now that if you break your hip, if you break your hip over the age of 51, it's something like a 30% mortality over 12 months.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (34:03)

Goodness gracious. Why is there like a.

Dr. Tony Yoon (34:06)

So it's just, it's so integral and I think part of it is that it's so hard to recover from. So a big thing as you get older is trying to keep mobile, trying to keep your reflexes as well as your balance intact. It's so, so important.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (34:23)

Yoga.

Dr. Tony Yoon (34:24)

So that's one of the big things in my book is yoga. So really what you want to look at is balance and strength via the fast twitch muscle fibers. So to put it simply, you know, there's a lot of people, as they get older, they believe that walking is the only exercise they need to do. Okay. Like, oh, you know, and my parents and my in laws, that's what they think too. It's like, oh, I walk, you know, two miles a day, so that's all I have to do. The problem. But that's a fallacy. Now walking is great. It's super important. You know, if you get those 10,000 steps, that's awesome. And that will definitely help with your healing or with your aging overall and being healthy.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (34:57)

Right?

Dr. Tony Yoon (34:57)

But the problem with just walking when you Think about it is you're only using those muscles that propel you forward. You're not using any other muscles. Okay. And those are called slow twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch muscle fibers are those fibers that our body uses for kind of endurance where you're kind of doing the same thing over and over again in a slow fashion. Those are slow twitch muscle fibers. Fast twitch muscle fibers are those fibers that we, those muscles that we use for essentially explosive movement. Okay. So if you're going for sprints, if you're doing hiit workouts, a lot of times you're using kind of the fast twitch muscle fibers. They're also the muscle fibers that will go into play if you trip. If you're about to fall, those are the ones that will steady you. That's why you may see an older person who's like 70 or 80 and they trip on something and they just fall and hit their face. Right.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (35:46)

It's like slow motion.

Dr. Tony Yoon (35:47)

Yes. Because they have been working those fast twitch muscle fibers. So they don't have those reflexes, those reaction time where if you or I, we hit a corner or a curb and we start to fall, we will steady ourselves very quickly because those muscle fibers are still working. So those muscle fibers, they degenerate as we get older. And that's one reason why older people, they trip on something and they just go straight down because they haven't been working those. So it's so, so important. You know, yoga, I think is awesome. Those are also slow twitch muscle fibers. But yoga will help you obviously with your balance, which is so, so important. And flexibility, stretching your muscles. Muscles, yeah, exactly. And it's so great for the mind and for overall stress reduction. But at the same time, definitely doing weight training, doing resistance training as people get older, not just walking. And really there's three exercises that if, you know, if you, let's say you have, you know, somebody who's in their 60s, 70s, radies and like. Well, I haven't done resistance training ever. Then there's three things definitely to start with. And I encourage anybody who's listening. If you've got somebody in your life who's older, you can see that their mobility is slowing down. Just have them do three things to start out with. Chest press, some type of a chest press where they can do it. You know, obviously if they can do a push up, that's great. If they can't, you can do it like a nautilus chest press, either a squat or a leg press. Okay. And rows. So chest press, squat or leg Press and rows. If they do those three exercises, resistance training exercises, they that's going to move. Use most of those muscle groups that are needed to stay limber and strong and prevent those types of accidents as they get older.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (37:27)

That's amazing. I could sit here and talk to you for hours. I love learning stuff like this. There's a 60 year old lady who I saw on Instagram who is shredded. I whistled who is shredded. And I'm telling you, man, I was like, I want to be her dude. Like she looked amazing. She had muscle tone at 7:60. Like it was crazy. So yeah, it is possible to there.

Dr. Tony Yoon (37:49)

There is a difference between health span and lifespan. Have you heard those terms?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (37:54)

Yeah, I've heard them, but I didn't. I'm not in what you're about to say.

Dr. Tony Yoon (37:57)

Yeah, so lifespan essentially is what traditional medicine is really good at. It's extending your life, you know. And so we're really good at taking somebody who's 60 or 70, they have multiple medical issues and keeping them alive for a long time. And that's why our, that's why like our life expectancy keeps going up because we're essentially kept alive by medications, by interventions, you know, and treatments and things. That is different than actual health span. The idea of healthspan is how long do you live where you are active and youthful and healthy and doing things that you want to do. And that's very different. And that's what we try to strive, you know, with kind of a lot of these alternative medicine ideas. And a lot of the ideas in my book is how do we extend your health span so that the ideal is that you live until you're like 100 years old. And even when you're 95, you're out. Yeah. And you are going on hikes, you're traveling, you're seeing the world, you're eating different foods, you're on very minimal medications and you're just feeling energetic and great and then something happens and you die. Like versus the whole that steady decline starting in your 50s where just every year you feel shittier and shittier and shittier. Like that's kind of the way that we are taught now to age in our society. Society. And so by focusing on these things, you know, eating right, taking some time to not eat for a little bit, you know, Even if just 12 hours, you know, and then getting on those supplements and being super active, even trying things like meditation, all of that can really extend that health span and help you live healthier, longer and happier for, for as Long as possible.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (39:32)

I think meditation is huge also because it's such a stress reduction. And in our everyday lives that we have now, our lives are just so.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (39:39)

So full of stress.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (39:40)

It's like you have to put yourself first. And if, even if you have 10 minutes, just meditate and just try to decompress and just get, you know, I always visualize breathing in a certain color and then blowing out a certain color. And that's the stress that's coming out and it's life changing.

Dr. Tony Yoon (39:55)

It's amazing because a lot of people think, oh, meditation, how boring. And like, what can that do, you know? I'll tell you my story with meditation. Like, I was never really big on meditation. I knew it was good for us, but, you know, so the pandemic hits in March of 2020. I have a practice, a full medical practice. I've got 11 employees. And literally in the span of one morning, we come in and we're seeing patients. And at noon I close the office down because my employees were freaked out. You know, they're hearing these stories of like, oh my gosh, people are getting sick around this, blah, blah. And so I close it down at noon and I promise my employees, I say, look, you know, I had just paid off all my taxes because freaking March, you know, I'm like. And I say, look, I'm going to pay you guys. I don't know how long we're going to be closed for, but I will pay you. I will take care of you. You guys go home and just stay healthy and all that. But I had no idea how I was going to do that. And so I volunteered for my local hospital, my wife and I. My wife's a physician, she's a pediatrician. And we both volunteered for our local hospital if they needed us. Which God forbid, if you've got Covid and you're in the ICU and Dr. Yoon comes up to take care of you, you're screwed. Because I don't remember how to do any of that stuff. But so thank God they never actually asked us to come in and help out. But that was such a stressful time because here I am, like, I'm worried about my colleagues and my friends that were working in the hospital. I'm worried about my own family, my parents and my in laws who are, you know, almost 80 at that time. And then I worried about my patients and also my employees. And like, how am I going to pay my employees? So for the first time, I think since I started my practice, probably for the first time Since I told you about that patient of mine who died, I would fall asleep fine at night. And then every night I'd wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning just with all these worries going on in my head. And so I was talking to my wife. I'm like, I. I can't. Like, I get. I wake up and I'm worried and I'm stressed, and, like, what do I do? And we started meditating together, where we would just take literally 10 to 15 minutes and you could do a guided meditation. We did a lot of, like, peloton meditation. Or sometimes I would do it by myself. And just like you said, just pay attention to my breathing. Like, try to cut everything out. And then just pay attention to breathing in and out. And I tell you, Bunny, every day that I meditated, I slept all night. And those days where I'm like, oh, I don't have time. I'm not going to do it. Two or three in the morning, I would wake up like, it was crazy how it was a direct correlation. There are studies that show that meditation can help you to look younger. It can make changes in your brain to function more efficiently and effectively. It is crazy how just that simple act of just what you said, just breathing in and out, can reduce your stress and really help to improve your life.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (42:38)

It's wild because if you think about it, Buddhist monks have been meditating for decades. And, I mean, look at them. You don't have to be a believer in Buddha to see. See that These men are like, they don't age. They're literally, like, so peaceful and all.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (42:52)

They.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (42:52)

They literally meditate every day. Like, it's just a. It's a. It's an amazing outlet. And if anybody wants to ever start meditating, there's. I don't get paid for this, but there's an app called Insight Timer. Yeah, it's called Insight Timer. I've turned all my girls onto it. She uses it for her daughter, too. Yeah, and it's amazing. You guys can go on there. And if you've never meditated in your life, they have beginner meditations and everything like that.

Dr. Tony Yoon (43:20)

So, yeah, occasionally, you know, if I have anxieties, and every once in a while, I have some just like. And I don't know why, or sometimes it's before surgery or something. Sometimes just in my car, I'll turn on a guided meditation for 10 minutes. Absolutely feel so much better afterwards.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (43:34)

So now, since I've learned breathing techniques and I know a lot of people in my audience do suffer from anxiety. And they're always asking, like, what do you do? There is a meditation that you can do, and it's. You breathe in for six seconds, you hold it for six seconds, and then you breathe out for six seconds. And it automatically snaps your nervous system out of fight or flight. And I mean, I could be in the middle of a panic attack, just wanting to run, and I do that and it calms me immediately. It's just fascinating what breath work can do for you.

Dr. Tony Yoon (44:06)

I think that there's so much that our society, we have lost touch with. You know, even fasting was something that, you know, Christians, yeah, people have done it for centuries, but we stopped, you know, we just don't have time for it, you know. And same thing with meditation. You know, this is stuff that we have done, you know, whatever religion you are, like, that has been a part of it, you know, in its own way. And it's just these are things that we lose track of that are such healthy practices to get back to it, you know, and it comes back to even the food. It's like we, we, we used to know what our food came from, you know, and there's this idea of food that is, you know, whole foods, not necessarily even plants, but whole foods versus ultra processed foods. And it's very simple. Really is. It's. When you're eating a food, do you know what plant or animal that food came from? It doesn't look anything like its original state. And it's funny because I grew up in the middle of Michigan in a tiny town in the middle of Michigan. And, and it was a weird dichotomy because my parents at home, we would eat traditional Korean foods. So it'd be like rice and fish and veggies and garlic and kimchi and.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (45:11)

Stuff like that, which is a really healthy diet.

Dr. Tony Yoon (45:14)

And you know, exactly what those foods are coming from. Like, it looks like that food. And then I go out with my friends, we go to McDonald's and KFC and Burger King and all that type of stuff. And it was this weird dichotomy. And now the funny thing is we've come kind of come full circle and you know, I've got two teenagers and I grew up when I was their age. I was always at fast food places. And now my kids, it's weird because they go out with their friends, they get poke bowls, you know, they get like sushi. They get, it's like crazy. They get like Korean food and stuff. And it's, it's good because there is, I think A group especially, I think the younger generation, are more understanding of, like, what's going on with their food and everything nowadays.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (45:53)

They're more woke. And I honestly believe that it is being because of social media, because, you know, back in the day when we were kids, it was like we didn't have social media. We only knew, like, what our parents taught us or what we saw on commercials or tv. Whereas now these kids have so much opportunity at their fingertips and they, you know, they can research and, you know, so it's, it's kind of. Even though social media can be the devil's playground, it's also a catch 22 because it is informative and it, you know, is, I think, guiding the youth in a better way than we were guided as children. Speaking of food, if somebody wanted to, say, change their life after hearing this podcast and start a diet, what would be a typical day of eating for somebody who wants to start eating healthier and not eating fast food?

Dr. Tony Yoon (46:39)

So the first thing that I would recommend. So let's start about what to try to reduce. Okay, so the great ager of our skin, food wise, is sugar. Sugar is the number one cause of premature aging of the skin. And it does that because the sugar will actually bond to the collagen in our skin. So I mentioned earlier that the Collagen makes up 70 to 80% of our skin. And when you ingest sugar, sugar will actually bond to that collagen, those logs of that log cabin, and will cause those logs to become kinked. And the combination of when the sugar and the collagen hybrid, the connections of that are called advanced glycation end products or age, kind of makes sense. Ages, you know, because they prematurely age you.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (47:20)

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (47:21)

And so sugar can do that by literally physically bonding to the collagen of your skin, causing your skin to feel rougher, to have more wrinkles, to be drier, and essentially more aged. It also increases when you get sugar spikes. You get insulin spikes. Insulin spikes causes chronic inflammation, and chronic inflammation is one of the great agers of our skin and sugar once again, being kind of the big thing. Now, it's important to differentiate acute inflammation from chronic inflammation because there are a lot of treatments that we do that create acute inflammation. You can get laser treatment, you can get microneedling, you can get chemical peels. These all create acute inflammation. And when you cause acute inflammation or you damage the collagen in the skin in a very short term way, when the collagen heals, it gets tighter. And that's why your skin, I Love.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (48:07)

All those, by the way.

Dr. Tony Yoon (48:08)

That's why your skin gets tighter after these treatments. But chronic inflammation is a different thing. And so sugar can create chronic inflammation by chronic insulin spikes. And then that can cause premature aging as well.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (48:18)

It also leads to autoimmune diseases as well.

Dr. Tony Yoon (48:22)

You can get type 2 diabetes because essentially when you're getting so much sugar and the insulin keeps going up and down, up and down, eventually your tissues don't respond to the insulin so well. And if it's not responding to the insulin, your blood sugars go up, and then that's when you eventually get insulin resistance and then type 2 diabetes. And that leads to all sorts of other problems. And so reducing the amount of sugar that you eat is the first step that I encourage people to consider. You know, you and I, we have a lot of our followers that live in the quote unquote flyover states. You know, I'm from Michigan, you know, you're Tennessee. I have a lot of my followers that live in small towns. They follow me on, you know, TikTok or on Instagram, and they're not living in Miami or LA or New York. And for some of them, just the act of, hey, you know, going from three cans of soda pop a day to one or two is a big deal. And so I encourage people who are listening, you know, whether you're a follower of mine or a bunny, is that just to reduce some of the amount of sugar you drink? So if you have three cans of soda pop, try to reduce it to two. Maybe substitute that other one for a can of kombucha, you know, something a little bit different or a green tea or something. Or even just plain water. Yeah, just water water.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (49:28)

I'm not sponsored by them, but this is the best water in the world. Mountain Valley water.

Dr. Tony Yoon (49:31)

I love them because that just making those little changes can be huge deals. And I really encourage people who are listening that if you can do that, be proud of yourself because those are big steps towards that goal. The second thing I encourage people to do is try to reduce the amount of ultra processed foods because those, once again, they contain free radicals. And then free radicals can cause damage to your skin by this process called oxidation. So taking those two huge groups of food out I think is so, so important. A reducing amount that you can eat of that and then what you want to replace that with are colorful fruits and vegetables. We talked about the antioxidants in them, healthy sources of protein. And so I'm a big fan of grass fed beef, of pastured pork Pastured chicken, wild caught fish, sustainably caught fish, you know, that are, that you have vetted. Okay, that's good too.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (50:23)

How do you feel about tilapia? Isn't it man made?

Dr. Tony Yoon (50:26)

So tilapia, there are some studies showing, so there are omega 3 fats and omega 6 fats. So when we look at all the different fats that we can eat, there are different kinds. So some fats are 100% we know are good for you. Omega 3 fatty acids, which are the main fat that we know is healthy for us in fish. That's the big thing. Omega 6 fatty acids are called polyunsaturated fatty acids. These are the fats that are in things like margarine, in like seed oils. And then some oils contain a combination of both. So like olive oil, which in general is really good for you, contains both Omega 3 and Omega 6. And the goal you want is to maximize the amount of omega 3s and overall minimize omega 6. Because we get way too much of that in our general, in our society. And so in general, what you want to do then is eat those healthy sources of fats, those healthy sources of protein. Okay. And then the healthy fruits and vegetables, and then trying to get rid of some of those ultra processed types of things.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (51:25)

Gotcha. And not all salads are good for you. I learned that the hard way whenever I was dieting is there's some salads that have more calories and more fat in them. Like when, if you eat a salad, you have to, like, really pay attention to what's in it. You can't just be like, oh, I eat salads every day. Because that could be.

Dr. Tony Yoon (51:42)

Yeah. I mean, if you douse it in a bunch of dressing and then you throw a bunch of bacon bits on it. Yeah. So I mean, it's the same thing with coffee. You know, coffee is a great drink in general because it's filled with antioxidants. But when you throw a bunch of cream and sugar and you mix it up with all these syrups and stuff like that, you take, you know, what essentially is a really a good healthy drink, and you make it, you know, a sugar bomb, essentially.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (52:04)

Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Tony Yoon (52:04)

And so really, it's what you do sometimes with these basic foods that make a big difference.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (52:09)

Absolutely. I could just pick your brain all day. Do you have time to answer a couple questions?

Dr. Tony Yoon (52:14)

Of course. Some of the people I'm happy to talk about that, we can talk about anything. Plastic surgery. I would love to anti aging.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (52:20)

They have so many questions about plastic surgery. So I figured I Would, you know, let you answer their questions? These are for everybody on my Patreon. They are so excited that you're here. They actually came with a bunch of really good questions. So we'll answer a few of them and then we'll move on to a couple other topics. Is it healthier for a fat transfer instead of a breast augmentation? And would you as a doctor consider 48, too old to have said procedure if there isn't any major health issues?

Dr. Tony Yoon (52:52)

Okay, so breast implants, I'm happy to talk about that. And breast implant illness, I know you've talked about your experience with implants and stuff, so I've got definitely an opinion on that. As far as fat grafting to the breasts, a lot of people are talking about that now as kind of like a natural alternative. And as a surgery, it is in general very safe to perform. Essentially what you do is you liposuction fat from your hips or your thighs or your tummy, and then we purify the fat and then inject it into the breasts. And as far as immediate complications, it's usually pretty low risk. The thing that a lot of plastic surgeons, and I don't know of anybody talking about this but me, honestly, like, I have not heard anybody but me. So maybe I don't know and everybody else does. But when you think about it, theoretically, okay, one in nine women will get breast cancer in their lifetime. So the breast essentially is a cancer prone organ. As sad as it is, that's the truth. We know over the last 10 to 15 years that our fat is chock full of stem cells. Stem cells are cells that are so young that the belief is that you put them into a body part and they will essentially turn into cells for that body part. And that's the reason why it's exciting for things like cancer. If you have to have an organ removed. The idea is that, hey, I wonder if stem cells can help to remake that organ essentially. So theoretically, then what happens if you take a cancer prone organ like a breast and you inject it with a ton of stem cells haphazardly all around the organization? What if, for example, you are 47? She is.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (54:21)

She said 48.

Dr. Tony Yoon (54:22)

48. Okay. And let's say she has a family history of breast cancer. Let's say she has a cluster of dysplastic cells, meaning cells that are not normal, that could eventually create a cancer. But there's so few of them and they're not that aggressive that they won't turn into a cancer until she turns 140 years old. But now you inject a bunch of stem cells around those cells. Those stem cells then will turn into the cells that they are around. Is it possible that now she develops a breast cancer when she turns 60 or 65? Oh, my goodness, I don't know. And we don't know the answer to that. And unfortunately, we won't know the answer to that for decades because these operations have just been getting popular over the last few years. And when I have brought this up with other plastic surgeon colleagues of mine, they kind of brush it off. They're like, well, you know, it's a safe operation. We can't tell the female future.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (55:11)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (55:12)

But these are things we need to know about. And so for me, I do fat graft into the breasts. In rare cases when patients have had, typically, let's say they've had implants and they've had some major complication and they feel they, you know, that they don't look right. And we try to reconstruct them essentially. But you really want to weigh those risks versus benefits. And it really, it's looking at plastic surgery from a more holistic perspective. You know, I have this term called the America's holistic plastic surgeon. People like, what does that mean? Well, this is one of those things. It's like not, not just focusing on the cosmetic result, but how does this affect your whole body, you know, because it does you no good if we make your breasts bigger with fat and then you develop breast cancer 15 years from now that you never would have had. And we just didn't understand it because we never actually thought about this any more. Holistic whole body perspective.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (55:57)

Right. Also, another thing about getting just fat transfer and the difference between an augmentation and fat transfer, because I have had my implants taken out. So if I were, were to go and get fat transfer, it doesn't create that bubble on the top. And I think a lot of people don't realize that when you just only get fat transfer in your boobs, it's going to fill out more of the bottom and like, not have the roundness.

Dr. Tony Yoon (56:21)

You can't create roundness with that. It's just that you can maybe get about a half a cup because about half that fat is going to disappear, right? Yeah.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (56:28)

Unless it's me. My body loves fat. I had fat transferred to my ass. And I swear it keeps growing.

Dr. Tony Yoon (56:34)

It does. But usually it's if you gain weight. Like I had one patient who I put fat in her lips, then she got pregnant maybe a couple years later and she was like, she messaged me. She's laughing, she's like, oh my gosh, my lips are so huge.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (56:45)

Oh no. Who knew that your lips could grow like that? But if you think about it, could the stem cells?

Dr. Tony Yoon (56:51)

Well, it's fat. You know, you put fat somewhere and when you gain weight, the fat cells get larger.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (56:55)

Oh my goodness. That is hilarious. What is the scariest thing you've ever seen during a surgery? Any paranormal spookies?

Dr. Tony Yoon (57:04)

You know, I could tell you this wasn't scary, but something that was, I guess, kind of in a paranormal. But this is not like the spooky thing. So I had a patient of mine, this is a story actually out of my book, Playing God. But this is a woman who came to see me. She was in her early 60s, she was really overweight and she had a cane. So she walks into my office on a cane, barely able to walk. And I took a look at her chart and she is like, has every medical problem known to man. Like, she was diabetic, she had had sex. Dense place from having a heart attack. She had was on blood thinners. And like everything you can think of is what we call in medicine a train wreck. And. And yeah, it's not a nice term, but this is what we call if you go to the ER and like, oh, this person's a train wreck, you know, oh geez, they've got every medical issue right? And so she comes to see me and I was like, well, what can I do for you? And she said, I had a tummy tuck done by another surgeon and everything fell apart. And she said, my tummy is a mess. I'm in so much pain that I can barely walk. And she get tears. She got tears in her eyes and she's like, Dr. Yoon, I need you to help me. She said, I've been to 10 other 10 or 12 or some other plastic surgeons and everybody has turned me down and you're my last hope. So I said, well, what's going on? And she said, so I had this operation by this other doctor. They removed the skin from my tummy and then everything turned black. My tissue died and I was in the hospital for months. And now everything is scarred in and it's just so painful. And she got tears in her eyes and she said, Dr. Yoon, I can't even play with my granddaughter. She goes, the one thing I want to do is be able to play with my granddaughter again. And so I look at her information and I tell her, I'm like, look, you know You've got so many medical issues, they probably turned you down because you're such high risk. Like, you can die from this operation. And she goes, my life is over right now as it is. Like, what am I worried about? So, you know, somebody like that comes in and you look at all these things and you're just like, dang. You know, if I were to bring this person to surgery, she could die on the operating table or she could have a bleeding complication after. There's so many things that can go wrong. But this was one of those handful of times as a physician where I go over all this stuff and I look at it and I just have this sense of assuredness that everything was going to be okay and that this was something that I had to do for her. Although, like, the scientific part of me, you know, the rational part of my head is like, say, no, don't operate on her. This is a big mistake. But there was that part of me that was like, I've got to do this for her. And. And for some reason, I know it's going to be okay. So her surgery. So I tell her, look, I say, look, you know, I'm willing to do this operation for you, but I need to tell you, like, I don't know what's going to happen. Like, I can't guarantee a result. And I said, you know, we can try to get your insurance to pay for it. I don't even know what they're going to pay for it. And I said, well, but let's do this. I feel like I need to help you. So the night before her surgery, I don't do this. I don't do this much. But I prayed for her and I prayed that the surgery was gonna go fine and that she was gonna do fine.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (59:59)

You're such a sweet doctor.

Dr. Tony Yoon (60:01)

I get to the operating room, we do this operation, and it goes so smoothly. Like, it literally took like two and a half hours, removed all the scarred tissue, and she just flew flu in her post operative recovery. And I knew at the time when I was operating, as things were going along, like, I didn't. I didn't feel alone. Like, I felt like I was being guided, right? So the funny thing is she comes back a few weeks later. I think I went on vacation or something, so I hadn't seen her. And she came back a few weeks later, no cane. She has a cake that she baked for me. And she's like. And she knew that her insurance had rejected the claim that they weren't going to pay for surgery. And she's like, look, I'm really sorry. I don't have any money to pay you. She goes, but here's a cake that I baked for you. And I tell you, bunny, I have a rule that whenever my patients bring in food to my office, I will not eat it because I don't know what their kitchen looks like. They could have chachi like standing on their counters and like sound like me.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (60:52)

I'm the same way. If I don't know where it came from, I'm not eating it.

Dr. Tony Yoon (60:55)

I'm like, oh, okay.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (60:56)

What if they decided to make like, you know, weed brownies or something like that?

Dr. Tony Yoon (61:00)

Like, oh, okay. You know, that's really nice. This is like my usual, like, huh? Thanks. And so she tells him, she's like, Dr. Yoon, she goes, you know, she goes, why did you do it? Why'd you do this operation? Everybody else turned me down. And I said, you know, I just had this feeling that this was the right thing to do, that you needed my help and that I wasn't alone doing this, that somebody was guiding me. And so she says, you know, and she's like, gives me a piece of the cake and like, I finally like, okay, fine, I'll eat it. So she was like, she thanked me and she said, I'm. I was so excited. I was hanging out with my granddaughter last night and I'm able to play with her again. And she just thanked me for it. And it's like, I mean, so sometimes every once in a while as a physician, there are these handful of patients through your lives that, you know, through your career that just mean everything. And it has nothing to do with the money. It has nothing to do like, oh, this fine result that I'm so proud of. It's just like you change somebody's life and it just means everything.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (61:53)

It's chicken soup for the soul.

Dr. Tony Yoon (61:54)

It's that type of thing.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (61:55)

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (61:56)

Just not quite so cheesy.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (61:57)

Yeah, I love that. That's a beautiful story.

Dr. Tony Yoon (62:00)

Oh, thank you.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (62:01)

Tummy tuck or lipo for fluff that won't go away after having kids.

Dr. Tony Yoon (62:06)

Depends on wear and skin quality. So tummy tucks remove excess skin, typically below the belly button, above the pubic area. But you trade it for a hip to hip scar and a scar around the belly button. Okay. There's no other way around it. Like, there's no secret to it. It's just you cut that extra skin and fat out, then you pull the skin down and then you trade it for those scars. Lipo is removal of fat. And if you've had multiple kids and you're talking about the tummy, most likely you're talking a tummy tuck. If you haven't had kids and you've got love handles or something like that and your skin is pretty tight, then that's what lipo can help with. So tummy tuck is for excess skin of the tummy. Lipo does not do that. If anything can make it worse.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (62:44)

Right? Yeah. So if you go and you get lipo and you have, you know, a lot of fat right there and they pull it out, the skin can hang. So you're just going to end up having to get a tummy tuck anyways.

Dr. Tony Yoon (62:54)

Yeah. So if you're unhappy with your tummy after having kids, most of the time lipo is not going to be a good solution. Most of the time you're looking at a tummy tuck. Yeah.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (63:04)

What is the wildest request you've ever.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (63:06)

Had for a surgery?

Dr. Tony Yoon (63:08)

Oh, you know, I can tell you a wild story.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (63:11)

Oh, I'm ready.

Dr. Tony Yoon (63:12)

Okay. I mean, I get wild requests, but this was like a wild story. I had a patient who came in to see me. This was. I literally was in practice for four months. So I'm this new plastic surgeon in Michigan. And I thought I was kind of like in my head, I was trying to present myself like as a Beverly Hills big shot because I trained out in Beverly Hills and now I'm in Rochester Hills, Michigan, this small town. At the same time, inside I knew I'm brand new, I'm green. I've not treated people by myself before, and I was nervous, but on the surface it's like, oh, yeah, sure, I'm a real plastic surgeon. I trained in Beverly Hills and stuff. So this woman comes in and she had had a facelift and a brow lift done by a different plastic surgeon, a guy who was really not thought of well in my community as kind of a chop shot type guy. And so she had some areas where a little bit of loose skin here, her brows had dropped again and stuff. And she's like, can you fix me or can you make things better? So I'm like. And she goes, I used to be a model and she was now in her late 50s. She goes, I used to be a model and now I'm just feeling like I've lost it and can you please help me? And I felt bad for her. So I said, you know what, let me give you a discount and let's do the separation. And it was a brow lift and a Facelift. And. And I brought her to surgery, and the surgery went perfectly. So she comes back to see me at one week, and she was happy at one week, and then at three weeks, she was happy. And then all of a sudden, I get a call from her a couple weeks later saying that I botched her and that she is going to go see some other surgeons to see what can be done to fix it. So now, like, I'm literally four months in practice. I never had an unhappy patient before. I didn't know what to do with it. And so I. I call her up and I say, hey, what's going on? She goes, you botched me. I'm trying to find somebody to fix this. And so I said, well, please just come back to the office. Let's take a peek at it. Because last time I saw her, she looked great. Like, healing was fine. So I said, just come back to the office, and let's just take a peek and see what's going on. Let's see what I can do to help you. So she comes into the office. She comes barging into. I schedule her at the end of the day because I'm thinking, like, I think she's mad, and I don't want her to scare other patients away. So you always schedule them at the end of the day so that they don't, like, you know, ruin the rest of your day and scare everybody away. So she comes in, she barges in the door, and she is pissed off, her face is bright red, and she starts screaming at me, and she's like, you botched me. You botched me. You made me look Oriental. And I'm like, oriental. She goes, you made me look like you. And I'm like, what? And like, she's Caucasian, you know, and like, no, she doesn't look Asian. And so I go, well, I go, let's settle down. She goes, I saw this other doctor, and he told me that I'm a train wreck now that you completely botched me. And I'm like, I'm actually really good friends with this doctor. There's no way he would ever say that. I don't tell her this, But I go, well, I go, what can I do to try to make it up for you? Like, let's, you know, let's. Let's see what we can do together. And she goes, you better pay me a half a million dollars, or I'm gonna run you out of town. And I go, I don't have. Like, I was literally $200,000 in debt.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (66:06)

Did she Look Asian.

Dr. Tony Yoon (66:07)

No, she looked fine. And she was healing fine. Looking at her incisions, everything was healing fine. She had body dysmorphia. What she looked and saw in the mirror was different than what everybody else saw. So I'm like. I go, look, I don't have a half a million dollars. Like, I'm like, I'm literally 200 grand in debt myself. And that's my debt. My wife had another 200 grand, so we're like almost half a million the whole as it is. And so I go, I don't have that money. And she goes, 400. Or she goes, $150,000. You pay me $150,000 and I will forget that you destroyed my face. And I go, look, you actually look fine. Like, let's talk this over. And then she goes, carte blanche, carte blanche. I get whatever I want by whatever surgeon I want for the next three years, and you pay for it. And I'm like, I mean, what?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (66:47)

This isn't like she's literally negotiating with you.

Dr. Tony Yoon (66:50)

So I go, look, I can't do that. Then she goes, if you don't do that, then I'm going to send you back to la, where the only people who allow you to operate in them are the whores. And she starts running through my office, literally screaming, the whores, the whores, the whores. She goes up to my big window and like a horror movie, she's like, I'm a monster. Looking at the window, screaming at the top of her lungs. And so I'm like, oh, my. Now, I knew that she was going to be unhappy, so I actually wrote her a check for what I had, what she paid me and what her hospital fees were like, I would have. It's like, more than what I meant, like, what she paid me and a lot more. Because before, you know, when, before she came in, I had this feeling like, this is going to go bad. And I had a release for her where if she were to sign the release, then, like, it releases me of indemnity, of any responsibility. So I say, look, I go, I've got a check for the cost of your operation. I go, this is money that you paid the hospital, too. I go, I will give you this check if you sign this release. And she goes, she looks at it, she goes, this is all you're offering me? And she goes, I will destroy you. I've got good friends in town, and we're going to send you back to where you came from. And she leaves and slams the door and Leaves. My employees are, like, hiding under their desks, and they're like, oh, my gosh. So I call up my old mentor in la, who he has seen freaking everything. I remember he told me back in the day, he said, I had a patient of mine. He goes, yeah, I had a patient of mine who was stalking me would actually be in bushes in front of my house and looking through my windows. And so I'm like, well, he had this person. Like, that person was nuts. So maybe he knows what to do. So I call him up and I say, hey, Doc, this woman, she's, like, going crazy. I think she's gonna, like, she's threatened. She actually threatened to hit me with her car at one point. And she's gonna, like. I think she's gonna attack me. And I go, what did you do to get rid of that patient? And he goes, oh, simple. I hired some guys to beat her up. And I'm like, I don't. I'm not gonna hire people. And I don't even know who to hire to call anyway. Like, not that I would hire somebody to beat up a patient of mine. So I'm like, okay, thanks for nothing. And he's like, tell me what happens. This is exciting. And I hang up on him.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (68:55)

This is exciting.

Dr. Tony Yoon (68:56)

So I'm standing there, I'm like, what do I do? And, like, my employees, like, their eyes are huge. Like, all of a sudden, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. And she's at the door, and my employees are like, she probably has a gun. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. And they're like, don't open the door. And I'm like, I kind of like a ninja. I creep up to where the window is, and, like, I look around the corner and, like, I'm looking like there's no gun or anything. So I go up to the door, I open it up. She. She barges in, takes a check that I put on the front desk, puts in her pocket, signs the release, walks up to me, and she goes, this is not over. And she walks out the door. And so now, the next day, I had an operation. It was actually a breast reconstruction on a woman who had these huge breasts and she'd had cancer and this and that. It was going to be one of the most difficult, probably the most difficult operation I was supposed I was going to do up to that point in my career. I could not sleep overnight. And I call her up, it was like five in the morning. And I go, I'm really sorry. I said, I can't operate on you today. She goes, well, that's okay. And she's so nice. She goes, we'll do this later. And I go, no. I go, I don't think I can operate on you. And for months I had like lost all sense of like confidence in myself because like, here I. What did I do to this woman? So a couple weeks go by and I'm at the hospital treating a patient and I get a call from my office and they're like, you need to come back. That patient's mom has left you a message. So I go, what is the message? And the message is, you need to call me. My daughter is suicidal. So now I'm like, I'm like, fuck this. Now what happened? Like, my patient's gonna freaking kill herself because of this freaking facelift that I did on her. And like, what do I do? I called one of my best friends, a psychiatrist, and I say, brian, like, this is what's going on. Like what do I do? And he goes, you need to tell her mom to call the police and send her to the hospital immediately because if she's suicidal, you've got to do that. So I'm like, okay. So I call her mom up and I'm like, hey, this is Dr. Yoon. I'm calling. You left me a message about your daughter and you said she is suicidal. Is that true? And she goes, what? Suicidal? What are you talking about? And I go, well, this is what message was left. And she goes, no, no, that's a figure of speech. She needs more money to pay for what you did to her. Oh my gosh. Like, this is an 80 year old woman, 85 year old woman trying to like, trying to like blackmail me for more money.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (71:18)

Oh my gosh.

Dr. Tony Yoon (71:20)

So I'm like, look, I'm sorry, this conversation's over. And. And like that was the end of it, but.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (71:25)

And you never heard from them again?

Dr. Tony Yoon (71:26)

You know, I. So I referred her in, I referred her initially when she called before I saw her and that whole crazy episode happened and I gave her some names of some local surgeons who are much old, older than me, who've been very established. And so I ran into one of them at a meeting a couple years later and he's like, hey, Tony. I'm like, oh, hey, how's it going? And. And he's like, you know that one patient? I'm like, oh, I know who you're talking about. And he goes, she's effing crazy.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (71:52)

She was just looking for a paycheck.

Dr. Tony Yoon (71:54)

I think that she Saw this young, naive, like, nice surgeon and was like. And got a nice result. I think part of it may be bdd, like, by dysmorphia. And part of is, like, I'm going to take this guy for everything he has. And, like, now I would handle that experience very differently in my career. Like, I would never let somebody talk to me that way. But at the time, I was literally four months in practice, and, like, I was so green and just wanted to make everybody happy and develop this little practice. It's, like, so traumatic.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (72:23)

I hate that. I would think being a plastic surgeon, you would deal with everybody that comes in there has body dysmorphia. I know.

Dr. Tony Yoon (72:30)

I have at least 10 of patients. Yeah. And it's tough. It can be really hard.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (72:36)

Crazy.

Dr. Tony Yoon (72:37)

Yeah. But, you know, in the end, it's the problem with body dysmorphia. I mean, you say, look, I have body dysmorphia. The fact that you say that means you probably really don't have much of it, and you may have some of it. Because one huge thing with body dysmorphia is that people who have it don't believe they have it. You know? And so somebody will say, hey, they've got, like, a little bump on their nose. And for you and I, we may see them and go, oh, there's a little bump there. Their nose looks fine, but to them, that bump is the size of Mount Rushmore. And they don't understand why we can't see how horrible their nose looks. And so a lot of times, then they'll undergo surgery after surgery, after surgery to correct a perceived problem that was never even there in the first place. And they don't even. And for them, the reality is very different. You know, they see things that we literally don't see. Like, it's their reality.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (73:21)

Body dysmorphia all the time.

Dr. Tony Yoon (73:24)

You think? So, Mimi.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (73:28)

You feel like answering a few more questions?

Dr. Tony Yoon (73:30)

Oh, yeah, of course. I won't be so long winded on the next.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (73:32)

No, you're fine. I love it. I love learning about this stuff and listening to it. It's just fascinating to me. Like, I. I've always wanted to ask a plastic surgeon, what is it like? I don't know if this is too graphic, but what is it like the first time you cut into a body?

Dr. Tony Yoon (73:48)

So we do that in. In medical school and residency, and it. You know, the good thing is that you're not the first one to do it, and so you're assisting.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (73:57)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (73:58)

And I think it's the first time it's your patient is when it's really scary.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (74:03)

Right?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (74:03)

That's what. Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (74:04)

You know, because being a resident there was always backup, you know, like when we did surgery in residency, you had the older surgeon basically saying, like, cut here. I remember the first time they actually, I was operating with the surgeon. I was. I was, I think maybe an intern. And I was doing. Essentially, it was a hernia. And that's like one of the basic operations. And I'd never started an operation before. And we're standing there over the patient, and he goes, tony, get started. And I had a clamp in my hand. No, I had nothing in my hand. He goes, tony, get started. And I had never started an operation before. So I'm like. And I grabbed the clamp off of the mayo stand, which is the stand that the scrub techs have, and he looks at me like, you idiot. Are you going to make a cut with a clamp? I'm like, oh, no. Like, can I have a scalpel, please? So you gotta start in somewhere.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (74:53)

That's what I mean. Like, I could never do it. I would probably pass out.

Dr. Tony Yoon (74:56)

No, because it's baby steps, you know? I mean, our training, you know, for me, my training started when I was a medical student. And literally, you're talking.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (75:04)

I mean, I did six years FaceTiming. And I know he wants to say hi to you, so hold on one second.

Dr. Tony Yoon (75:11)

Hello, Jelly roll. Big fan, my friend. Big fan. Oh, man, that's. That's an honor.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (75:19)

I love you. We're in the middle of the pod, but I told him that I know you were calling just to say hi to him. Love you.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (75:26)

Goodbye.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (75:29)

Sorry. So I just know that he was calling to say hi to him.

Dr. Tony Yoon (75:32)

So. Good. No, that's awesome. Yeah. I mean, it's. It's baby steps.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (75:35)

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (75:35)

I remember back, you know, now it's like I've. You start from literally doing the tiniest little procedures. I remember the first time I did a spinal tap on a little baby, and I was so nervous as a medical student. But the. But the attending pediatrician was just so gentle and reassuring that you learn these things of how to help teach, and it gets to. You know. And I think the big thing a lot of surgeons forget is that we were once at that beginning stage, too, you know, so occasionally I'll have residents come work with me and stuff like that. And I think a lot of surgeons forget what it was like when you're at the bottom of the totem pole. And my third book was called Playing God. And it's this idea that surgeons have of this God complex where they feel that they are just so superior sometimes to everybody else because they lose track of where they started. You know, for me, I look at that medical student that was like, so excited to do a spinal tap and then, like, so nervous because here's this little kid, this little baby, you know, all the way up to now where it's like, yeah, I've had people say thank you for saving my life. And, you know, I've cut people's skin open and pull it. It's like, when you think about it, like, how arrogant do you have to be to think that you can cut somebody open, especially in plastic surgery, where they're completely healthy and you make them unhealthy for a period of time, expecting that they're going to be healthy again.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (76:48)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (76:48)

And that that's how you make your living. Like plastic surgery have to be.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (76:52)

It's beautiful, but it's so barbaric at the same time.

Dr. Tony Yoon (76:55)

It can be.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (76:55)

I had high def vaser lipo and then I also had fat transfer to my ass. And I'm telling you, I don't know, the healing for that was brutal. Like, yeah, it was crazy. And it's just. It's fascinating to know that you can cut somebody open, take stuff out, sew them up again, and then the outcome is absolutely gorgeous.

Dr. Tony Yoon (77:18)

Well, it's like I said earlier, this idea of autojuvenation. It's. Your body has innate regenerative abilities to rejuvenate itself. Like, our body wants to heal itself. It wants to be healthy. It wants to be vibrant and youthful, you know, and it's like, you do things like that, you traumatize your body and it heals. And within a few weeks, it's like, wow, I'm back to exercising and stuff like that. It's just, once again, we need to ideally give it the abilities, not the ability, but the tools to do that in the environment to do that. And that's what I think is so missing in a lot of today's lifestyle. And. And that's one of the big things I really bring up in the book. And how do you do that? What tools do you give your body to get you feeling young and healthy and vibrant? I think that there are so many people today that go through life not knowing how amazing they can feel.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (78:07)

Absolutely.

Dr. Tony Yoon (78:08)

They don't know that all that gluten that they're eating potentially is causing them to feel real crummy. And unless they do what you did Go on an elimination diet, get rid of some of those things. It's like we have this thing in the book called the 21 Day Jump Start, where in three weeks or 21 days, basically what we do is we put them on a collagen supporting healthy diet. We start them on intermittent fasting, weeks two and three, not week one, because we want to kind of ease them into it. We put them on certain supplements and skincare, and we do it just for 21 days. And the changes that we saw were incredible. Once again, giving your body just the right tools. We had people, and it's not like a facelift. Like if you got jowls, you do a 21 day jump starting. 21 day jump starts. I can get rid of jowls or loose skin or whatever. But we had people where they were actual strangers would approach them on the street and say, what are you doing with your skin? Because I need to do what you're doing. Or they go out to dinner with their friends, not knowing that they're doing this jumpstart. And their friends would be like, wow, your skin looks amazing. Are you doing something different? Like what's going on here? And it's just allowing your body to use those natural regenerative abilities to, you know, don't get in the way of it. You know, give it those things.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (79:13)

Just be. I'm excited to read your books. I can't wait. Now that I know that you have four, I'm really excited because I'm an information junkie. I always just want to consume. So I'm super excited about that. Says I have factor 5 leaden clotting disorder with previous DVT slash PE. Would I ever be allowed to have elective surgery?

Dr. Tony Yoon (79:35)

The answer is yes. So what she says is she's got a clotting disorder and the fact that she's had a DVT or PE is.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (79:40)

A big deal in your leg, right?

Dr. Tony Yoon (79:41)

Yes.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (79:42)

Pulmonary embolism, right?

Dr. Tony Yoon (79:43)

Yes, It's a PE is a pulmonary embolism. A DVT is a deep vein thrombosis where you get a clot in your deep veins that can kill you. When you look at people who die from plastic surgery, then the most common cause is a DVT of deep vein thrombosis, a clot in your leg that eventually goes to your lungs. Being a PE and then being people die from that goodness. And the ways to prevent that would be, number one, to walk after surgery. Number two, to have less length of an operation, a shorter operation. And so for her having that risk. Most doctor, like, if she came to see me and wanted a high risk operation like a tummy tuck, I would probably say, depending on what her condition was, if it was really purely cosmetic, it wasn't that bad, Then I would really talk to her, like, are these risks worth the benefits? Because you can put a patient like that on blood thinners and help lower the risk of that happening, but then you increase the risk of bleeding. Okay. Because you put them on blood thinners afterwards. So you can technically do it, but do you want to go through that? That's going to be the big question. So it comes down to what operation you're thinking of and then is it worth taking the risk of going on blood thinners for that operation?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (80:55)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (80:55)

And so let's say if her situation is, she says, Look, Dr. Yun, I've had four kids. I've got skin that's hanging down to my mid thigh. It chafes. I've got infections and stuff like that, then it may be worth taking that risk. If it's, well, I kind of want implants because I'm a C. And I want to be a D. Then maybe it's not really worth taking that risk, you know, because do you want to potentially die from that? And so really it's weighing those risk benefits that's most important.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (81:18)

That's a great answer though, for sure.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (81:21)

Gosh.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (81:22)

Pulmonary. I just ripped my calf muscle on Halloween. It was the worst thing ever. And I kept telling everybody, I was like, I'm gonna get a blood clot. I know it. I was like, so scared because, you know, I've never had that type of injury.

Dr. Tony Yoon (81:33)

You gotta walk. That's the big thing.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (81:34)

I did. I did for sure. And I got. I got a compression sock and I still worked out even with the injury. Like, I was like, I'm determined to not do this. What is the most common procedure that you do? And also what is your least favorite procedure to do?

Dr. Tony Yoon (81:49)

So the most common procedure in my office is botox. I mean, we are injecting botox all day long in my office. I've got five injectors. Yeah, I mean, that's great. And I injected myself here before. I just got daxify a few months ago, which is a believed to be a longer lasting version of botox.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (82:05)

Is it like dysport?

Dr. Tony Yoon (82:06)

Dysport is more so dysport. Botox and daxifier, you get the same result. The idea really is that the daxify will last longer. Longer. And there's little minor tweaks in between like dysport is more of a softer result. Usually a lot of people leave it. It spreads a little bit more.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (82:20)

Gotcha.

Dr. Tony Yoon (82:21)

Daxify is mainly longer lasting.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (82:23)

Gotcha.

Dr. Tony Yoon (82:24)

And so in the office, the number one thing is going to be Botox. As far as procedure surgery, my most common is breast implant Surgery is breast augmentation. Least favorite operation, honestly, was rhinoplasty. I used to do a lot of rhinoplasties and I just never liked it.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (82:40)

Brutal.

Dr. Tony Yoon (82:42)

So I stopped doing them.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (82:44)

Why did you not like doing them?

Dr. Tony Yoon (82:45)

So I trained with them and I saw a lot of just. Just nightmare like revisions that would not have my patients, but that you try to fix. And it's just. It's a really hard operation to get.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (82:55)

And it's like the center of someone's face, you know?

Dr. Tony Yoon (82:57)

Yeah. And the problem with the thing I didn't like about rhinoplasty is that you could do such a good job. It's so tedious and it's so tedious. And the problem is you could get scar tissue that can develop that is not under your control that can really impact your result because just a millimeter of scar tissue on a nose can be visible from a normal speaking distance.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (83:21)

Wow.

Dr. Tony Yoon (83:22)

And so because of that, some of the result is not in your hands. And so of all the surgeries we do cosmetically, rhinoplasty or nose jobs has the highest revision rate where people want to go back to surgery to fix it up. And if you don't have your own operating room, which I do not, then you get in this really uncomfortable situation where if you get your nose done and you're unhappy with it and you want it to get revised, who pays for it? Right. You know, I could do it for free, but then who pays for the anesthesia and the operating room? You know, and then you get into that situation. Well, geez, if I think it's a good result, but. But the patient doesn't.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (83:52)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (83:53)

Do I then pay the bill for that to try to make them happy? Do they pay for, like, it just ugh it.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (83:58)

You're such a nice doctor.

Dr. Tony Yoon (83:59)

I just always felt bad and so I just never liked doing it.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (84:01)

Most doctors would tell people to go F themselves.

Dr. Tony Yoon (84:04)

Yes. I've never told a patient to go F themselves. I've wanted to sometimes. Usually the people I want to say that to are like the husbands or boyfriends of the patients. They I often want to say that to, but not the patient so much.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (84:16)

Do you get that a lot? Like, the boyfriends come in there and they're just like, like, putting their input on what they want. Their girlfriend.

Dr. Tony Yoon (84:21)

And it drives me nuts. Yeah. If you see my social media, that's a lot of what I do is because, like, you just sometimes sit there and, like, I mean, it baffles you what some of these guys are doing. Like, I had a patient just not that long ago who had a complication from another surgeon and came to see me. This patient was literally lied when they say, oh, you know, I, I want to get a consultation. It was for breast implants. And I want to get a consultation for breast implants. We got her in, and then she came in. She had a tummy tuck done by me before, which had healed fine. And she had had surgery literally three weeks before she came to see me.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (84:52)

Oh, my gosh.

Dr. Tony Yoon (84:53)

She had implants put in by a different doctor, and she was really unhappy. No, she had her implants taken out. That's what it was. She had her implants taken out. She had an explant, and it was a mess. And so she came in to see me and she's like, and, and the consult was for an explant. But they didn't tell my office that it was three weeks that she had it by another doctor. So I'm looking at her, and it was an app, like, when you do explant surgery, and essentially these are taking implants out of somebody. Now if you've got, like, you know, you had large breasts, and so you take your implants out and your breasts just look smaller and they look flatter. But if you don't have enough breast tissue and you take implants out, it can look like, Like a balloon that deflated and, but stayed stretched out, essentially. So that's what she did.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (85:37)

They do fluff back up, though, after a little bit. See, mine fluffed up a lot after. I'd have to say six months to a year. My boobs look like they did when they. I was 19. Like, they were like, I, maybe I was a lucky one, but, yeah, usually.

Dr. Tony Yoon (85:51)

That'S not the case.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (85:51)

Yeah, I mean, I, I, Everybody thinks I still have implants.

Dr. Tony Yoon (85:55)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's probably just naturally. You've got large breasts. And I do think that sometimes the body wants to be a certain size. Right. No matter what you do. But this patient was a mess. I was just like. And it was three weeks out, and she's like, what do I do? And I said, look, the only way for us to fix this, honestly, is to put smaller implants back in and then heal, give it six months to heal, then we'll take those out and do this the right way. That's the only way I can fix you. The other surgeon recommended in fat grafting, but her. She had so many of these folds in her breasts where things had deflated and has scarred in or starting to scar in. I'm like, I can't fix that. We have to put the implants back in, re. Inflate you, and then we'll do it the right way. And. And. And she goes, yeah, that's the right thing to do. She goes, that sounds correct. And her husband's like, nope, we're not doing that. And I look at him. I'm like, what? And she's like. And she looks at me. She's like, I think this makes total sense. You know, the other doctor really messed it up. And, like, it doesn't look right. He goes, that's not my plan. I've got my own plan for you. And he was some type of a doctor, but he was not a plastic surgeon.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (86:52)

Right?

Dr. Tony Yoon (86:53)

Yeah. And so I'm looking him like, okay. And I go, well. And I explained exactly, like, this is what totally makes sense. And it really. And when you look at her body, like, it 100%. This is a way to get her looking the way she wanted to.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (87:04)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (87:05)

And he is just like, nope, I've got my own plans. And, you know, thank you so much for your time, doctor. We're leaving. So cringey after she had. She is like, yes, this makes sense to me. Let's do this, Dr. Yun. And then he all. He's sitting there and, you know, his arms folded, and it's like, nope, nope, you're not doing that. I got my own plans for you. And, like, what kind of doctor? Maybe he's a podiatrist, for all I know. Like, why is he deciding what she should have done? You hear this. All this type of stuff all the time.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (87:30)

Yeah. I don't think I've ever brought a man into my plastic surgery appointments, because I. It's my body, and I'm gonna do what I want with it. I don't care what their opinion is. So, ladies, leave the men at home unless they're supportive.

Dr. Tony Yoon (87:42)

Yes. Yeah. I mean, and. And I'd say 95% of men who are there are super supportive, like, whatever you want. Like, you. I. I don't think you need anything. You're beautiful the way you are, but whatever you want is fine. I'll support you. And, like, that's the way you gotta do It. But every so often, you get some guys that are just like, yeah, I want her to be bigger than that. And you're just like, what? Like, she's like, I like this size. I'm like, honey, you told me you're gonna go bigger. You know, I like big breasts, and.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (88:04)

It'S like, oh, I can't stand that.

Dr. Tony Yoon (88:06)

It just. Yeah, like, you just want to smack them.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (88:08)

But let's touch base on your social media, because you have a huge following on Tick Tock. You're at like, what, 8.1 million?

Dr. Tony Yoon (88:16)

I think I'm at 8.3 or something.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (88:18)

Yeah.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (88:18)

Like, that's insane. Like, you are Tick Tocks plastic surgeon.

Dr. Tony Yoon (88:23)

Yeah. It's kind of funny. All the teenagers, like, they recognize me, and my kids get a kick out of it. Oh, I love that I'm actually somehow the cool dad. Like, I was never the cool teenager, but I'm somehow the cool dad.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (88:34)

Isn't it crazy how life comes full circle?

Dr. Tony Yoon (88:36)

It's more like not a full circle, more like 180 degrees.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (88:42)

But, I mean, you do such a good job. Like, is.

Dr. Tony Yoon (88:44)

Thank you.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (88:44)

Do you have a marketing team, or do you do that all yourself?

Dr. Tony Yoon (88:46)

No, it's all me.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (88:47)

I love that.

Dr. Tony Yoon (88:48)

Yeah, it's. You know, it's. When the pandemic hit and I started creating content, I just. I was trying to figure out, how do I. How do I, like, pay my employees? And the biggest check I was getting was from Google for my YouTube channel.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (89:00)

Yep.

Dr. Tony Yoon (89:00)

So I'm like, well, let me create more content. And I wasn't worried about getting patients in because my office was closed for two and a half months. So I was like, hey, let me just create content that could make people smile, take them out of the crazy, lonely, scary time for even 30 seconds. And it's like, what you're doing. I mean, it's. I love what you're doing. It's like you give people a chuckle. It's like you're not taking yourself too seriously.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (89:19)

You can't.

Dr. Tony Yoon (89:20)

And people love that. And. And one of the best things I got is I had all these messages after, you know, things kind of opening up, and it's like, hey, thank you for keeping. For keeping me company during the pandemic. Yeah, I was lonely, and I. You helped keep me company. I'm like, oh, that's so cool.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (89:34)

Yeah, it's amazing what just a smile can do for somebody. You know? Like, you never know who's watching that video on the other end. And I think it's awesome that you have created this community of a safe space where people can actually come to you, and you're actually, like, accessible. Most plastic surgeons or, like, doctors of your stature are not accessible. And I think that's what kind of sets you apart.

Dr. Tony Yoon (89:55)

So I think that part of it is, like. It's weird. Like, not caring about clout gives you clout.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (90:01)

Right.

Dr. Tony Yoon (90:01)

And there's so many people in my field who are buying followers. You know, you could tell, like, you know, they've got, like, you know, more. More Instagram followers than me, but they get like, three comments and, like, three comments and 20,000 likes, and you're like, what? Like, there's something wrong here?

Bunny (Podcast Host) (90:15)

Yeah. You're like, what's going on?

Dr. Tony Yoon (90:17)

Yeah. The field of plastic surgery, it's. There's a lot of really good doctors out there, and then there's a lot of people who are just. They want clout and they want money, and that's all that matters. And it's just. It's nuts.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (90:27)

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (90:28)

You know, and there's so much more to life than that. Yeah.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (90:31)

So sitting here talking to you makes me have faith in the medical field again, because for the longest time, I lost hope because you run into so many doctors who don't have a heart and don't care about their patients. And, you know, sitting here with you for this past, you know, hour and a half, two hours has been kind of healing because we need more doctors like you in the world and people who actually really care and have a heart and, you know, want people to heal and not just hurt. So.

Dr. Tony Yoon (90:56)

Thank you. I think that there's a lot of doctors who want that. I think there's a lot of doctors, unfortunately, right now that don't know what they don't know. And what we're talking about a lot of things we're talking about with kind of alternative medicine and holistic medicine and looking at the root cause of both aging as well as disease. There is a big trend towards going in that direction, and I'm really happy to see that. And eventually traditional medicine is going to get there, because for me, I believe that the best approach when you're looking at health is combining both the east and west, is a true, what we call integrative approach, where you combine traditional medicine, which is definitely needed. You know, when you get injured, you. You need traditional medicine.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (91:34)

Absolutely.

Dr. Tony Yoon (91:34)

But with alternative medicine and progressive kind of health, where we're looking at things, you know, like your environmental exposures, you know, like what you're putting on your skin, like the type of Food that you're eating, all that is so, so important. And they're just not getting it in traditional medical school much at all.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (91:47)

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (91:48)

But there's a trend that direction and I have faith in the younger generation that they're going to make the world a better place than what, you know, See, I'm Gen X. You're a millennial.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (91:59)

No, I'm, I'm 43.

Dr. Tony Yoon (92:01)

You're a millennial, I think.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (92:02)

Nope. I'm Jen X. Yeah, you're ex with me. Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (92:06)

As I say, I mean, I feel like our generation has dropped the ball a little bit. Like I feel like the, I see my kids and their generation and I feel like they're, they're less judgmental than we are. They care more about the environment and the world and doing the right thing in general.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (92:22)

That's because we raised them right. Our parents, we had, we kind of had to get our parents, parents trauma pushed on us and they're the way that they were raised pushed on us. Whereas we kind of figured it out for ourselves as we got older. So now we're getting, we're giving them the opportunity to be less non judgmental and more open to things.

Dr. Tony Yoon (92:42)

I think there's definitely something there.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (92:44)

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Yoon (92:44)

But I have faith in the, you know, that the world is always, you know, it always goes in the right direction eventually in fits and starts and ups and downs, but eventually it goes in the right direction.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (92:53)

I love it. Dr. Tony, your book comes out January 2nd.

Dr. Tony Yoon (92:57)

Correct.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (92:58)

And it's going to be any. They can buy it anywhere, so.

Dr. Tony Yoon (93:01)

Yes. So it's called Younger for Life. It's wherever books are sold. I try to encourage people to support your local bookstore. One way you can do that is if you go to bookshop.org bookshop.org is a website where kind of like Amazon or Barnes and Noble and stuff like that, where if you actually put the book in there and you can actually choose your local independent bookstore and, and anything that you buy, that profit of that sale will go to that independent bookstore. Oh, wow.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (93:24)

I never knew that.

Dr. Tony Yoon (93:25)

Yeah. So if you've got a little one like a small bookstore in your community and they're not big enough to have their own big website and fancy website, most of the time they're going to be on bookshop.org and if you buy the book, like my book Younger for Life on there, you can choose that bookstore and then actually give the profit to them.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (93:38)

So it's really cool that way.

Dr. Tony Yoon (93:40)

But otherwise it's at Costco, it's at Target. It's everywhere. You know, I don't want to get those places mad at me.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (93:45)

How accomplished do you feel though, being an author of four books? Like, that's amazing. I'm writing my first book this year and I couldn't even imagine having four.

Dr. Tony Yoon (93:53)

It's like, it's like having a baby. It's. You're proud of it, but it can be quite painful, the writing process. But in the end, like when you see the results of it and you hear from people whose lives are changed from it, it's definitely makes that path worthwhile.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (94:08)

That's amazing. You guys go out and get this book when it drops. By the time this, this will probably be coinciding with your drop too. So. Yeah. So you guys go out and get this book. I'm gonna read it. So I'm sure you guys will hear about it on future podcasts. Dr. Tony, thank you so much for coming and just sitting with me and I just love picking your brain and I. You need to come back like once a year.

Dr. Tony Yoon (94:28)

I'd love that. Definitely.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (94:29)

Yeah, that would be awesome. Why don't you tell people where they can find you and your practice and plug all things.

Dr. Tony Yoon (94:33)

So I'm all over social media. If you are interested in the book though go to autojuvenation.com so we talked about autojuvenation, the kind of, of five ways to. To target that. But autojuvenation.com if you do buy the book, we do have free gifts including a companion recipe book with really tasty recipes. We give a 30 gift certificate to my online store, Y Beauty. So I've got my own line of natural and organic skincare products.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (94:54)

Yes. Which he brought me a whole bag.

Dr. Tony Yoon (94:57)

Yes. I hope you like them.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (94:58)

I'm going to rub them all over my face tonight. You guys have no idea how excited I am.

Dr. Tony Yoon (95:02)

The idea is that Yoon Beauty is a combination of medical grade products that are natural and organic. It's kind of, it's. The idea is to bridge the gap between natural products and medical grade products so that you kind of have the best of both. So we give you a gift certificate for that. There's a quick start guide, a bunch of other things. If you get the book, go to auto rejuvenation.com yay.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (95:20)

Love that. And then social media is just Dr. Tony everywhere.

Dr. Tony Yoon (95:23)

It's Dr. Yoon and then Instagram. I'm Tony Yoon MD because I can't get anybody there to let me change my name. So are you verified Dr. Yoon everywhere? I'm verified everywhere.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (95:32)

Yeah. That's why once you're verified, you can't change your name. You just.

Dr. Tony Yoon (95:35)

I can't get a hold of anybody at Instagram either way. But all the other ones I can, but.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (95:38)

It's all good.

Dr. Tony Yoon (95:39)

But, yeah, you can just find me. But Dr. Yoon, you'll find me. I'm very easy to find. I'm everywhere.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (95:43)

You're awesome. Thank you so much.

Dr. Tony Yoon (95:44)

Appreciate it.

Bunny (Podcast Host) (95:45)

All right, thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Dumb Blonde. I'll see you guys next week.

Podcast Sponsor/Ad Host (95:49)

Bye.