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Don't mess with 'triangle of death,' Dr Oz warns
Put the tweezers down!
That's the message from Dr. Mehmet Oz, who said you better think twice before pulling out that nose hair or popping that pimple in the "triangle of death"-an area on the face around the nose and upper lip.
"You pick in that area, that triangle of death, you have a risk of that infection transcending the skin and going up to your brain," said the host of "The Dr. Oz Show," who offered all kinds healthy living advice in an extensive interview Tuesday on CNBC's " Squawk Box ."
Warning: skip this paragraph if you're squeamish. As for that nose hair, he said: "You pull that hair out ... there's a little blood that leaks out from the follicle that got disrupted." Bacteria can then get in there, breed infection, which can travel to your brain and cause cavernous sinus thrombosis. OK, it's safe to read again!
Oz, who got his television start on Oprah Winfrey's show in 2004, has turned his easy-to-understand healthy living advice into a global media empire with 200 employees. Besides the syndicated TV show, he's now the face of a new magazine called Dr. Oz: The Good Life. He's also the author of seven New York Times best-selling books. And by the way, he still practices medicine.
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How does he fit all that in? Sleep and routine. "Normally, I'm religious about the 7½ hours of sleep," he said. "The question is, should I sleep an extra half hour or go work out? Sleep the extra half hour."
"You should eat the same breakfast, have the same snack, same routine," he added. Don't make any big decisions in the morning, save them for the afternoon when you're more alert, he said.
Oz admitted that he naps nearly everyday. "Just 10 minutes of a nap in let's say the 1:30 [in the afternoon] time period, which is right where you're about to nadir in your circadian rhythm, you'll actually get a huge benefit that will take you through the rest of the night. You won't need the caffeine."
As for the escalating cost of health care in the U.S., he said Americans are not getting the message. "This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. If we don't fix the health problems in America, in our bedrooms, our living rooms, our kitchens, in our cars, if we don't fix it there, it doesn't matter what health-care plan you support. None of them are going to work. But if you deal with it there, they'll all work. Pick the one you want."
-By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere
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