Howie Mandel had bugs living under his skin as a kid. He still lives with the trauma - USA Today

Hide Caption #videoDetailsToggle{color:var( --color-dove-gray,rgba(0,0,0,.6));cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;font-family:var(--sans-serif,sans-serif);font-size:var(--type-7);font-weight:var( --font-weight-bold,900);line-height:var(--spacer-twentyfour,24px);margin-bottom:-8px}#vdt_hide{margin-bottom:10px}.vdt-flex{display:none}.vdt-svg{fill:var( --color-dove-gray,rgba(0,0,0,.6));height:var(--spacer-twentyfour,24px);width:var(--spacer-twentyfour,24px)} (function() { let vdContainer, vdShow, vdHide, flagCaption = false, vdToggle = document.getElementById('videoDetailsToggle'), section = ga_data.route.sectionName || ga_data.route.ssts.split('/'), subsection = ga_data.route.ssts.split('/'); vdToggle.addEventListener('click', ()=> { // query dom only after user click if (!vdContainer) { vdContainer = document.getElementById('videoDetailsContainer'); vdShow = document.getElementById('vdt_show'), vdHide = document.getElementById('vdt_hide'); } vdContainer.hidden = !(vdContainer.hidden); // show/hide elements if (vdContainer.hidden) { vdShow.hidden = false; vdHide.hidden = true; } else { if (!flagCaption) { flagCaption = true; fireCaptionAnalytics() } vdShow.hidden = true; vdHide.hidden = false; } }); function fireCaptionAnalytics () { let analytics = document.getElementById("pageAnalytics"); try { if (analytics) { analytics.fireEvent(`${ga_data.route.basePageType}|${section}|${subsection}|streamline|expandCaption`); } else { if (window.newrelic) window.newrelic.noticeError('page analytics tag not found'); } } catch (e) { if (window.newrelic) window.newrelic.noticeError(e); } } }()); Howie Mandel explains why some age compliments can stingHowie Mandel explains why the compliment "you look great for your age" misses the mark on "Live with Kelly and Mark."Howie Mandel is opening up about a rare skin condition he had as a kid − and how the way doctors treated him left him with lasting trauma. During a recent appearance on the "In Depth With Graham Bensinger" podcast, Mandel, 70, revealed that, when he was a boy, a sand fly laid its larvae underneath his skin. It was "like a horror film," Mandel said, as he recalled watching the bumps on his body move. What made matters worse, he added, was that doctors put him on display with the condition at a dermatology convention in his hometown of Toronto. The experience contributed to his heightened "ick factor," Mandel said, and the television personality has long been open about his struggles with severe OCD and germaphobia as an adult. Though the skin condition Mandel experienced is rare, the trauma he endured at the hands of doctors is, unfortunately, something he shares with others. Mandel's comments are an important reminder for doctors everywhere to listen to patients and show care in how they treat them, says Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, a family physician and health advocate. Curry-Winchell founded Clinicians Who Care, a database aimed to connect patients with empathetic doctors. After all, Curry-Winchell says, research shows that the traumas we experience early in life can impact our health as adults. "Those memories... that spills over into your overall physical and mental health and can play a role into what disease you develop later on," she explains. Howie Mandel's rare skin condition and the lasting trauma it gave himFor Mandel, he said, "the horror film didn't stop" with the infection. At the dermatology convention, he added, he was put on a table in his underwear, with his body on display for others. Nurses would hold him down and put liquid nitrogen on a bump, he said, which caused his skin to "sizzle and bubble" and then burst. He said this happened when he was about 6 or 7. ‘AGT’ judge Howie Mandel says his OCD is a 'vicious, dark circle.' Here's how he copes. "I was screaming," Mandel said. "They did one. And then my mom, who didn't know what they were going to do, took me, unstrapped me from the table and said, 'You're animals. Don't do this.' And carried me out." 'AGT' judge says he can't remember life without OCD. Here's how he copes. After that, he said, every night his mother would take a rough washcloth and alcohol and rub one of the bumps until his skin broke and bled and the larva there died. He said she got all of them. "It's traumatizing," Mandel said. "I had things living under my skin. So I have like an ick factor." Mandel's not alone in his experience of feeling mistreated by doctors. That's why Curry-Winchell says, it's crucial for patients to advocate for themselves. Doctors should keep patients feelings in mind and understand their wellbeing also includes their mental health. "It's so important for doctors to first think broadly, not just go from the first thought in your mind like, 'Oh, well, she's not sleeping well, she's a mom, she has kids. It must be that it's just a mom thing,' " Curry-Winchell says. "No, there's so many different things that it could be. It could be a thyroid issue, it could be a heart issue, it could be a cancer." 'They don't believe me': The pain and dangers of medical gaslighting If you feel like your doctor is dismissing you, she says, there are respectful but firm ways to ask to be taken more seriously. "Being able to say, 'I understand you think it's this, but what else could it be?'" she says, is one way to go about it. "And, if you feel that you are being gaslit and dismissed, honor that, because you know your body best."