Howie Mandel says a rare childhood skin condition began when a sand fly laid larvae under his skin—and that doctors’ treatment, including being displayed at a Toronto dermatology convention, left lasting trauma. A physician says the episode reflects how early
Howie Mandel remembers the moment he realized something was moving under his skin as if it were a scene from a horror film.
The television personality, now 70, described the childhood ordeal during a recent appearance on the “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” podcast. Mandel said that when he was a boy, a sand fly laid its larvae underneath his skin. He recalled watching the bumps on his body move while he was sick, and the sensation stayed with him.
What he says still stung most wasn’t only the infection. Mandel told listeners that doctors treated him in ways that left him traumatized for the long haul. He said doctors put him on display with the condition at a dermatology convention in his hometown of Toronto. Nurses, he recalled, would hold him down and apply liquid nitrogen to a bump. Mandel described the result as his skin “sizzle and bubble” and then burst. He said this happened when he was about 6 or 7.
In Mandel’s telling, the procedure became more frightening when it turned public. He said he was “screaming.” He added that after one treatment. his mother—who “didn’t know what they were going to do”—took him. unstrapped him from the table. and carried him out after saying. “You’re animals. Don’t do this.”.
Afterward, Mandel said the ordeal didn’t end when he left the convention. He said his mother would take a rough washcloth and alcohol each night. then rub one of the bumps until his skin broke and bled and the larva there died. He said she got all of them. Mandel described how the experience affected him emotionally. saying it was “traumatizing. ” and that he had “things living under my skin. ” leaving him with an enduring “ick factor.”.
His comments land during a wider public conversation about how patients are treated when they’re frightened, uncomfortable, or not believed. Mandel has long spoken about his severe OCD and germaphobia as an adult.
Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell. a family physician and health advocate who founded Clinicians Who Care—a database intended to connect patients with empathetic doctors—said Mandel’s story reflects how damaging early medical trauma can be. She pointed to research she says shows traumas experienced early in life can impact health later. spilling over into physical and mental wellbeing and influencing the kinds of disease a person may develop. She said, “Those memories… that spills over into your overall physical and mental health and can play a role into what disease you develop later on.”.
Curry-Winchell also argued that patients shouldn’t be forced to swallow fear and confusion when something doesn’t add up. She said it’s crucial for doctors to take patients’ feelings seriously, including their mental health. She described a common mistake she wants clinicians to avoid: moving from an initial assumption—like a belief that poor sleep is simply tied to being a mom—without considering other possibilities. She said, “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.”.
If a patient feels dismissed, Curry-Winchell suggested approaches that remain firm while still being respectful. She said being able to say. “I understand you think it’s this. but what else could it be?” is one way to press for answers. She also said patients should trust their own sense of their body if they believe they’re being “gaslit and dismissed. ” adding. “honor that. because you know your body best.”.
For Mandel, the memory of larvae beneath his skin is inseparable from the way doctors treated him afterward. He said, “the horror film didn’t stop,” even after the initial infection. The story he shared turns the spotlight on something simple but easy to overlook in medicine: not just curing what’s visible. but handling the person inside the exam room with care.
Howie Mandel sand fly larvae OCD dermatology convention Toronto liquid nitrogen trauma patient advocacy gaslighting Clinicians Who Care Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell