What are hormones and what do they do?
Hormones are chemical messengers that, when introduced to the bloodstream, stimulate action in distant organs and tissues. Hormones control and coordinate activities throughout the body, from basic needs like hunger to complex systems like reproduction, mood, and sleep.
All aspects of our health and overall quality of life are moderated by a delicate hormone balance.
What causes hormonal imbalance?
Many internal and external factors affect how our bodies produce and react to hormone levels. Aging, stress, diet, lifestyle habits, and environmental pollutants create hormone imbalances. Any of these may contribute (and work together to compound) a long list of symptoms like insomnia, memory loss, obesity, inflammation, osteoporosis, loss of libido, and other preventable disruptions.
Injuries
Medications
Dietary Changes
Other Conditions
Some causes of hormone imbalance are long-term, like polycystic ovary syndrome or menopause in women and andropause in men. Injuries, dietary changes, and medication play a role too. Some long-term illnesses and conditions like diabetes and thyroid disorders may also display the symptoms of hormonal imbalance. All of these symptoms can present themselves in mild and extreme ways.
Many forms of hormonal disruption can result from exposure to environmental contaminants, pesticides, and even household cleaning products can interfere with our natural hormone levels. The environmental component to hormone balance puts tradespeople at greater risk of hormone balance throughout their career.
Restoring hormonal balance
Not even twins share the same physiology, so identifying your unique causes is essential to well-being. You will receive a strategy tailored to your unique career, health, and lifestyle needs by carefully assessing your overall health.
Hormone balance does not result from a one-and-done treatment. For most people, a single pharmaceutical, supplement, or procedure is simply not enough. A healthy lifestyle is fundamental to well-being, which is why we incorporate stress management, exercise, and nutrition optimization into your program.
Hormone balance evolves as we age into new stages of life. While that is not all bad, it is not all good. We can mitigate the natural declines of aging through the proper application of tools like herbal medicine and acupuncture. It is possible and encouraged to achieve and maintain youthfulness and optimal health at every stage of life.
However, hormone imbalance can be severe, so treatment for such cases must be just as bold. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is a type of hormone replacement therapy that uses hormones that are structurally identical to the hormones naturally produced in the human body. These hormones are typically derived from plant sources such as soy and yam. BHRT is used to treat the symptoms of hormone imbalances that occur as a result of aging or other factors such as menopause, perimenopause, andropause, and thyroid disorders. The hormones used in BHRT can include estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and thyroid hormones.BHRT is not our first response in treating hormonal imbalances, but it is an option.
We will not ultimately know what path of treatment will yield the best results for you without a deep assessment of your overall health. The first step in the new patient experience is filling out the self-report questionnaire you will receive. The second step is a comprehensive Electro Interstitial Scan (EIS) performed in-office. Cross-referencing this data helps connect the dots of your symptoms and ailments.
Sometimes an initial assessment is enough to give us just cause to say your symptoms result from hormonal imbalance. Other times, however, your health, lifestyle, and symptoms present other variables that require a hormone test to clarify. I know that no one likes medical tests, but their data will save you time and money on the path to good health.
Once you fill out that form, we’ll review your profile and let you know if we think you’d benefit from treatment. At that time, you can choose to book either your initial appointment if you feel ready or a free, 15-minute introductory consult so you can decide if we’re a good fit for you.