How Bioidentical Hormones Can Help You
Hormones are chemical messengers that control your body’s systems. Although hormonal levels vary from person to person and fluctuate daily and with age, there’s still an optimal level that allows for proper functioning.
When hormones dip and spike, you notice the changes right away. Men and women both experience hormone deficiencies as they age, triggering a long list of unpleasant symptoms. Unfortunately, most people don’t recognize hormones as the culprit, so they ignore the problem and suffer through the symptoms.
Dr. James Lee and our team at Woodstock Family Practice & Urgent Care in Woodstock, Georgia, want you to know that balancing your hormones is safe and easy with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). Take a moment to learn about BHRT and how it can help you.
What are bioidentical hormones?
Hormone replacement therapy has been around for a long time, but synthetic replacements left much to be desired. In fact, the most popular form of estrogen replacement for women was made from the urine of pregnant horses.
Bioidentical hormones come from plants, and they match your natural hormones exactly. This means your body responds to them naturally with fewer side effects than the chemical counterpart.
You can take BHRT in various forms, including creams, injections, gels, patches, lotions, or time-released pellets implanted under your skin.
What BHRT does for women
At Woodstock Family Practice & Urgent Care, we offer complete women’s health care services that address the unique health concerns of our female patients.
Adolescent girls experience a surge of hormones during puberty and monthly fluctuations during their menstrual periods. Pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding also cause women’s hormones to ebb and flow. These are natural events that don’t normally require hormone replacement therapy.
However, as they age, women produce fewer reproductive hormones, triggering perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. This permanent decrease leads to many uncomfortable changes. BHRT can relieve these symptoms and help you:
- Improve your sex drive
- Get better sleep
- Lose weight
- Stop thinning hair
- Relieve dry skin
- Reduce hot flashes and night sweats
- Sharpen your memory
- Control urinary incontinence
Every woman responds differently, and the benefits of your treatment depend on your unique source of hormonal imbalance and other health factors, but most women can expect significant improvement in their hormone-related symptoms with BHRT.
What BHRT does for men
Men don’t experience as many hormonal swings throughout their lives as women do, but that doesn’t mean they’re exempt from hormone problems. One of the most common is low testosterone, affecting about 40% of 45-year-olds.
Although advancing age is the most common cause of low testosterone, it can also stem from testicular injury, excessive alcohol consumption, medications, and certain health conditions. When testosterone plummets, it affects men’s muscle tissue, sexual function, bones, and energy level. With BHRT, men can experience:
- Greater muscle mass
- Stronger bone density
- Improved sexual function
- More energy
- Easier weight management
Dr. Lee offers BHRT as part of our comprehensive men’s health services at Woodstock Family Practice & Urgent Care.
To find out if your hormones are out of whack and whether BHRT can help you, call us today or book an appointment online. You could be back in balance in no time.