Hormones - Perimenopause & Menopause
At a certain point in every women’s life, hormones will start changing, cycles will start becoming erratic and eventually will cease to occur all together. The time leading up the cessation of a woman’s period is termed “Peri-menopause” and when the period has not returned for over a year, the woman will be considered to be in “menopause”. Although peri-menopause and menopause are natural transitions in a woman’s life, it can lead many to seek relief of symptoms and improvements to their overall health. Naturopathic medicine is a fantastic way to support women during this period of life.
The goal of care is not to attempt to re-establish hormone levels expected of a younger person – it is to ease the body through the transition as seamlessly as possible. It may not be surprising to learn that how well a woman transitions can be dictated by how healthy and balanced the body is prior to this time period. That is why it is so important to maintain good hormonal health all through a woman’s life.
The key focus to supporting menopause are the adrenal glands. The organs of “stress management”, it plays a critical role when hormones start to transition. Unfortunately at this stage of life, many women have tired adrenals, making this transition more difficult. Menopausal symptoms are a result of the body being unable to adjust well to declining levels of hormones.
The liver also plays a key role during menopause. By investigating how the liver processes and detoxifies hormones, individualized liver treatment recommendations could help a woman go through menopause.
There are several natural supports for women going through peri-menopause and menopause. These may include:
• Acupuncture for symptom relief and stress management
• IV Therapy to nourish the body and support energy
• Herbal and nutritional support to manage symptoms and correct imbalances
• Dietary and lifestyle recommendations to help the woman age gracefully and allow her to achieve her maximum health potential