Menopause & Perimenopause
Hormones are chemicals produced by your endocrine glands that work as messengers, informing particular functions of your body how and when to function. Hormones can impact several important bodily processes, including metabolism, reproduction, growth, and sexual function.
During the transition to menopause, your body goes through major changes as your ovaries and adrenals produce hormones in spurts before declining to a minimum after the cessation of the menstrual cycle. During this time, you may experience a variety of symptoms; from hot flashes and sleepless nights to moodiness, weight gain, and body aches. Menopause typically occurs in your early 50s, though the perimenopause transition can last up to 10 years. As ovarian hormones decline there is increased pressure on your adrenals to keep up with sex hormone production. If midlife is stressful, there is further burden on your adrenal glands and your health and quality of life may suffer.
Many women just never feel the same and struggle to feel like themselves again.
Further symptoms include:
- Depression and Anxiety
- Headaches
- Hot Flashes
- Increased yeast infections
- Increased UTIs
- Joint Pain
- Memory loss
- Mood changes
- Night Flashes
- Sleep Disturbances
- Vaginal Dryness, itchiness, and pain
- Weight gain
Integrative medicine is about restoring balance by addressing the foundational aspects of health, like sleep, nutrition, stress, relationships, and movement while also including options from allopathic medicine.
While these foundational aspects are being addressed, we work toward hormone balance by supporting dietary habits or supplementation with basic micronutrients, vitamins and minerals necessary for hormone production, testing hormone panels if needed, and supplementing herbs or hormones as appropriate.
A hormonal panel can be done yearly starting anytime between 35-40 years old, as this is a common age for symptoms to begin. Though care earlier than 35 is beneficial to balance the female system before symptoms occur. If we can alleviate excess inflammation, promote beneficial flora, and minimize stressors on the body, women may experience a more graceful transition thru midlife.
#1: SI Joint Assessment:
The SI joint is the foundation of the physical body and alignment is instrumental in general wellbeing. Often the cause of other pain in the body. Your visits include assessment and adjustment of the SI joint and accompanying stretches to help stabilize alignment in the body. Osteopathy recognizes the body’s natural ability to heal itself when properly supported. We use osteopathic manipulation to treat physical injuries and pain in the body for whole body wellness.
#2 Genitourinary Health
Urinary Incontinence/Increased UTIs/Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause
Urinary incontinence can significantly impact a women’s quality of life and can stem from a variety of factors. Pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and other chronic conditions can affect the muscles and nerves controlling bladder function. On top of that, as women approach menopause this can be complicated by genitourinary syndrome of menopause in which low estrogen contributes to thinning and drying of the vaginal tissues as well as changes in the urethra and bladder. Along with changes in the microbiome of the feminine system, urinary tract infections may increase which challenge the microbiome of the body when antibiotics are needed.
#3 Joint Pain
Joint pain is just one of over 50 symptoms reported by women during menopause. And a whopping 71% of perimenopausal women experience joint pain. Osteopathy offers a gentle method of managing chronic joint pain by addressing the underlying causes of discomfort. Through hands-on techniques osteopathic treatments work to improve mobility, reduce inflammation, and restore balance to the body as well as regulate stress responses and improve overall bodily function, indirectly supporting hormone regulation.
#4 Gut Health
Fluctuating estrogen levels can disrupt the gut microbiome, which can lead to an imbalance of good and bad bacteria. This can contribute to digestive issues like food intolerances and IBS.
Improving digestive health is a mainstay of integrative medicine, which is closely tied to hormone regulation and overall well-being. In our practice, we see that by focusing on improving our gut health and supporting a diverse microbiome with specific strains of bacteria during this time of change, many of the uncomfortable symptoms of perimenopause and menopause can be alleviated.
#5 Mood and Memory
Cognitive changes such as memory loss and slowed processing speed are another common symptom of menopause, especially for women who have had a history of depression. Bioidentical estrogen and progesterone supplementation help menopausal women feel calmer by relieving anxiety, irritability and depression. Furthermore, estrogen is believed to have neuroprotective effects by influencing brain cell survival, promoting synaptic plasticity, and potentially reducing the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Multiple observational studies have shown an association between hormone therapy use, particularly during the early menopausal transition, and a lower risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.