Menopause is a natural transition that all women experience as they reach middle age. It marks the end of a woman's reproductive years and is diagnosed after 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. The average age of menopause is 51, but it can occur anywhere from 40-58 years old.
As women approach menopause, they may begin to notice changes like hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, mood swings, trouble sleeping, and more. These symptoms occur as a result of declining estrogen levels. Estrogen is essential for reproductive health, but it also impacts many other body systems. So when levels drop during perimenopause and menopause, women can experience symptoms that significantly disrupt their quality of life.
Fortunately, there are effective treatment options available to help women manage menopausal symptoms. Hormone therapy (HT) is the most common and effective treatment prescribed by doctors. It involves supplementing the body with estrogen and often progesterone to restore hormone levels.
There are many benefits of HT for menopausal women:
Hormone Harmony in Muncie specializes in individualized menopause care and hormone therapy services. Their experienced healthcare providers are experts in menopause treatment and focus on optimizing health during this transition.
There are many reasons to choose Hormone Harmony for menopause treatment in Muncie:
The first step of menopause treatment is getting an accurate diagnosis. Hormone Harmony will take a full health history and evaluate your symptoms. They may run blood tests to measure levels of key hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and FSH. The results of these tests allow their doctors to confirm that you are in perimenopause or menopause.
Some key hormone tests they utilize include:
Thyroid and other tests may be ordered to gain a comprehensive view of your hormone health. Diagnostic testing provides the information needed to develop an optimal treatment plan.
Recommendation: Get a check up and lab testing done to accurately diagnose your menopause status.
Once properly diagnosed, the providers at Hormone Harmony can recommend the right hormone therapy options for your situation. The most common therapies include:
Estrogen therapy is the foundation of most treatment plans. Estrogen is administered in various forms and doses to alleviate hot flashes, vaginal atrophy, bone loss, and other issues.
Benefits: Relieves symptoms, protects bone health, improves urogenital health
Options: Oral estrogen, transdermal patches, gels, sprays, vaginal creams/tablets, rings, implants
For women with a uterus, progestogen is used to protect the uterine lining. It is often combined with estrogen in various schedules.
Benefits: Protects uterine health
Options: Progesterone, progestins in oral, transdermal, vaginal forms
Small doses of testosterone delivered through gels, patches, pellets, or supplements may improve sexual function, muscle mass, energy in some women.
Benefits: Boosts libido, energy
Options: Testosterone and DHEA gels, creams, patches, pellets
Hormone Harmony can work with specialized compounding pharmacies to create custom hormones in unique doses and combinations to match your needs.
Benefits: Personalized therapy
Acupuncture is gaining popularity as an effective complementary therapy for managing menopause symptoms. Small studies show it can help reduce hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, and depression. Acupuncture may work by modulating hormones, boosting endorphins, and altering serotonin levels. More research is needed, but acupuncture appears a promising option for women seeking drug-free menopause symptom relief.
In addition to hormone therapy, making certain lifestyle changes can help women manage menopausal symptoms and thrive during this transition. Hormone Harmony provides women with tailored advice on optimizing their nutrition, fitness, stress levels, and more.
Eating a healthy diet is important for all women as estrogen levels decline. They recommend focusing on whole foods, healthy fats, produce, calcium, vitamin D and avoiding processed foods.
Being physically active helps relieve menopausal symptoms. Aim for 150 minutes per week of moderate activity like brisk walking. Weight bearing exercises are great for bone health. Yoga and pilates can help manage stress.
Menopause can be an emotionally and mentally challenging transition. Practices like therapy, meditation, mindfulness, journaling, and deep breathing can help women overcome anxiety, depression and mood swings.
Getting adequate sleep, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol intake, and using vaginal moisturizers/lubricants are small daily habits that support menopausal comfort.
Tip: Take care of your whole self during menopause - mind, body and spirit!
Muncie, Indiana is a wonderful place to call home during menopause. With a low cost of living, friendly small town vibe, excellent healthcare providers, and abundance of parks - it has a lot to offer women in this stage of life!
The mild Indiana climate means you'll have an easier time managing hot flashes and temperature sensitivity. Muncie averages highs in the 80s Fahrenheit in the summer and 20s in the winter time. Dressing in breathable layers makes it easy to stay comfortable.
Parks and walking trails provide plenty of opportunities to soak up nature and stay active with regular outdoor exercise. If you prefer indoor fitness, you'll find high quality gyms and yoga studios where you can strength train, attend classes, and make friends.
For nutritious meals made with care, visit The Caffeinery or Vera Mae's Bistro Downtown Muncie. When you need some pampering, Unwind day spa offers relaxing massages, facials and body treatments. For medical care from trusted professionals, you'll find experienced doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and more.
Muncie's affordable cost of living means you can focus your time and money on the things that matter most during menopause - your health, family, and hobbies. With its small town hospitality and rich amenities, Muncie is a great place to receive individualized treatment and optimize your quality of life during the menopausal transition.
If you're a woman in Muncie experiencing peri/menopausal symptoms, contact the caring professionals at Hormone Harmony today! Their goal is to provide individualized treatment tailored to your unique needs so you can feel your best. With their expert care and your commitment to healthy lifestyle choices, you'll be empowered to thrive through menopause.
