What are the Benefits of Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Everyone decries the problems of aging. Typically, those discussions involve the external changes that you see when you age. Wrinkles, discoloration, greying hair, hair loss, and other general skin blemishes are perhaps the most popular subjects. Few people actually discuss the problems that are happening inside of their body. Whether it’s because no one likes to admit that they’re starting to feel old or they just don’t understand the changes that are taking place, you might be suffering from something that could be fixed if you were able to just talk about it with our doctor. The first step to regaining your youth has to be admitting that there is a problem. Only with a problem can there be a solution. This article will discuss bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for both men and women and how this therapy might be what drives you to stop feeling so old.

Hormone Imbalances

The primary problem that people face when they grow older is a hormone imbalance. When you’re young, you also experience a hormone imbalance. However, this imbalance is typically good. It’s puberty. The hormones that flood your body push you past childhood and toward adulthood. It does tend to come with a few unpleasant complications, too. Acne and menstruation might be just the top two in themselves. However, once you reach your 20s and 30s, the hormones usually regulate.

This is the time of your life in which you feel at your prime. You have energy, muscle mass, and it’s easy to eat what you like and still not gain too much weight. Life is good, if not normal. Then, at some point, the second hormone imbalance strikes. It’s an unpleasant affair for everyone involved. Yet how heavily the imbalance impacts an individual is rather up to chance. Some people only experience a few mild changes. Others are hit hard. Luckily, there is a remedy that both can enjoy for helping to stabilize their hormones and keep them feeling healthy and normal

First, however, it’s important to understand how hormone imbalances affect both men and women.

Hormone Imbalance and Women

Women typically undergo menopause. This period officially begins a few months after their menstruation cycles have stopped. The time between both cycles can be quite unpleasant for the woman in particular. They may notice spotting, and then have a cycle that provides a heavy load of menstruation blood, only to find that the next cycle is spotting again. Once you have experienced several months without menstruation, you are considered to have entered the menopausal period of your life.

It can be quite unpleasant, especially in the beginning stages. Women typically notice that it is far easier for them to gain weight. Sometimes, this can just be water retention. Most of the time, it’s because the body is less effective in breaking down calories and fat for energy. This is because hormones play more roles than just preparing your body for pregnancy. They also play a key role in your metabolism.

The metabolism is responsible for breaking down food and using it as energy. If something slows down in the metabolism, then that food is stored rather than burned. With less energy available for your body to use readily, you feel far more tired than you did originally. With this increase in exhaustion, you’re less likely to work out. This can only further exacerbate your health and level of fitness.

Besides weight gain and a slower metabolism, women typically also suffer from insomnia. Considering that you already feel sleepy, this is sometimes one of the worst aspects of menopause and hormone imbalance. Despite all of your best intentions, your mind just won’t shut down. There’s a reason for this. Hormones also affect the amount of melatonin that is released to help you fall asleep. With a decrease in hormone production, your mind will struggle in falling asleep and staying asleep.

No doubt this lack of energy and disruptive sleep puts you in a rather grouchy mood. That isn’t helped by your hormones either. For women, because their estrogen levels are reduced, it means that they typically can feel the effects of the existing testosterone in their bodies. Testosterone can cause them to feel more aggressive than they would otherwise. It can also increase hair on their face, chest, and in other areas of the body.

One of the staples of hormone imbalances and women are hot flashes. These are the periods in which a woman suddenly becomes hot for seemingly no reason. You could be sitting on a chair and hardly moving and suddenly find yourself sweating and extremely hot. Not only can this increase your aggression level but it isn’t the most comfortable of situations either.

Hot flashes can also occur while you’re sleeping. Night sweats are not uncommon for women who suffer from hormone imbalances. This can further disrupt your sleep.

Hormone imbalances can also cause physical changes like the health of your hair. It can lose its sheen, become greyer, and may even start to thin out or recede entirely. Perhaps you’ve even noticed that there is more hair than usual clogging up your shower drain.

While there are many other symptoms that are attributed to hormone imbalances, these are some of the most well-known. Understandably, these alone can cause a woman to experience some form of anxiety or depression. You no longer recognize yourself and many of the changes that you try to make may not seem to be working at all. You need bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, not a new diet.

Women’s sex drives can be hit, too. Because there is less emphasis placed on being able to carry children, everything associated with child rearing and childbirth is abandoned by the body. Vaginal drying is extremely common with a hormone imbalance. Because of this dryness, women can experience a lot of discomfort. Sometimes the discomfort is during sex. They may not feel as aroused. The sex may be less than satisfactory even because you’ve lost sensation. It may even cause pain. Other times, the discomfort may be due to problems with urination.

By undergoing bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, those problems could just be solved, and you can experience a healthy sex life once more.

Hormone Imbalance and Men

Unfortunately, men suffer quite similarly to women. In high school, you likely thrived with the fresh testosterone flowing through your body. Gaining muscle was easy. Your hair was thick and full. Perhaps even your sex life flourished. A hormone imbalance disrupts all of that.

If your testosterone levels are lower than what they should be, then you may be experiencing andropause. This condition is basically the male form of menopause. It’s a time where testosterone production in your body has been limited due to age. You’ve moved past the point where you should be siring children, and as a result, your body has shut down the processes that make siring children easy. Unfortunately, it also shuts down other processes that help you stay fit and look young.

Men can also experience some difficulty with weight. Like women, their metabolism is hit hard. They just don’t get the same energy from eating as they used to. It’s also a lot harder to maintain muscle mass. This is likely because when your body needs energy, it takes from itself first. Your muscles provide quite a bit of energy that your body wants. Instead of breaking down fat, which would be a nice thing to do, your body breaks down your muscles in order to give you energy.

You may start to notice that you’re collecting fat a lot easier than you used to on your belly and thighs. No matter how hard you hit the gym or what diet you include in your lifestyle, it just doesn’t seem to be enough. You can’t reach the same level of fitness and health that you used to — at least not with ease.

Besides the increase in pant size, you may also notice that your hair is receding. Testosterone also encourages hair growth and volume. For many men, hair loss is a difficult experience. Hair typically indicates vitality for a lot of men and women. With a receding hairline, you may look older than you actually are. That can impact your level of confidence. You can attempt to color your hair and try out new styles to take away notice that it’s thinning, but your only real bet to making your hair last as long as it can is through bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

Another large area that is impacted for men is their sex drive. With less testosterone in their bodies, they feel the need to have sex less and less. Even if the desire does arise, men may experience some difficulty in performing. It can cause erectile dysfunction or any other series of problems. Understandably, this is an issue that men never want to face.

Overall, these changes can cause a lot of dysphoria for men. Anxiety, depression, and a general lack of confidence aren’t uncommon. You don’t have to experience that forever, however. The answer to your hormone imbalance is to correct the imbalance itself with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

How Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Works?

What’s the difference between bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and regular hormone therapy? Bioidentical is exactly how it sounds. These are hormones that are tailored to match the hormones that are currently being produced by your body. Instead of just general testosterone or estrogen from questionable sources, bioidentical hormones are carefully constructed to match your hormones for optimal effects.

Essentially, you undergo a screening to determine your levels of hormones currently being produced by your body. Once our doctor knows what your general production rate is — and what it should be — a dosage is formed. There are many different ways to take hormones. Some can be taken through a pill, or rubbed into the skin with a gel or patch, while others can be injected into the muscle. You can learn how to inject yourself or have a nurse do it for you. Dosages need to be taken every few weeks, although the exact dosage is left for our doctor to prescribe and your needs.

Benefits

So, what are the benefits of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for males and females? Since the replacement therapy is literally correcting your hormone imbalance, you’re basically able to experience life as it was before the imbalance occurred. For women, this means that you can more effectively keep the weight off of your body. You won’t experience hot flashes, or at least, far less severe hot flashes. You’ll also likely notice that any mood swings or aggression levels are held in check. Your hair will maintain its health far easier as well. Finally, though certainly not least, your vaginal dryness will be corrected.

For men, you won’t experience that latency in regards to sex. You’ll likely be able to hold erections longer and perform as well as you used to before the imbalance struck. Your muscle mass will likely continue to thrive and you can prevent developing that dad bod just a bit longer. Your hair, too, will retain its thickness and vibrancy longer and easier.

In all, you can stave off the unpleasant side effects of aging that occur with a hormone imbalance. Just because you’re getting older in numbers doesn’t mean that you need to feel it or let it dictate your life. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can keep your body in check and ensure that you feel just as young as ever. If you’re interested in discovering what else the therapy can do for you, or if you have any other questions about it, the educated staff at ALC Medspa in Gurnee, IL would be more than happy to help. Contact us today to schedule your consultation!