Understand Hormone Therapy For Menopause

There is a lot of controversy surrounding hormone therapy for menopause. Even within the medical circles, there are still those who seem to be unsure whether the pros outweigh the cons.

Therefore, it is only reasonable for you to have mixed feelings about this type of therapy once a doctor prescribes it for you. The truth is, there are a lot of misconceptions about the effects of hormone therapy, and you should not put yourself through the unnecessary suffering only because you were misinformed.

Current hormone therapy for menopause can be highly beneficial for women, and its benefits greatly outweigh the risks. Long gone are the days when the only hormone therapy option for women in menopause were medicines based on horse hormones.

Today, hormone therapy is much more sophisticated, and the approach to it is individualized for every woman and her needs. North American Menopause Society suggests for three points to be taken into consideration when starting hormone therapy:

1. The hormone therapy is the most beneficial when it is started with women who are within the first ten years of menopause and younger than 60.
2. The hormone therapy needs to be planned and tailored according to the woman’s needs and specifics of her situation. It is essential to consider menopause onset, woman’s medical history, the possibility of other options, etc.
3. The choice of the hormone therapy type needs to be made in agreement with the woman in question, her entire situation, health history, and personal preferences.

Let’s look into different options for the hormone therapy available today.

Estrogen in the Form of a Pill

This is one of the most common options that women go for. It is only a matter of taking a pill. While some of the old hormone pills are still available today, there is a wide variety of estrogen pills that you can choose from.

A lot of those pills are created by extracting and synthesizing estrogen from different sources. This process is done so well that these estrogens are identical to those that are typically produced by your ovaries. However, estrogen can be quite tricky on your endometrium, so you need some progesterone to protect it.

Estrogen Applied Vaginally

This type of hormone therapy is usually one of the best options for those women who still have their uterus. The reason is the fact that it releases lower doses of estrogen in the bloodstream, so there is a reduced risk of issues with your endometrium. One exception is the vaginal ring. It releases enough estrogen to cause such problems.

Other options besides the vaginal ring are creams and tablets. Vaginal estrogen therapy is usually used when menopausal symptoms are the most present in the vaginal area: dryness, or painful intercourse.

Estrogen Applied Through Skin

While vaginal therapy is best if your symptoms are localized, transdermal application of estrogen can be a much better option if you also suffer from headaches and migraines. Estrogen is released into your system via patches, creams, sprays and other options that are applied to your skin.

In that way, the dosage of estrogen is more steady. It doesn’t overburden your liver, and it doesn’t cause your bad cholesterol to rise. Still, the dosage of estrogen can be enough for you to need progesterone if you still have your uterus.

As you can conclude yourself, when the dosage of your estrogen is too high, you need to outweigh it with some progesterone or progestin. In that way, you are effectively protecting the lining of your uterus.

The estrogen on its own can cause severe issues and pre-cancerous conditions. Therefore, if your doctor suggests hormone therapy, see if the combination of estrogen and progesterone is the right choice for you.

And if you still have questions, you can contact Skinn Bar for a personal consultation and appointment bookings and also check our other services too.