What Is an Irregular Period?
In an ideal world, your periods arrive on time each month, don’t pose any issues in terms of flow, and quietly go away until the next round. But for up to one-quarter of women, periods fall far short of this ideal.
For years, your reproductive hormones have worked quietly to regulate your ovulation and so much more. When you begin your transition through menopause, you start to truly understand what we mean by “so much more.” From a decline in vaginal health to hot flashes that plague you day and night, this sudden drop in your hormones can cast a wide net over your health and wellness.
Historically, women have simply gritted their teeth in acceptance and altered their lives around the side effects of menopause, and many still do, despite the fact that there’s an effective treatment option with hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Here at Tahoe Women’s Care, Dr. Gary Willen and our team help women through every stage of their lives. We’ve had great success in reducing, and even eliminating, some of the more troublesome symptoms of menopause through HRT — and we can do the same for you.
While your reproductive hormones, primarily estrogen and progesterone, are largely responsible for ovulation, they also influence other areas of your health, including your vaginal health.
Your reproductive hormones ensured that your vaginal walls remained elastic and well-lubricated to encourage intercourse and ease childbirth. When your ovaries shut down and these hormones are no longer available, your vaginal walls can become thinner and dry out. In fact, 50-60% of postmenopausal women encounter vaginal dryness, itching, pain during intercourse, and other symptoms of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM).
To restore your vaginal health and your sex life, we can supply you with either local hormone therapies that address your GSM (topical ointments or suppositories) or a systemic HRT (pills, patches, or pellets) that treats GSM and more.
Far and away the most common side effects of menopause are vasomotor symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats — 85% of menopausal women experience these symptoms. Hormone replacement therapy can greatly help in reducing and even eliminating these sudden flashes of heat that leave you drenched in sweat and uncomfortable.
Another great area of concern when it comes to menopause is bone loss. As we mentioned, estrogen can cast a wide net over your health, and one of its areas of influence is bone growth. When you lose estrogen, your bones can lose density since they’re not remodeling at the same rate, leaving you more vulnerable to fractures.
Through HRT, we can replenish your supply of estrogen, which can help keep your bones healthy and strong.
The decision to seek help for your menopause symptoms is yours to make, but be assured that HRT represents an incredibly effective avenue for restoring your quality of life and certain areas of your health.
To back this up, the North American Menopause Society released this statement in 2017: “Hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment for vasomotor symptoms and the genitourinary syndrome of menopause and has been shown to prevent bone loss and fracture.”
If you’d like to learn more about the many benefits of hormone replacement therapy, contact our office in Carson City, Nevada.
