Menopause probably isn’t a time in your life that you eagerly anticipate. The decline in your estrogen often causes unbearable symptoms like hot flashes and mood swings. This stage can go on for years until you finally reach the postmenopausal stage.
Hormone replacement therapy is a way to reduce the aggravating symptoms of menopause, while also improving your health.
At New England Women’s Healthcare, our team is ready to help you finally get control over menopause. If you’re tired of dealing with changes in mood or night sweats, our expert OB/GYN providers offer hormone replacement therapy to help.
As a woman, your reproductive health thrives on the hormones estrogen and progesterone. These hormones are made by your ovaries and serve as the key to a number of bodily functions, including:
Estrogen is responsible for preparing the lining of your uterus for a fertilized egg, while progesterone also helps prepare and sustain the pregnancy once the egg has implanted.
Both of these hormones are vital during your childbearing years, but they begin to decline as you get older. This stage of your life is known as perimenopause, which is the time leading up to menopause.
As your hormones decline, your body goes through a number of changes in preparation for the next stage of life, where you can no longer bear children. The years leading up to menopause are extremely uncomfortable as your body goes through this transformation.
Hormone replacement therapy is a type of treatment that helps restore the hormones estrogen and progesterone during perimenopause and menopause.
Without normal levels of estrogen and progesterone, your body doesn’t know what to do. These hormones regulate a lot of bodily functions, and when their levels decrease, you can endure symptoms like:
These symptoms may start during perimenopause and last for years while your body is transitioning into menopause. For some, the symptoms are mild and don’t cause too many issues. Others, though, experience significant discomfort and disruption from menopausal symptoms.
Hormone replacement therapy helps your body ease into menopause. If you’re dealing with uncomfortable issues, this treatment can help.
Hormone replacement therapy has a number of advantages when it comes to your health. Five of these major benefits are:
Osteoporosis is a real threat when you enter menopause. Estrogen is vital to maintaining your bone health. Hormone replacement therapy helps you keep your bones strong to avoid osteoporosis.
Hot flashes, night sweats, and difficulty sleeping are extremely common signs of menopause. These symptoms can be mild to severe, and interfere with your regular activities.
When you have hormone replacement therapy, your estrogen and progesterone are regulated, ultimately eliminating many of the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause.
Your libido significantly deteriorates as you get older, for both men and women. However, menopause also brings on vaginal dryness for women, making intercourse even less desirable.
Hormone replacement therapy restores the levels of your reproductive hormones. This brings back your sex drive, and helps with issues like vaginal dryness.
Your hormones are responsible for your mood, among many functions within your body. When your estrogen and progesterone decline as you age, you may experience depression or mood swings.
Hormone replacement therapy allows you to balance out the estrogen and progesterone in your body. This may significantly improve your mood and alleviate symptoms of depression.
During your journey to menopause, your weight may fluctuate quite a bit. This isn’t uncommon as you get older, but it makes losing weight very difficult.
Although hormone replacement therapy isn’t a miracle cure for weight loss, it helps with the hormonal component of weight gain. When your hormones are involved, it makes maintaining or losing weight so much harder.
With a healthy diet and regular physical activity, hormone replacement therapy may be able to help you improve your weight and your overall health.
To learn more about the hormone replacement therapy options we provide, call one of our offices in Wilmington or Woburn, Massachusetts, to schedule a consultation with one of our doctors. You may also request an appointment on our website.
