Many individuals stop using birth control to conceive or address symptoms
Clinical Focus
Women’s Health
Clinical Focus
Fertility and reproductive health are complex and deeply personal,
As holistic and drug-free approaches, acupuncture, along with lifestyle and dietary recommendations,
Pregnancy is an exciting and transformative time
Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine offer valuable support
The postpartum period is a time of profound change
Eastern thought provides a poetic outlook on menopause, explained as a time of positive transformation,
Hormonal imbalance in women is one of the most common reasons women seek naturopathic care. Your endocrine system is responsible for the production and regulation of hormones. If disrupted, your endocrine system will produce too much or too little hormones throwing off a harmonious balance. Hormonal imbalance in women looks differentlyin every woman and can include the imbalance of sex hormones such as estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid hormones such as TSH, T3 and T4, as well as insulin, cortisol, and many more. Hormonal imbalance inwomen often present as a result of underlying conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, pituitary conditions, eating disorders, insulin resistance and diabetes, adrenal condition, menopause and more. A naturopathic doctor will approach women’s hormonal imbalance through comprehensive testing and investigation to get to the root cause of symptoms.
Signs and Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance in Women
Symptoms of hormonal imbalance in women are vast and complicated. An assessment by a naturopathic doctor can help get to the root cause of the symptoms of hormonal imbalance. Women can also commonly experience many different hormonal imbalances at once. Symptoms of hormonal imbalance in women can include, but are not limited to:
- Irregular menstrual cycle
- Low sex drive
- Acne
- Painful or heavy periods
- Weight loss or weight gain that’s unexplained
- Fatigue
- Mood swings
- Bowel changes (constipation or diarrhea)
- Hot flashes
- Infertility
- Hair loss
- And much more!
- Insomnia
- Skin changes
Causes of Hormonal Imbalance in Women
The causes of hormonal imbalance can include: underlying physiological conditions that alter hormone levels such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, fibroids, and thyroid conditions, medications such as birth control pills, stress, eating disorders and malnutrition, pituitary conditions, adrenal conditions, hormone replacement, perimenopause and menopause, pregnancy and postpartum and more. Causes of hormonal imbalance can also include external and environmental factors such as the use of plastics in food, pesticides, and exposure to radiation or environmental toxins.
Women Hormone Imbalance Testing and Treatment
Hormonal imbalance testing is important to determine which underlying condition or body system may be responsible. Hormonal imbalance testing can involve the use of laboratory testing, such as blood testing, as well as functional testing, such as urine or saliva hormone testing. Hormonal imbalance testing often involves testing the body’s key hormones based on presenting symptoms.
Hormonal imbalance treatment by a naturopathic doctor is completely tailored and individualized to the patient’s unique needs. No two hormonal imbalances will present the same and the hormonal imbalance treatment is therefore carefully personalized to everybody’s own unique needs.
Female Hormone Balancing Diet Plan
You really are what you eat! A hormone balancing diet plan focuses on optimizing the body’s nutritional needs to ensure the proper functioning of hormone production and use. A hormone balancing diet plan is unique to every body’s needs. After all, not everybody will thrive on the same foods! However, a hormone balancing diet plan can include, but is not limited to:
- Adequate protein intake: Making sure your body is receiving high quality plant and/or animal sources of protein with every meal.
- Ditching inflammatory foods: Refined grains such as white flours, processed sugars such as prepackaged candies, and inflammatory oils such as those high in omega 6 and arachidonic acid like canola oil are all foods that can cause an increase in inflammation.
- Adequate healthy fat intake: Making sure you are consuming enough healthy fats daily for proper hormone functioning! This includes nuts and seeds, olive oils and polyunsaturated oils, avocados, and fatty fish.
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Frequently Ask Questions
Passed on and refined through generations of Chinese dynasties and proven effective for millenia in the treatment and prevention of illness, acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine has made its way to the western world, benefiting an ever-increasing amount of people from diverse nations, backgrounds, and ages.
”After the victory of the Chinese Revolution in 1949, the Chinese decided to take a fresh look at their traditional medical system. Many of China’s new leaders were tempted to discard their pre-scientific medical inheritance, along with their old-fashioned practices and remnants of underdevelopment. .. Another faction of the leadership, however, saw that although China did need to accept modern medicine, there might also be some practical theoretical usefulness in the traditional medicine. The issue was whether or not it would prove efficacious from a modern perspective. To answer the question, the Chinese performed thousands of experiments and clinical studies .. The result was that in 1958 the Central Committee decided to give traditional and modern medicine equal respect and place in China. .. The pages of such studies fill entire libraries, yet it is not their quantity that is important, but rather their conclusions: that traditional Chinese medicine can hold its own, that it does work clinically.” [The Web That Has No Weaver — Ted J. Kaptchuk]
Many fall asleep during a treatment and may feel tired afterwards as the body calls for rest. Resting states allow our body’s natural healing mechanisms to dominate while systemic reparation takes place.
Many insurance companies now cover TCM services and acupuncture, showing that these highly beneficial treatment options are becoming integrated into western health care.
