As women go through the aging process, they face the challenges of menopause in its various stages. The body changes a great deal during this period of life, but you are not alone. Una Vida in El Paso, Texas, is here to help with our restorative medicine and support for your peri-menopausal and menopausal management needs and concerns.
What Is Menopause?
Though most adults are familiar with the term menopause, it is important to clarify what we mean when we say menopause, as it is a transitional period in the female body with 3 specific stages and unique characteristics and medical consequences. Before we discuss treatment, we will briefly explore these stages.
Peri-Menopause
Peri-Menopause is the transition stage that occurs before menopause. During this stage, natural estrogen levels in the body begin falling and women experience such side effects as lessened sex drive, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood swings, and increased severity of menstrual periods. Generally, these are the negative effects we associate with the beginning of menopause. Other symptoms can include weight gain, trouble sleeping, breast tenderness, hair loss, and night sweats.
This period naturally occurs between the ages of 45-55, though it can start earlier. This period can last anywhere from a few months to a decade in extreme cases before the official start of menopause.
Menopause
Menopause, though often used to describe this whole process, specifically refers to the stage of female aging where a woman is no longer experiencing menstrual periods and has not experienced them for 12 months. This marks the start of menopause, though peri-menopause symptoms may persist for a time after the beginning of this period.
Post-Menopause
Often, the post-menopause period comes with a reduction of symptoms, but the lack of estrogen makes the body vulnerable to other health risks in older age, particularly osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.
While this transition can be very difficult, there are ways to help reduce symptoms and the risk of negative health effects through restorative medicine.
What Is Restorative Medicine?
Restorative medicine focuses on balancing the endocrine system in order to help the patient avoid ongoing or invasive medical procedures through less invasive means. This style of medicine focuses on therapeutic approaches to dealing with chronic health issues and hormonal imbalances, such as those caused by the menopausal transition.
Una Vida With Rejuvené MD
At Rejuvené MD, we offer our own approach to restorative medicine: the Una Vida, or one life approach. In this process, we bring together the approaches of both conventional and natural medicine to help aide our patients, especially those with hormonal imbalances associated with aging. You have one life to live, and your aging need not hold you back from living it! Our bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is here to assist your peri-menopausal and menopausal management.
Peri-Menopausal and Menopausal Management
Estrogen hormone therapy is the most common way of combating the symptoms and ongoing health risks of the menopause transition. This therapy has a positive track record and is widely recognized for its potential benefit to patients, though you should still consult with your doctor before undertaking this treatment, particularly regarding dosage and means of application.
If you have any more questions about peri-menopausal and menopausal management, contact us today at Una Vida in El Paso, Texas. We are happy to help you through this transition and get you on a long-term road to better health and living your best life.
