How Menopause Symptoms Are Treated

You struggle with hot flashes that leave you drenched in sweat in mere seconds, not to mention the problems you’re having with your sexual health. These are just two of the more disruptive and frustrating symptoms that often accompany menopause. The good news is that there are solutions for helping ease the transition through perimenopause and beyond.

At the Center for Women’s Health, our experienced and compassionate women’s health experts understand that the side effects of menopause can be as varied as the women who experience them. If you find yourself struggling with this transition out of your reproductive years, we’re here to help.

Here’s a look at what happens to your body when you go through menopause and how we can restore balance.

Menopause 101

At the heart of menopause is the transition from your reproductive years to your non-reproductive years, which occurs when your ovaries shut down. The average age of menopause is 51, but the process can be drawn out, often starting in your late 40s with perimenopause and lasting into your 50s as your body adjusts to the changes in hormone levels.

Women are no strangers to fluctuating reproductive hormone levels, namely estrogen and progesterone, which occur during menstrual cycles and pregnancy. The transition through menopause, however, is different, as you lose the bulk of your reproductive hormones when their primary producers — your ovaries — go offline.

As your body adjusts to this natural but precipitous decline, it can create a wide range of symptoms, including:

• Hot flashes and night sweats
• Vaginal dryness
• Weight gain
• Mood changes
• Sleep issues
• Cognitive difficulties
• Anxiety
• Depression

Of these, hot flashes and vaginal dryness are the most common and affect more than half of women between the ages of 51 and 60.

Taking the teeth out of menopause

One of the best weapons in the battle against the symptoms of menopause is hormone replacement, which makes sense given the role hormones play. In fact, The North American Menopause Society, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and The Endocrine Society agree that hormone therapy is the most effective treatment for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness.

Here at our practice, we offer hormone replacement therapies that we can deliver in several ways. For example, if you’re struggling with vaginal health issues, we can provide you with topical creams that can restore elasticity and lubrication directly to your vaginal tissue.

If your symptoms require a more systemic approach, we can turn to pills, patches, injections, or pellets that regulate your overall hormone levels.

While hormone replacement therapy is highly effective, we can also discuss lifestyle changes you can make to offset your menopause symptoms, such as strengthening your pelvic floor through exercise or practicing relaxation techniques to counter anxiety.

The bottom line is that while the transition through menopause is inevitable, living with debilitating, life-altering side effects doesn’t have to be — when you receive the right treatments. To learn more, contact one of our two offices in Newport News or Hampton, Virginia, to set up an appointment.