Natural Menopause Treatments
Live Your Best Life with Natural Menopause Treatments
For centuries, the symptoms of menopause were considered a normal part of aging for a woman. And, sadly, menopausal females simply had to learn to endure the discomfort, indignities and health complications associated with menopausal hormone decline.
But recent advancements in modern medicine now offer women a wide variety of safe, effective and natural state-of-the-art menopause treatments. This is one reason why amazing, high-profile women such as Halle Berry (age 54), Sandra Bullock (age 57), Christie Brinkley (age 66), Cher (as 73) and Jane Fonda (age 81!) all live life with beauty and vitality.
Now, these leading-edge antiaging medical treatments are available to women of all walks of life at Ruthie Harper Integrative Health in Austin, TX.
In this article, women’s health specialist Dr. Ruthie Harper discusses four of the most advanced treatments for reversing the effects of menopause – so that her female patients can live life with youthful vitality, beauty and grace at every age.
What Is Menopause?
Menopause is the gradual decline in hormone production that transitions a woman from her reproductive years into the stage of life where she is not fertile and cannot conceive children. Menopause is officially marked by a woman no longer having her menstrual period for 12 consecutive months. But “perimenopause” – the first stage in this process – can start up to eight to 10 years before menopause.
Throughout perimenopause and menopause, production of the “sex hormones” that regulate reproduction gradually but dramatically decline. However, these hormones – specifically estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone – also affect many other aspects of a woman’s health and wellbeing besides reproduction! So, in addition to no longer having monthly menstrual cycles, perimenopausal, menopausal and post-menopausal women also typically experience a number of unpleasant symptoms and side effects.
Some of the side effects of menopause are more superficial: weight gain, increased belly fat, thinning hair, and aging skin. Other side effects of hormone decline range from mildly annoying to severely impacting a woman’s quality of life: hot flashes, night sweats, decreased libido, and pain during intercourse. And, menopause can also increase the risk of certain life-threatening medical conditions, such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia.
Natural Treatments for Menopause
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Treatment for Thinning Hair
Estrogen and progesterone are the hormones that assist hair in growing faster and staying on the head for longer periods of time. So, when a women’s production of estrogen and progesterone declines during menopause, hair grows much more slowly and becomes much thinner. Additionally, the decrease in these hormones triggers an increase in the production of male hormones or “androgens” that are responsible for shrinking the hair follicles.
One natural and effective treatment for restoring and thickening hair in women during and after menopause is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) hair restoration. PRP has been used in joint regeneration, sports medicine, and “Vampire Facials®” for several years. Now this revolutionary technology is available for hair restoration at our Austin, TX office.
Platelet Rich Plasma is a natural hair loss treatment in which growth factors are isolated from the patient’s own blood and then re-injected into the scalp to rejuvenate hair follicles, stimulate hair-growth, and thicken thinning hair.
Sight Defense MV for Eyesight
As a woman’s circle of friends gets older, it often becomes a running joke that nearly all of them need some form of “reading glasses” just to look at a menu. But certain types of declining eyesight are no laughing matter – and can in fact lead to blindness.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss for women over 60, with 2 million people suffering from the advanced form of the disease known as “Wet AMD.” Since estrogen helps protect against this common condition, the hormonal decline of menopause puts women at greater risk for developing AMD.
Recent clinical studies, as reported in Science Daily, have demonstrated that women in menopause who are given estrogen replacement have a 48% lower risk of developing advanced stages of macular degeneration. Dr. Ruthie Harper in Austin, TX is a hormone therapy expert who can restore estrogen levels with natural bioidentical hormone therapy – to help protect the eyes during and after menopause.
Dr. Harper has also created a high quality daily multivitamin called Sight Defense MV that contains the nutrients recommended by the National Eye Institute’s Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). Sight Defense MV contains a specific formulation of vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and high levels of antioxidants shown to significantly reduce the risk of advanced AMD and its associated vision loss.
Hormone Replacement for Sexual Health
The hormone decline of menopause can manifest in a wide variety of sexual problems for women. Vaginal dryness and itching, loss of interest in sex, reduced sexual sensation, and pain during intercourse can all result from menopausal hormone deficiency.
The hormone estrogen is responsible for maintaining thick, healthy, elastic tissue in the vaginal walls, as well as producing the moisture needed to lubricate the vagina during sex. Unfortunately, as estrogen production decreases during perimenopause, the walls of the vagina become thinner, lose their elasticity, and secrete fewer lubricating fluids.
Replacing the body’s missing estrogen with hormone replacement therapy can help a woman’s body rebuild thick, strong, elastic vaginal walls, and improve production of vaginal lubrication. Stronger, healthier vaginal tissue means improved sexual sensation for the woman and her partner during penetration. And renewed lubrication reduces friction, so sexual intercourse becomes enjoyable again!
Additionally, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone all play a role in female sexual arousal and desire. So, restoring optimal levels of these hormones can reinvigorate libido during menopause – restoring one’s interest in sex.
Comprehensive lab work is conducted so that the hormone replacement can be customized to offer the best strength and dosage for each individual woman’s unique hormone rebalancing needs. Thorough blood work also ensure that safe amounts of hormones are being administered. And the use of bioidentical hormones ensures that a woman’s body is only seeing the safe and effective hormones in her body that were once present in her younger years.
Aesthetic Treatments for Aging Skin
Dr. Ruthie Harper in Austin, TX understands that the visible or cosmetic signs of aging can also be demoralizing – affecting a woman’s confidence and self esteem as she navigates menopause and beyond. That is why she also offers an array of aesthetic treatments that combat and reverse the effects of aging on a woman’s skin.
Collagen and elastin are the protein building blocks that form the “scaffolding” of firm, healthy, youthful skin. While hyaluronic acid is the substance produced by your body to retain water and keep the skin lubricated, moist and “plump”.
As a woman goes through menopause her production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid slows considerably. Decreasing estrogen levels are also believed to contribute to reduced collagen production and water content. And as the skin loses these important structural components, it becomes dry, loses elasticity and begins to wrinkle and sag.
Dr. Ruthie Harper in Austin, TX offers several aesthetic treatments that naturally stimulate the body to begin producing collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid – repairing the tissue, tightening and smoothing the skin, and reducing lines, wrinkles, discoloration (“age spots”) and other visible signs of aging.
The IPL facial is an advanced laser treatment that harnesses the power of “Intense Pulsed Light” to activate collagen and elastin production. Similarly, microneedling in our Austin, TX office creates microscopic needle pricks to the skin that stimulate the body’s own “wound healing” mechanisms. As the body goes to work repairing these “wounds,” it produces collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid – so aging skin becomes tighter, smoother and more youthful in appearance.
And, the Nova Thread “PDO thread lift” is a revolutionary, affordable, minimally invasive procedure that offers the skin-tightening benefits of a face lift – without surgery and with almost no downtime! Dr. Harper inserts invisible sutures or “threads” beneath the skin that lift and tighten the face, neck or other body part – and hold it in place to restore youthful tone and tightness.
Natural Menopause Treatments – Austin, TX
These and many other natural regenerative treatments available at our Austin, TX office enable women to look and feel their best during perimenopause, menopause and beyond! Thanks to these groundbreaking, state-of-the-art procedures and technologies fifty really IS the “new thirty”.
Menopause and it’s frustrating and dangerous side-effects are NOT something you simply have to “learn to live with.” If you have begun to notice any of the signs of menopause – from thinning hair, to aging skin, or vaginal and sexual changes, low energy, weight gain or more – schedule an appointment with Dr. Ruthie Harper in Austin, TX today.
See will put together a safe and customized menopause treatment plan that is personalized for your unique, individual symptoms and health concerns – so you can live life to the fullest with health, vitality and beauty at every age!