How to address hormonal imbalances naturally

Have you been to several doctors, taken several supplements, had DUTCH testing done and are still dealing with hormonal imbalances?!

The great thing about lab testing is it can show us if there is a problem and imbalance with our hormones, but most conventional doctors don’t know to fix hormonal imbalances- aside from prescribing the birth control pill or synthetic hormones (which does not fix your hormonal imbalance by the way- but is another lengthy topic of its own).

It’s also extremely common for lab tests to come back normal, so your doctor just tells you everything is normal despite you feeling like crap. Meanwhile, you’re experiencing anxiety pre-menses, period pain, headaches, irregular periods, acne, breast tenderness or even hair loss and questioning if you are crazy. (you are not crazy- by the way)

How frustrating! As someone who has experienced this firsthand- I whole-heartedly empathize with your situation. In fact, this is why I became a Chinese medicine practitioner, acupuncturist, and well-seasoned herbalist.

Treating women’s health concerns, hormone imbalances, and fertility is my passion, as well as other chronic disease ailments.

So- how does acupuncture and chinese herbal medicine (and I will also add nutrition!) help with treating hormonal imbalances?

First off, Chinese medicine practitioners (if they’re practicing correctly), always seek to treat the root cause. This means we spend lots of time asking you questions and are experts at analyzing your symptoms. You see- we believe that your symptoms aren’t random. They are helpful clues as to what’s going on internally, and allow us to deduce how to properly treat your underlying imbalance so that we can regulate your hormones.

Because lab tests didn’t exist thousands of years ago- we don’t rely on lab tests to diagnose. We look at the whole picture of health of the body through analyzing your symptoms, checking your pulse (a medical diagnostic tool), and looking at your tongue. Did you know your tongue, as an extension of the GI tract can show us soooo much about what’s going on with your health?

As some quick bullet points- here’s how we address hormonal imbalances holistically and by addressing the root cause:

Promoting Blood Flow to the reproductive organs- restoring blood flow and circulation helps to support our uterus health, improve egg quality, fertility, prevents irregular cycles, period pain, and helps promote an overall well being. Healthy blood flow is also extremely important when you’re transitioning from regular periods to peri-menopause. Healthy blood flow will ensure less symptoms during the transition to peri-menopause.

Reducing Inflammation- reducing inflammation in the body is of utmost importance for regulating hormone health and resolving hormonal imbalances. I like to work with my patients on how they can do this with changing their lifestyle, tweaking their nutrition, as well as through acupuncture and/or custom herbal medicine therapy.

Improving your gut health and microbiome- Your gut health is incredibly important to your hormone health- they are dependent on one another. Healthy gut flora is required to synthesize nutrients needed for hormone production, such as creating progesterone or thyroid hormone. In short, our gut health aids in the synthesis of hormones and neurotransmitters. Also,9 5% of serotonin and other hormones are made in the gut, so if there’s a gut imbalance it could cause you to feel depressed, irritable, and experience heightened PMS type symptoms. You do NOT have to live with this- natural approaches can really help you!

Nourishing Blood, supporting the metabolism, and nourishing body fluids- in some cases, anemia, or what we call “blood deficiency” in chinese medicine, as well as a weak metabolism can cause hormonal imbalances. In this case, its necessary for the patient to take herbs and/or be unwavering about using nutrition to address longterm nutrient deficiencies, weak metabolism, and blood deficiency.

Supporting your adrenals: If your adrenals are constantly pumping out cortisol due to prolonged stress or a dysregulated nervous system, your adrenals can become weak. Over time, high cortisol is associated with low progesterone- as cortisol and progesterone are made from the same building blocks (pregnenolone). Our bodes will always prioritize survival over reproduction and having a regular healthy menstrual cycle which ultimately results in hormone imbalance. The good news is that Chinese medicine can address this in multiple ways. Acupuncture is amazing at regulating our nervous system and Chinese herbal medicine utilizes adaptogenic herbs to help support your adrenals, which can help address the underlying cause of fertility struggles, hormone imbalances, etc.

It isn’t possible to diagnose you without having a full consult and health history- so if you’re local to Longmont and seeking a well experienced acupuncturist and herbalist who specializes in hormone and gut health to help treat your hormone imbalance- head on over to my booking page to request an appointment. I look forward to working with you and helping you to achieve your health goals.