Women’s Health Conditions Often Get Minimized or Overlooked

Doctors Should Believe Their Patients

There is a concerning, outdated, old way of practicing medicine when it comes to women’s hormonal health and women’s health in general, that seems to be more prevalent today than it should be for our time. Women are often told that they should “suck it up” or are told that there is nothing wrong with them and their symptoms are normal.   When it comes to many hormonal health concerns, unfortunately using birth control is often the only option offered for treatment by some healthcare professionals. Women who seek care can often be considered as too sensitive, whiny, needy or neurotic and are not given the many options available to try to treat their hormonal symptoms. 

This often means that women suffer from symptoms or worsening conditions  for quite some time before they get taken seriously. 

Common Women's Health Conditions

This is not an exhaustive list but here is a list of a  few common issues that often get minimized or overlooked that often have a variety of options for treatment. If you or your loved one is suffering from any of the conditions listed below, there is a possibly a holistic perspective and treatment plan could improve symptoms and overall health.

Menstrual issues

Menstrual issues are common but not normal.  In today’s world there are so many factors that can disrupt our hormones and throw us off balance.  Signs of hormonal imbalances related to menstruation involve having irregular periods, no period, premenstrual mood changes, cramping, bloating, nausea, vomiting, breast tenderness, or excessive, heavy, or consistent bleeding.  Thankfully help is available beyond just birth control. Having extreme symptoms past minor cramping is something that needs to be looked at and wanting help with any symptoms is not silly or frivolous and not something you just have to suck up.

Endometriosis

Endometriosis is an incredibly painful, complex, and debilitating condition. Due to bias in healthcare, diagnosis regularly takes several years.  This lack of urgency in diagnosing endometriosis severely impacts the patient, leading to life-altering debilitating symptoms, worsening of the condition that might have been more easily treatable if caught earlier,  erosion of the quality of the patient's life, and considerable exacerbation of mental health challenges such as but not limited to anxiety and mood symptoms. Endometriosis lends well to a holistic approach because an individualized treatment plan seems to be the most effective approach to managing symptoms. 

PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)

PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) can be a tough condition to get treatment options for but there are many holistic approaches. So much is unknown about PCOS, we are still learning about it. As more research is starting to be conducted on women’s health there is hope that we will have some clearer answers and even more treatment options. PCOS is a very common condition and many women suffer from and it is commonly a condition that runs in families.  

Menopause

Menopause is unfortunately often still a taboo subject that many women feel they have to suffer in silence. Older women who have gone through menopause but still have symptoms that linger often don’t discuss the challenging symptoms they face for fear of being dismissed or minimized. This is unfortunate because there are a lot of holistic treatment options that can really help! 

Mental Health & Hormones

Hormone health and mental health are related, treatment of one often affects change on the other. Conditions that have a challenging mental health component like PMDD (premenstrual dysphoria disorder) are often dismissed but PMDD is a real condition that can be very extreme and disruptive to quality of life. Many women are not aware of the condition and if they are lucky enough to identify they have it they often have to face the challenge of finding a healthcare professional that believes the condition exists at all.

How to Work With Me

There are so many many hormonal conditions that seem to respond really well to holistic treatment options. I love working on hormonal conditions because there are so many treatment options available and I can tailor a specific treatment plan with each person, which often is most effective. If your condition is not listed and you would like to get an idea of your options or you see your condition here and would like to learn about more treatment options you can apply to be a patient by clicking here.