When you are preparing food, and you add too much or too little of an ingredient, what happens? The final product is affected. Think of it that way for the case of hormone imbalance. In this article, I will be explaining the causes and symptoms of hormone imbalance. I will also be giving you tips on how to balance them.
Hormone imbalance is the situation whereby you have too much or too little of a hormone in your bloodstream.
A change in the level of hormone concentration in your body has side effects on body functions such as metabolism and overall growth and development of your body.
Causes of hormone imbalance.
Everybody experiences hormonal imbalance at some point in their life, but this also happens when the glands responsible for producing the hormones are not functioning correctly. Some medical conditions affect the productivity of the organs hence leading to fluctuations in hormone concentration. Therefore the side effects will depend on which hormone is affected.
Certain lifestyle habits and surrounding environment also cause hormone imbalance. The causes differ slightly in male and female.
In women, hormonal imbalance mostly relates to reproductive hormones. The causes are; menopause, breastfeeding, pregnancy, drugs like birth control pills, menstruation, ovary cancer and POI( primary ovarian insufficiency).
In men-The causes are; aging, puberty, prostate cancer and low testosterone.
Symptoms of hormone imbalance.
| In men. | In women |
|---|---|
| Reduced sex drive | Painful, heavy, irregular or missed periods. |
| loss of muscles | Sweating at night |
| infertility | Pain during sex |
| Hot flashes | Gaining weight or difficulties in losing weight |
| Tender breasts | Losing of hair |
| Erectile dysfunction | Uterine bleeding but not menstrual cycle |
| Low concentration | Deepening of voice |
| Low hair growth and reduced beards | Infertility |
| Low sperm count | Darkening of the skin |
| Growth of breast tissues | Vaginal atrophy |
Treatment of hormone imbalance.
Like any other disorder, hormone imbalance also has control. However, the treatment varies from person to person, and this depends on the causative agents of the disorder.
Here are some of the treatment options;
- Vaginal estrogen-vaginal dryness leads to pain during sex, and you can regulate this by applying an estrogen cream to the vaginal tissues or use an estrogen tablet.
- Hormonal birth control-when you are experiencing difficulties in getting pregnant you can use hormonal birth control to regulate the menstrual cycles. They include; Vaginal ring, birth control pills and birth control patch.
- Those having PCOS problems can use In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) to get pregnant.
- The medication of testosterone-adolescents experiencing delayed puberty can use testosterone supplements to initiate puberty. It comes in gels and patches. Testosterone supplements also solve the problem of low sperm count in adults.
- Thyroid hormone treatment-The synthetic thyroid hormone levothyroxine can cause the hormonal balance in people with hypothyroidism.
- Metformin-It is used to regulate diabetes type 2. It lowers androgen levels and initiates ovulation.
- Anti-androgen therapy-It is a male sex hormone but also found in women. Women with high levels of anti-androgen can go for medication to reduce its effects such as the growth of hair in the face and acne.
Don’t be worried a lot when you notice you have a hormone imbalance because just like any other disorder, it has treatment.
Observe the above symptoms, and if you notice any of them, don’t hesitate to visit a doctor for guidance on the effective treatment plan that works for you.
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