Hormones are natural chemicals produced in our glands to help maintain balance and homeostasis in the body. These chemicals are responsible for most of the tasks in the body from sex to brain function to the breakdown of food.

Unbalanced hormones in men and women can lead to uncomfortable symptoms and/or unhealthy conditions. Some of the most common symptoms include sleep disturbances, low or waning daytime energy, lack of motivation, labile mood, bone loss, weakness, vaginal dryness, low libido, insulin resistance, and impaired cognitive functions such as focus, memory, and busy brain.

Hormones have a strong impact on every system and many processes in the body. At Balanced Health, we prefer to start our assessment with a comprehensive “systems check.” This bloodwork, which we can draw in our office for convenience, includes a full hormone panel and provides insight into the connections and disconnections throughout the whole body leading to a more informed and holistic plan of care.

As we age, our body’s ability to make its own endogenous testosterone starts to decline, often earlier than expected in people with busy brains, anxiety, high muscle mass, Type A personalities, trauma victims, or military personnel. As the average life expectancy has continued to increase, there is an increased need to replace hormone to ensure we age with optimal strength, movement, and process.

Testosterone is one of the biggest players in bone resorption, or keeping our bones dense and strong and able to bear weight. It can help to prevent, stop, or reverse conditions such as osteopenia and osteoporosis. Testosterone is also an important component of protein synthesis, or our ability to make muscle, keep muscle, and tone muscle keeping us active and weight-bearing. And finally, testosterone is an important component in maintaining a healthy cell metabolism, or keeping the cells doing what they are intended to do.

Hormones can be replaced with various administration methods such as supplements, creams or patches, oral dissolving tablets, injections, and pellets. Some methods actually give the body hormone while others help to remind the body to make its own endogenous hormone. It is important to find the right method for you based on what your body is telling us and what resonates best with you.

Bio-identical pellets are often the preferred method of administration. Bio-identical means that the pellets are made from plant-derived natural ingredients from FDA-approved sources and have the same chemical and molecular structure as natural human hormones.

The pellet method most closely mimics the body’s natural rhythm as it is based on each individual’s cardiac output. The dissolvable pellet allows the body to take what hormone it needs and when, but ultimately always takes some leading to a nice, steady level. The body can then establish homeostasis with hormone, as opposed to without. The trick is finding each person’s sweet spot where symptoms dissipate and the bloodwork is healthy and balanced. This is very important as each person’s “place” of balance will be unique and therefore requires a unique plan.