Aging begins deep in the body at the cellular level and slowly progresses to affect every aspect of your health, from organ function to how you look.
Though no one can stop these changes, you can slow their progress with an active, wholesome lifestyle and medical care that supports your health and vitality.
As a women’s health specialist, Chetanna Okasi, MD, at Women’s Wellness MD in Columbia and Greenbelt, Maryland, is an expert in identifying age-related changes and how they affect reproductive health, sexual vitality, and other issues, from dry skin to weak bones.
This blog explains women's common challenges with age and the treatments we offer that restore optimal health.
Women are all too familiar with the massive hormonal changes during menopause. However, that’s not the only possible imbalance you may face.
Your body’s production of thyroid and other hormones slows as you age, leading to deficiencies even if you're in good health.
You could also have an untreated health problem affecting hormone levels. For example, an autoimmune disease can cause an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).
Let’s explore menopause and hypothyroidism and their impact on aging:
No matter what depletes your thyroid hormone levels, the imbalance magnifies natural aging because hypothyroidism causes:
Hypothyroidism can also change your menstrual cycles, mimicking perimenopause (the years before menopause) by making them irregular.
Women’s ovaries stop producing estrogen when they reach menopause. Though menopause is known for hot flashes and mood swings, the drop in hormone levels has a dramatic impact throughout your body. Many of these changes contribute to aging and chronic diseases.
Without enough estrogen, your skin dehydrates, thins, and loses strength and elasticity, leading to wrinkles and loose skin. The same changes as those in your skin occur in connective tissues throughout your body.
Low estrogen contributes to aging in your muscles, bones, and the tissues lining your vagina and urinary tract. That’s why women have a significantly higher risk of osteoporosis, struggle with vaginal dryness and painful intercourse, and develop urinary incontinence.
No one needs a reminder that they can gain weight at any age. However, aging increases your risk. The general aging process, hypothyroidism, and low estrogen all contribute because they cause similar problems: your metabolism slows, and muscle mass declines. As a result, you burn less energy and store more fat. Low estrogen also makes you vulnerable to gaining weight around your belly.
The only way to treat low hormones, whether estrogen, thyroid hormones, or others, is with hormone replacement therapy. We offer bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, ensuring your medication is identical to the hormones your body produces.
After running blood tests to determine your current hormone levels, we customize your bioidentical hormones to meet your unique needs. As hormone balance returns, you reverse age-related changes and restore your health. However, there is an exception.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy won’t help you lose the weight you’ve already gained. But we’re here to help with that.
We offer a medically supervised weight loss program, supporting your journey with healthy eating plans, exercise recommendations, and prescription weight-loss medications.
Most women are blissfully unaware that pain during sex and vaginal itching and dryness are common problems after menopause.
But you don’t have to live with vaginal symptoms, and you can avoid hormone treatments if preferred because we offer an advanced, game-changing treatment: non-surgical vaginal rejuvenation.
We use safe laser or radiofrequency energy to heat cells in the vaginal lining gently. The heat triggers cellular activity, boosting collagen and elastin production and activating new blood vessel growth.
These changes rebuild the vaginal lining, reversing the problems caused by low estrogen and making it possible to enjoy pain-free sex.
Ready to learn more about anti-aging strategies? Connect through online booking or call Women’s Wellness MD today to schedule a consultation.
