Each year in the United States, about 1.3 million women transition through menopause. While this transition effectively puts an end to your reproductive stage, the side effects can run much deeper. From hot flashes and night sweats to vaginal dryness and anxiety, menopause can come with some considerable serious quality-of-life challenges.
We’re here to tell you that you do have options for making this journey far less bumpy. At Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Fernando Otero and our team help women through every stage of life, including menopause and beyond, and here’s what we want you to know.
Let’s first discuss the side effects of menopause, which are all grouped under a new label — genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). The reason why women’s health care experts came up with GSM is to do justice to the long list of side effects that women face when their hormones shift out of reproduction mode. This list includes:
This list is far from complete, but it gives you an idea about the impact that menopause can have on your physical, mental, and emotional health.
Now let’s dive into some of the solutions that are available to you after you transition through menopause.
Because menopause symptoms are fueled by a drop in reproductive hormones — estrogen and progesterone — it makes sense that rebalancing these hormones can help alleviate them.
There are many different hormone replacement options. For example, you can try a systemic approach and use patches, pills, topical creams, or pellets to bring your reproductive hormone levels back up.
If you’d prefer a more targeted approach to address a specific symptom, there are hormone creams and suppositories that you can use to address vaginal dryness and thinning vaginal tissues.
If hot flashes and night sweats are your primary complaint, some medications can help control these vasomotor symptoms.
There’s much that you can do to take the edge off menopause, such as:
We want to emphasize the importance of exercise, particularly strength training, which can help slow down bone loss.
When you pass through menopause, it's not uncommon to face urinary incontinence issues and pelvic organ prolapse, both of which often stem from a weak pelvic floor. To strengthen this important support structure, we recommend incorporating Kegel exercises into your daily routine.
If you’re unfamiliar with Kegels, click here for a how-to.
If you’re struggling with your mental health and you’re just not feeling like yourself after menopause, please don’t ignore this and seek help from a mental health professional. Many women find psychotherapy and medications to help improve their mental health.
As you can see, there are solutions for menopause, and we’re happy to help you figure out which combination is best for your symptoms.
To get that ball rolling, we invite you to contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas, to schedule an appointment.
