Is itchy skin a sign of menopause?
There are many signs that signal that you are in perimenopause which is the pre-curser to menopause. Perimenopause is the 8-10 years leading up to menopause. Technically you are in menopause when you have gone 12 consecutive months with no period. Every day thereafter is post-menopause.
Common perimenopause and menopause symptoms that affect your skin include, dryness, fine wrinkles, decreased firmness and elasticity, more prone to damage, poor healing and atrophy.
These specific skin issues are due to estrogen levels declining. Estrogen is vital to healthy skin. As our overtries begin their decent into full retirement, they begin to produce less and less estrogen which leads to skin itchiness.
Menopause and Itching
According to the PubMed article, "Estrogen and Skin. An overview," estrogen appears to aid in the prevention of skin aging in several ways. This reproductive hormone prevents a decrease in skin collagen in postmenopausal women; topical and systemic estrogen therapy can increase the skin collagen content and therefore maintain skin thickness.
In addition, estrogen maintains skin moisture by increasing acid mucopolysaccharides and hyaluronic acid in the skin and possibly maintaining stratum corneum barrier function. Sebum levels are higher in postmenopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy. Skin wrinkling also may benefit from estrogen as a result of the effects of the hormone on the elastic fibers and collagen. Outside of its influence on skin aging, it has been suggested that estrogen increases cutaneous wound healing by regulating the levels of a cytokine. In fact, topical estrogen has been found to accelerate and improve wound healing in elderly men and women.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) and BHRT (Bioidentical Hormone Replacement is a therapy where you replenish the estrogen, progesterone and possibly the testosterone that your body is no longer able to produce at the same levels as when you were in your 20's.
The amount or dose of estrogen in today's HRT is about 1/5 of what's in a birth control pill. The goal is not to get your levels to that of a teenager, but rather to a level that alleviates the symptoms. This is not only good news to our skin, but also for our hair, brain, heart, and bones. Estrogen is essential to age well. Let me say that again, estrogen is absolutely necessary to age well.
Natural HRT Treatment
(Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy)
Does Hormone Replacement Therapy make your skin look younger? We are all looking for organic and natural ingredients for our skincare, make-up and anything we ingest into our bodies. This includes our medications. Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy is plant derived and is as close to natural as you can get.
Bioidentical hormone therapy can be created by a compounding pharmacy. Your HRT doctor will prescribe a specific dose of estrogen to progesterone ratio for you and the pharmacy will produce a pill or patch that adheres to your doctor's orders. Bioidentical Hormones are chemically identical to those the human body produces. Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are among those most commonly replicated and used in treatment.
Benefits of Estrogen to Skin
Have you ever looked at a young woman in her 20's and thought, man, I wish my skin was dewy again. I don't think, actually I know, I didn't appreciate my skin in my 20's and 30's, I took it for granted. Then about age 50 I started to realize that things were changing.
Estrogen has several benefits to our skin.
It prevents a decrease in skin collagen and elastin, so it helps maintain skin thickness and elasticity.
It keeps the skin moisturized.
It boosts collagen production, which in turn supports the skin’s thickness.
It minimizes wrinkles and age spots.
It encourages wound healing.
Estrogen appears to aid in the prevention of skin aging in several ways. This reproductive hormone prevents a decrease in skin collagen in postmenopausal women; topical and systemic estrogen therapy can increase the skin collagen content and therefore maintain skin thickness. In addition, estrogen maintains skin moisture by increasing acid mucopolysaccharides and hyaluronic acid in the skin and possibly maintaining stratum corneum barrier function. Sebum levels are higher in postmenopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy. Skin wrinkling also may benefit from estrogen as a result of the effects of the hormone on the elastic fibers and collagen.
How to find a Hormone Replacement Therapy Doctor or Specialist
Now that you know and understand the benefits of estrogen for your skin, let's discuss how to find a doctor or specialist to work with you and discuss if Hormone Replacement Therapy is right for you.
Of course, you can go to your gynecologist and initiate a discussion on your interest in starting HRT. You may find they are open and willing to have the conversation. Or you might find they blow you off and refuse the conversation altogether. Or the outcome might be somewhere in between the two.
You could also by-pass your OB/GYN or General Practitioner and choose to visit with an online HRT clinic. These clinics have practices full of doctors who specialized in HRT and Bioidentical HRT. They understand the complexity of menopause and specialize in helping you navigate your health during this phase of your life. The other benefit is that they seem to allow more time for a full discussion rather than the typical 8-minutes your allotted with your current provider.
Typically, you can schedule a telehealth appointment. If bloodwork is needed prior to appointment, they will send orders to you to visit a lab like Quest or LabCorp that is convenient for you. Once bloodwork is returned they'll reach out to schedule an appointment to review your medical history, your symptoms and the results of the bookwork. They may make recommendations on specific hormone replacement therapy drugs. They also have partner compounding pharmacies where they will send your prescriptions and upon completion of your medications they will be shipped directly to you.
It's all very new-age and easy. Gone are the days of being frustrated if your doctor and you are not aligned. Online HRT Clincs give us options as we begin the quest to research if Hormone Replacement Therapy is right for us.
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