Dancing With Your Hormones

Hormones are chemicals in the body that are multi-functional.  They have many roles and affect many of the other systems in the body. 

They perform an intricate dance for us every second we are alive.  Think of systems in the body as an individual in a group dance on Dancing with the Stars.  Dancers are paired up and switch partners frequently, always flowing from one step to the next.  The music (our brains) sends the signal to the dancers about which steps to take.  That way they form a beautiful, synchronized, flawless dance that matches with the music. 

What happens when the dancer cannot hear the music?  Or when the dancer does not have the correct shoes or has an injury?  What if one dancer is doing the rumba while the rest are doing the samba?  The flow of the dance is interrupted and it affects the entire ballroom.  

This is the same thing that occurs with hormones.  Our brain is the music which signals to the dancers and the hormones what dance they are performing that day.  The music can get shut off.  Maybe the music isn’t loud enough, maybe it’s too loud, or it’s possible that the dancer has lost hearing or forgot the jive is.  The same thing occurs with your hormones and results in an imbalance and creates a ripple effect throughout the body.

Birth control pills actually shut off the music that your body produces and instead starts to play a different song.  The organs cant hear the music that they usually hear.  Instead it is similar but foreign.  BCP interrupts the communication between the brain and the ovaries, between the dancers and the music.

How do you know if you have a hormonal imbalance?

For females, a hormone imbalance can take many forms such as PMS, PMDD, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, polyps, trouble becoming pregnant, low sex drive, uterine cramping, spotting between periods, long periods, short periods, heavy periods, no periods, anovulation, clotting, headaches, mood swings, breast tenderness, etc, you get the point.  

Women are actually lucky to have periods! I am sure you don’t believe me but it’s true.  Becoming aware of your cycle, tracking it and tuning into your body and what it is telling you is another way we have to monitor our overall health.   If your hormones are imbalanced this actually puts you at risk for more severe illness down the road.  

The good news is there are many things you can do at home to improve your hormonal health (more on that in the next post).  If you need more guidance, naturopathic physicians and functional hormone doctors can do a thorough assessment on you and provide you with the appropriate functional hormone testing to determine where exactly the imbalance is.  

Do not accept “feeling off” or miserable as a way of life.  There is much we can do, naturally and non-invasively to improve your health.  For more information please email or call my office at drkristinewilliams@gmail.com and 518-635-0111.