Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

BHRT, which is short for Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy, is a treatment that uses natural hormones to improve your health and wellbeing. It is a therapy used to restore your hormone levels to the normal healthy levels you had in your 20's, but have declined as a result of aging and other reasons. BHRT pellets are made up of the same estrogen and testosterone that's naturally occurring in your body, created from plant-based ingredients. Once the pellets are placed into the subcutaneous fat, then immediately begin releasing a continuous amount of hormones into your bloodstream to restore balance. The procedure typically takes 10-15 minutes and you are able to go back to normal activities within a week.

The most common cause of low hormones in women is menopause. As a woman ages, there is decreased secretion of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone from the pituitary gland, adrenal glands, and ovaries. Menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 years old and results in the abrupt decline of these hormones, which are essential for the mental and physical well-being of women. There are other causes of low hormones, including premature ovarian failure, excessive exercise or extreme dieting, eating disorders, autoimmune conditions, and surgical removal of the ovaries.

• Improvement in hot flashes and night sweats
• Improvement in insomnia
• Decreased vaginal dryness and pain during intercourse
• Decreased migraines caused by low estrogen
• Improved mood and decreased irritability

reIf you’ve gone to your primary care or gynecology provider and asked about hormone replacement therapy (HRT), this is likely the response you received:

“I don’t believe in hormone supplementation for women”

“There’s no data to support hormone supplementation in women”

“Our organization doesn’t advocate for hormone supplementation in women”

If you’ve told your gynecology doctor that you have a low libido and desire, it’s likely they told you:

“You should see a sex therapist”

These are the most common responses we hear from female patients who come to us to ask about HRT and hormone supplementation.

Part of the problem is that these providers do not differentiate between the types of hormone preparations such as creams, pills, injections, and bio-identical pellets. For example, oral estrogen supplementation significantly increased the risk of thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) because it is a synthetic preparation that is ingested, whereas bio-identical estrogen is identical to the estrogen your body produces and has been shown to NOT increase the risk of thromboembolic events. Pellets are the preferred method at Studio R Aesthetics because they do not cause the same problems as the other preparations.

Another part of the problem is research studies such as the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, which showed a higher risk for breast cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and thromboembolic events with combined treatment of ONLY synthetic estrogens and progestin (not testosterone or bio-identical hormone pellets). Since this study, there have been numerous clinical studies evaluating bio-identical hormone pellets, which have been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer, stroke, and cardiovascular disease in women undergoing hormone supplementation compared to women who were low hormone and not supplemented.