Hormonal Imbalance Treatment in Charlotte, NC

What Is a Hormonal Imbalance?

As its name would suggest, a hormonal imbalance is a condition that describes an individual with either too much or too little of a particular hormone in their body. This is classified as a malfunction of the endocrine system, which is responsible for producing hormones and distributing them to vital organs and tissues. Dr. Ashley Tapscott is a board-certified urologist with fellowship-training at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Tapscott has extensive experience diagnosing and treating patients for hormonal imbalance.

What Role Do Our Hormones Play?

An issue within the endocrine system can have a significant impact on a person’s body and its vital functions because our hormones are responsible for regulating a wide variety of bodily processes and functions.

For example, proper hormone levels help to control an individual’s:

• Heart rate
• Body temperature
• Metabolism
• Reproductive cycles
• Appetite
• Stress levels
• Sexual function
• Growth and development
• Sleep cycles

What are the Common Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance?

Essentially, hormones can affect anything and everything going on within the body in one way or another. This, unfortunately, means that hormone imbalances can be somewhat difficult to detect and pinpoint, as they can present themselves in an array of symptoms.

Some of the more serious complications of a hormonal imbalance can include:

• Infertility
• Depression
• Blood pressure changes
• Frequent skin rashes and unusually dry skin
• Blurred vision
• Impaired sex drive and/or sexual function
• Digestive issues
• Suddenly slowed or racing heartbeat

A person’s gender can also affect which symptoms they are more likely to encounter. Both men and women can experience reproductive health problems as the result of a hormonal imbalance but in different ways. For example, women often have vaginal dryness or vaginal atrophy while men typically notice a lowered sex drive and problems with erectile dysfunction.

It is also possible for children to experience a hormonal imbalance, which most often presents itself as an abnormality during the developmental stages of the child’s life. Typical bodily changes that occur during puberty may be delayed or even nonexistent.

What is Dr. Tapscott’s Diagnostic Process of Hormonal Imbalance?

To confirm whether or not an individual has a hormonal imbalance, Dr. Ashley Tapscott will likely conduct several standard blood tests and examinations. Management and treatment all depend on the particular cause of the patient’s hormonal imbalance, which means that diagnosing the issue lies at the heart of finding an effective solution.

One of the first steps in the diagnostic process is to thoroughly review the patient’s health history, as well as the health history of their family. Many hormonal disorders can be passed down through genetics, meaning that if your mother or father had a hormonal imbalance, you are at an increased risk to have one as well.

After discussing these influential factors with Dr. Tapscott, patients will often complete one or more of the following tests to officially identify a hormonal imbalance:

• Pelvic examination
• Ultrasound
• Blood test
• X-ray
• Thyroid scan
• MRI
• Sperm count
• Biopsy

The type of test performed will be dependent upon the individual’s unique symptoms. For example, a pelvic exam or sperm count test will be two of the first diagnostic procedures used if the person has experienced fertility problems.

What Treatment Options Does The Sexual Health Institute of The Carolinas Provide? 

There is an incredible number of treatments available for those that have irregular hormone levels. Some patients can control their symptoms by implementing and maintaining simple lifestyle changes, such as:

• A modified diet
• Exercising regularly to reduce their weight
• Removing unwanted body hair with medical-grade treatments like electrolysis
• Utilizing lubes and other vaginal moisturizers

Even if these at-home remedies do not work for you, it is also possible to find relief through a variety of hormone therapy treatments or prescribed medications. Even something as simple as starting or switching to a different form of birth control to help regulate the person’s reproductive hormones can produce wonderful results for many of our female patients.