Menopause
Southern Crescent Women’s HealthCare
Menopause is the start of a new chapter in a woman’s life, but the transition can bring some less than welcome side effects. The highly respected multidisciplinary obstetrics and gynecology team at Southern Crescent Women’s HealthCare, serving the populations of Fayetteville, Newnan, and Stockbridge, Georgia, has extensive experience with helping women who are finding menopause troublesome. If you’re struggling with any aspect of the change, call the clinic today, or book an appointment online.
Menopause Q & A
What is menopause?
Menopause is a natural stage during a woman’s middle years when her ability to reproduce comes to an end. Your ovaries produce the reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone through your childbearing years, but when you reach middle age, hormone production slows, and finally ceases at around 51 years.
Estrogen helps control your menstrual cycle, so the most obvious sign of approaching menopause is changes to your monthly cycle. When you’ve gone a year without a period, you are in menopause.
What are the symptoms of menopause?
In the perimenopause stage, before your periods stop altogether, you may experience:
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Depression or anxiety
- Mood swings
- Painful intercourse
- Irritability
- Problems sleeping
- Vaginal dryness
- Dry, thinning hair and skin
- Loss of libido
- Urethral irritation and increased vulnerability to UTIs
Some of these symptoms may reduce or disappear when you enter menopause, while others persist.
What treatments are available for menopausal symptoms?
One of the primary treatment options for menopausal symptoms is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). HRT boosts the hormone levels in your body, thus reversing the effects of estrogen loss. Topical estrogen creams, rings, or pills can provide relief if your vagina is dry, itching, or painful.
HRT is highly beneficial for many women, but there are some risks associated with using HRT, which you should discuss with your provider at Southern Crescent Women’s HealthCare.
Some women aren’t able to use any form of hormonal therapy, like those who have a history of breast cancer or deep-vein thrombosis. The team at Southern Crescent Women’s HealthCare offers an alternative way of restoring vaginal elasticity and lubrication using the MonaLisa Touch® laser therapy, a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that stimulates your body to produce new vaginal tissue.
Other medications may also prove helpful. Certain antidepressants can ease menopausal symptoms, while hot flashes and problems sleeping can improve if you take an anti-seizure medication like gabapentin or the blood pressure medication clonidine. Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) can also provide relief for hot flashes and painful intercourse.
Your provider at Southern Crescent Women’s HealthCare can advise you on the best ways to relieve any menopausal symptoms and stay healthy after menopause. For example, the clinic provides pelvic floor therapy and a variety of aids, such as pessaries, to help with incontinence.
The clinic also provides services like DEXA scans to measure bone density, so your provider can spot any weakening of your bones that indicate problems like osteoporosis.
Find relief from the symptoms of menopause by calling Southern Crescent Women’s HealthCare today, or book an appointment online.
