Hormonal imbalances can impact numerous aspects of your overall well-being. By altering or affecting your physical, mental, or emotional health, these imbalances can change everything from your mood to your weight. There are a huge number of hormones in your body, and all of them impact a different part of your health. Leaving them unchecked can cause serious problems to a wide array of systems throughout your body. 

Addressing these hormonal imbalances can take a comprehensive approach to identifying the underlying causes. Denver functional medicine opts to take a more holistic approach to treating hormonal imbalances by identifying and treating the root cause – instead of simply trying to manage symptoms. From your initial evaluation, functional medicine can utilize a variety of different methods to understand what’s causing the imbalance. 

Comprehensive Evaluation & Testing

When trying to identify the root cause of hormonal imbalances, practitioners of functional medicine will conduct a thorough evaluation of the patient’s medical history, genetics, and current symptoms. Combining the information from this evaluation with other factors – like the person’s lifestyle, environment they live in, and other – will help identify the underlying issues that could be causing these imbalances. 

There may also be some laboratory testing to get an assessment of the patient’s hormone levels. This will give a comprehensive look at the levels of numerous hormones, and how they’re working within the body. This evaluation can include tests for things like thyroid hormones, estrogen, testosterone, insulin, and many others. These tests can pinpoint specific imbalances within the body and help the functional medicine practitioner come up with a treatment plan. 

Support & Modifications

One of the big things functional medicine emphasizes in balancing hormones is proper nutrition. They may recommend some dietary changes, including foods that can help support p roper hormone production and metabolism. If there are any deficiencies, they can also recommend foods or supplements that can address some of those deficiencies, as well. These can include vitamins and minerals, but also herbal supplements that can support hormone balance while optimizing overall health. 

Along with diet, there are also different lifestyle modifications functional medicine may suggest. Because things like stress management, proper sleep, and regular exercise can play a critical role in balancing our hormones, functional medicine practitioners can develop personalized lifestyle plans that can support overall hormone health. 

Individualized Treatment

Functional medicine does not take an approach to treatment that one-size-fits-all. Instead, it is designed to customize treatment plans based on the overall needs of the individual. Along with all of the lifestyle considerations listed above, functional medicine also considers factors like an individual’s age, specific health concerns, and genetics. It’s the overall view of the underlying issues that allows this type of treatment to be individualized, and actually address the issues. 

By monitoring these various treatment plans, adjustments are also made based on the individual’s response and progress within the individual treatment. From reducing stress to making lifestyle changes, there are a number of ways functional medicine can address these issues. For more information, reach out to the experts at the Center for Functional Medicine today.