Let’s face it: Getting older isn’t easy. From erectile dysfunction and lower sex drive to muscle loss and fat gain, it can feel like your body is working against you as you age. As you get older, your body produces less and less testosterone, resulting in a little-known condition called andropause. That’s where hormone therapy near Joliet, IL can help.
What Are Hormones and Why Are They Important?
Low testosterone and andropause affect nearly everything in your life, including your mood, energy, blood sugar, sleep, and romantic performance. When these symptoms start piling up, it can feel almost impossible to start taking your life back into your own hands.
This is where Dr. Rogers comes in and will help you with all your needs.
Hormones balance the body and maintain proper function. Slight imbalances can cause side effects that can greatly affect the quality of life you have. Such symptoms can include feeling lethargic, low libido, slow recovery, and poor appetite to name a few. Proper hormone function can make the biggest difference in quality of life. Luckily for you there are ways to fix this.
A few of the major processes that hormones take care of include:
- Metabolism Regulation.
- Keeping your heart rate steady.
- Maintaining your mood.
- Libido (Sex Drive).
- Energy levels throughout the day.
- Sleep patterns.
Hormone Replacement Therapy is a great option to aid in getting you feeling yourself again and one of the common forms is Testosterone Pellets.
The Benefit of Pellets
There are many different options when it comes to pellet hormone replacement therapy. You can choose between injections, creams, pills, or patches. Each one works to balance your hormone levels, but there are clear benefits when it comes to choosing pellets.
Creams, pills, and patches are all prescription treatments that you administer to yourself at home. If you forget your treatment one day or lose track of time and end up taking the treatment late. The downfall of this is you could be fluctuating your hormone levels unintentionally. Side effects can present themselves as a result. Pellets offer you a simple treatment approach that gets rid of the daily hassle.
Pellets enhance how your body produces the important hormones it needs. As they are injected into your body, this promotes maximum absorption and performance for consistent, reliable results.
Another common form of testosterone replacement therapy is injections. Injections are administered in an office by a medical professional, but they have to be done frequently in order to be effective. This includes scheduled meetings with a practicing physician. Our patients choose whichever method is best suited for their lifestyle.
Pellets maintain a consistent amount of hormone levels over time without requiring multiple injections.
How Are Pellets Administered?
Pellets are inserted under the fatty tissues in the buttock or flank area in a painless in-office procedure, where they will be effective for 3-6 months, depending on your gender. This eliminates the need for you to remember a daily treatment, and it also means you won’t need to visit us as often as you would with injections.
Other hormone treatment options may also cause unwanted side effects, like changes to the liver and clotting issues. These concerns are not seen when the patient undergoes bio-identical pellet hormone therapy.
What are Pellets Made Of?
Bio-identical hormone treatments are made of organic plant materials. This is often safer and more natural than hormone therapy that uses synthetic ingredients. The hormones in the pellets are often molecularly identical to the hormones that are naturally produced by the human body. The pellets are about the size of a grain of rice, so the organic materials have to be pressed into a solid compound. The hormones inside the pellet depend on where your deficiency lies. Common hormones include estradiol and testosterone.
Personalized Treatment
Hormones are deeply personal, and unbalanced hormone levels vary from person to person. Two women who are experiencing the same symptoms may need completely different levels of pellet hormone replacement therapy to find relief. That’s why our medical professionals will select your dose and adjust it according to your needs.
We strive to keep the hormone dose at the absolute minimum necessary in order to avoid complications. We will test your hormone levels regularly to make sure you are receiving the right dose for your needs.
Who is a Good Candidate?
Good candidates for this pellet hormone replacement therapy include anyone who has unbalanced hormone levels. Not everyone’s symptoms are the same, which is why it is important to undergo testing in order to determine whether this treatment is right for you. Finding the underlying cause of your condition is the most important thing.
Hormone Therapy for Women
Women commonly experience imbalanced levels in estrogen, but they can also have imbalances in testosterone and progesterone, which can all negatively affect their lives. Menopause is usually the stage of life when women find their hormone levels decreasing. Again, symptoms can be different for everyone, but most women complain of:
- Sleeping problems
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Weight gain
- Hot flashes
Each of these symptoms can easily disrupt a normal routine, but many women choose to ignore their symptoms because of the stigma surrounding menopause. Some women don’t realize that there is an effective treatment available to help return their quality of life.
Hormone Therapy Near Joliet, IL for Men
Men commonly suffer from low testosterone as they get older, usually after they turn 35. While perimenopause is usually much more dramatic, men go through a similar phase of life known as andropause. As testosterone levels drop, men can experience:
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Weight gain
- Muscle loss
- Mood swings
- Erectile dysfunction
Many men face social pressure to remain a strong, masculine figure, even as they get older. This can stop aging men from being able to seek treatment for their hormone imbalance. No one should ever have to go through life dealing with such disrupting and disturbing symptoms.
How Should I Prepare?
For women seeking bio-identical pellet hormone therapy, we recommend undergoing a mammogram and pap smear test before your appointment. It is also a good idea to stop taking blood thinners (such as aspirin and ibuprofen) one week before your appointment.
What Can I Expect?
The pellet insertion procedure usually takes 15 minutes or less. Our provider will first numb the area, and then the rice grain-sized pellet will be inserted. Once the pellet has dissolved, there will be nothing left in the body. Most patients visit our practice to receive additional pellets 3-4 times a year.
When Will I See Results?
The results from hormone replacement therapy can vary greatly based on the specific situation of the patient. Just like everyone experiences a hormonal imbalance differently, the results from bio-identical pellet hormone therapy near Joliet may not appear at the same time for everyone. Most of the time, however, the inserted pellet will begin to release hormones immediately, which will start to have an effect about a week about your treatment. Roughly 2-4 weeks you can begin to see some of your symptoms disappearing.
Is There Any Downtime?
The downtime is very short for pellet hormone therapy. The physician providing the hormone therapy near Joliet, IL will advise you accordingly on downtime. Once the pellet has been inserted, it is a good idea to avoid any lower body exercising. Once the bandages are removed you may go back to regular activities.