Hormones affect everything that happens inside our bodies. The body secretes and circulates 50 different hormones. Each hormone has its own job or action to help the body work in perfect harmony.

When you have a hormone that is out of whack either not being secreted enough or too much the body has a hard time dealing with it. The body will make other hormones to combat the imbalance.

Estrogens Function

Estrogens are hormones that are important for sexual and reproductive development. They are known as the female sex hormones. “Estrogen” refers to all of the chemically similar hormones, which are estrone, estradiol (primary in women of reproductive age) and estriol. 

Estrogen is produced by fat cells and the adrenal gland. At the onset of puberty, it is the hormone that is responsible for breasts, wider hips, pubic hair and armpit hair. It helps regulate the menstrual cycle and helps thicken the uterine lining for implantation.

During pregnancy, the placenta produces estrogen, specifically the hormone estriol. Estrogen controls lactation and other changes in the breasts, as well as, bone formation, As estrogen levels start to decline in middle age, the process of rebuilding bones slows, with postmenopausal women eventually breaking down more bone than they produce. (Postmenopausal women are 4 times more likely to suffer from osteoporosis than men.)

Estrogen also plays a role in blood clotting, maintaining the strength and thickness of the vaginal wall and the urethral lining, vaginal lubrication, skin, hair, mucous membranes and the pelvic muscles.

Too Much Estrogen

Too much estrogen in the body can manifest in many different ways. (As well as not enough estrogen can.) Many women can experience multiple symptoms due to too much estrogen:

• bloating
• swelling and tenderness and fibrocystic lumps in your breasts
• decreased sex drive
• irregular menstrual periods
• increased symptoms of PMS and mood swings
• headaches
• anxiety and panic attacks
• weight gain
• hair loss
• cold hands or feet
• trouble sleeping, sleepiness or fatigue
• memory problems

Extra Estrogen

Thousands of man-made products contain xenoestrogens, which means they mimic estrogen and disrupt your hormone balance. Some of the most common ones are:

• Parabens: used as a preservative.
• Phthalates: used in plastics and as an emulsifier and stabilizer in topical products.
• Benzophenones: This additive alters estrogen and testosterone production. Found in sunscreens.
• Triclosan: It is an antibacterial agent. Researchers found that it increased the size of uteri and grew breast cancer cells in rats.

If anything you put on your body has “fragrance” on the ingredient list and has a strong chemical or perfume smell, most likely it’s messing with your hormones. The exception is products with essential oils, which don’t disrupt your hormones.

Food we eat has chemicals due to farming (particularly glyphosate), in water we drink (due to medications in our water supply), in packaged junk food, mainstream cleaning products and laundry detergents, and being super stressed causes a hormone imbalance.

Birth Control

Almost all birth control pills contain a man made estrogen to help combat the bodies ability to successfully get pregnant. Birth control pills cause an specific imbalance of hormones so the body is not “ready” or “capable” of an egg implanting into the uterus.

At the beginning (or day 1) of the menstrual cycle, hormones are low. Once bleeding has stopped estrogen ramps up and starts to thicken the wall of the uterus to wait for implantation of the fertilized egg. Midway through the cycle the egg is released and estrogen spikes (as well as luteinizing hormone and progesterone). If the egg is not fertilized then hormone levels drop causing the lining of the uterus to thin and the onset of the next menstrual cycle.

Chiropractic

Chiropractic care looks at the bodies natural way to heal itself. Chiropractors look at the cause of issues (even hormones!) and assesses how to help the body balance itself out without prescription medication. There are tons of ways to help level or balance hormones. First, the food we eat matters, what we put on our bodies matter, what we clean our house with matters, what medications we take matters!

It’s time to look at what we subject our bodies to. Stress causes subluxations in our spine and when not corrected by the chiropractic adjustment causes pain over time, which leads to degeneration. Things to help hormone imbalances: filter our water, eat organic, get off birth control, change our perfumes/colognes, change house cleaning items and laundry detergents to more “green” things, and get adjusted (to name a few)!!

If you want to start living a healthier lifestyle give us or a chiropractor near you a call! The body that made itself can heal itself. Think outside the medical prescription box and see what you can do holistically to help your function better. While in our office if you have multiple symptoms of estrogen dominance ask about the DUTCH test. This test is an easy at home test that we send off to access your sex hormones.

~Dr. Lacey~
Carder Chiropractic Clinic, INC.
El Reno, OK 73036