Sadly here in Australia we have a large divide between our medical world and our natural and allied health world. These two different ways of treating people’s health work so well and effectively together but a great deal of the time we see very little cross over or communication between the two.

Our medical world is so instrumental is bringing us back from extreme poor health or trauma and our allied health world are perfect complimentors to rehabilitation, prevention and maintaining good levels of health. As humans we need both throughout all stages of our lives but we quite often fall through the cracks of not knowing where to turn to next when things aren’t recovering well or as they should be and knowone has sufficient answers or treatment plans.

As Myotherapists we quite often see this in clinic and when patients are at their worst, especially when it comes to pre/post surgery or trauma or even something as less intrusive as a cortisone injection. It can be quite disheartening to see patients in pain after trying several different treatment options and feeling like they have no answers or not sure which path to take next. The worst of it is that for most their current pain patterns if managed correctly didn’t have to end up as it is.

It is very easy for health care practitioners both medical and allied to become very routine and begin boxing patients in to diagnosis categories eg- frozen shoulder cases or headaches symptoms and not actually listen to the patient as an individual. If you are ever feeling like your pain or symptoms are not being heard then please speak to any of your healthcare practitioners you frequent and ask some serious questions. If you don’t feel you are getting the answers or clarification then please feel free to approach us.

We want to bridge the gap for you our patients to help:

1. Understand your body a little better and what you’re experiencing.
2. Allow you the time to ask questions about what to realistically expect to experience post surgery.
3. Discuss treatment pathways and allied health available to you (not just Myotherapy) but other options which may offer you greater results.
4. See you achieve your health goals and for you to feel better informed about your body and your choices.

Our Myotherapy team here Claire, Daniel, Jakki, Morgan and myself are all hear to assist you as best we can and if don’t have the best explanation for you then we can certainly ensure to find the right practitioner who can.

40 something and female? Time to get ready for a transition

I’m 40 something and my mind and body have changed significantly in the last decade. It’s been subtle and gradual. Having kids definitely changed some things. However, you don’t need to have had kids to feel or see the changes that occur as you head into your 40’s.

A change is happening

It is not uncommon for women to experience energy fluctuations, sleep issues, a lack of mental clarity, bloating, wind, irritability, premenstrual symptoms that last a whole week, periods that are heavy, light or erratic and weight gain that becomes difficult to shift no matter how well you eat and exercise.

Let’s blame your gut and hormones for it 

Many of these health issues come up when digestive health is not great or there is a change in hormones or both. When you fail to absorb what you eat well you are missing out on crucial nutrients from your diet that help keep the body balanced. When you have a gut microbiome that is out of whack you see systemic problems of inflammation, oxidative stress and poor detoxification.

The change in hormones being produced at this age stage is HUGE. The beautifully balanced thyroid, blood sugar, stress and reproductive hormones you may have had in your 20’s and 30’s starts to change. The impact on your health picture is big.

Peri menopause can begin in your early 40’s 

Once we hit our 40’s we start to have episodes of not releasing an egg at every ovulation. Estrogen and progesterone levels tend to drop around this time and we can be releasing a follicle but not an egg. As your egg reserves drop your Inhibin A and B drop. Inhibin A and B are involved in production and release of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). When inhibin A and B drop we see a rise in FSH. FSH surges manifest as peri menopausal signs and symptoms.

More hormones changes!

What we also see is a change in other hormones once we hit our 40’s. It’s like playing dominos. You see one hormone affected and it sets off a chain reaction of changes in other hormones in the body. I spend a lot of time coaching women in their early 40’s about managing and preserving their stress response because your stress hormone, cortisol increases. When cortisol increases we see insulin (our blood sugar regulating hormone) also rise. So add in sugar cravings and eating too many carbs and you see a trigger of cortisol release AND insulin too.

We also see a drop in thyroid function. Thyroid hormone is responsible for maintaining healthy metabolism, regulating the body’s thermostat, managing energy levels, weight control and mood amongst many other things. The thyroid is called the master gland for a reason.

So with high cortisol, high insulin, declining thyroid function, surges of FSH and a drop in estrogen the manifestation is less ovulation, irritability, that lovely increase in weight distributed across your middle, fatigue, trouble with sleep, poor stress tolerance and having trouble with regulating your body’s thermostat (hot flushes!). Sound a bit like menopause? Yep. That is where we start heading.

What you can do for a smooth transition 

What you can be doing to have a smooth transition into menopause is to put some great habits in place now.

1.Exercise

Doing regular strength training for muscles to develop and to increase muscle mass is crucial. Muscle acts as a buffer to insulin and sugars, especially thigh and glute muscles. Get stuck into those glute bridges and squats ladies!

2. Manage your stress well

Every woman needs to find a way to manage their stress when it arises. By using mindfulness techniques like meditation or doing yoga or pilates you will be able to release stress on a regular basis.

3. Eat a low sugar diet

By keeping the carb load down you can help reduce unnecessary spikes in extra cortisol. Every time you get stuck into the chocolates and lollies think about that tyre around your waist you are creating. Weight gain that is insulin and cortisol driven happens around your abdomen.

4. Don’t smoke

This goes without saying but the reason being in this case is that we want to increase blood flow to the follicles at the ovaries to increase Inhibin A and B production. Smokers and people with high cholesterol or anaemia tend go into menopause earlier because they have less blood flow to the ovaries.

5. Support liver detoxification

You may not know this but the liver plays a vital role in women’s hormone balance and in hormone feedback. It helps regulate our estrogen and progesterone and so laying off drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and taking too many medications takes the load off the liver’s detox pathways. Alcohol also reduces progesterone and inhibin, therefore causing more FSH to be released and this manifests as menopausal flushes.

Eating lots of Brassica family vegetables (think broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts) helps the liver to detoxify and excrete hormones our body no longer required into the urine.

6. Consider eating more phytoestrogens

For women that are getting into peri menopause territory having some phytoestrogens in the diet can be beneficial. By having foods that weakly engage the estrogen receptors in the body you can see an improvement in hormonal symptoms.

Red Clover tea, flaxseeds, legumes and soy products all help in this department. I know promoting the consumption of soy is controversial but it can have it’s place if you are woman with low estrogen levels. Check your hormone levels with a practitioner before you hit the tofu and if you are going to eat soy it has to be non-GMO, organic, whole bean products. Drinking soy milk doesn’t count.

Want to learn more about how you can reset your health?

Join me at my Women’s Health Reset information night upstairs at Contagious Enthusiasm Hampton on Wednesday 1^st May 2019 at 6pm. Get a babysitter or swing by after work for a glass of wine before dinner to talk all things women’s health. It will be a great opportunity to learn more about feeling magnificent again!

Book here

By Susan Hunter- Naturopath