Any woman who’s been through it can tell you that menopause is about more than just your period stopping– it affects your whole entire body, and often not in the most pleasant ways. If you’re currently going through menopause and are wondering if some new change in your body is caused by it, there’s a good chance that the answer is yes! One thing that some women can experience is changes to their hair. You might notice your hair thinning or shedding in large amounts and looking more sparse than it has before. It may also become dry and frizzy where once you had no problem managing it, or you may notice yourself losing hair length as it suddenly becomes brittle and begins breaking. These changes are upsetting and difficult to deal with, but there are steps you can take to help them! Here’s what you need to know.
Hormones and Menopause
At the end of the day, pretty much every change that menopause puts you through comes down to your hormones– specifically, the fact that there are less of them. As your body enters menopause, the levels of female sex hormones in your body (namely estrogen and progesterone) drop far lower than they were during the rest of your adult life. This causes your period to stop, but also impacts many, many other things in your body, like your weight, skin, hair, temperature regulation, and so on. If you can’t pin down any other reason that your hair might be looking so much different at this time in your life, it’s likely that menopause is the culprit!
Common Menopausal Hair Changes
It’s not uncommon at all for women to struggle with hair loss or other changes during menopause– in fact, it’s pretty common! Some of the things that you might notice are heavily shedding hair, where you can find large amounts of hair left in the shower drain, on your pillow and clothes, or on your brush, or thinning hair that you see on your head through bald spots that you hadn’t noticed before or thin, straggly hair lengths and ends. You might also find that your hair and scalp are very dry to the point of itching and flaking, or you may find that your hair breaks very easily now and you’re losing length. These changes can be upsetting and might make you feel insecure about your hair, but try not to panic! There are things you can do to help counteract the process and help you continue to feel beautiful and confident.
What to Do?
Hair Regrowth Treatments
Treatments for hair loss like Rogaine are often seen as something only intended for male pattern baldness, but anyone can use it to help their hair grow back in! Chemotherapy patients have relied on these treatments for many years, and you might get some benefit from them too. You can find these treatments, usually containing the drug minoxidil, over the counter at any drugstore. Use them as directed and you might start to see some good results! If you have any troublesome side effects from these treatments, make sure to talk to your doctor about them.
Diet Changes
Overhauling the way you eat in order to supply your body with much-needed nutrients is often a very important part of addressing a hair loss problem, and it can have many other benefits for your health and wellbeing, so it’s always good to give it a try! Take a look at your typical diet and see if there are any places where you can add in more protein, healthy fats, and colorful fruits and vegetables, as all of these nutrients are important to helping your body grow strong and healthy hair. Even just adding a multivitamin or some fish oil to your daily routine, if you don’t take these supplements already, can help you to see a difference!
Hair Care Changes
Changing the way you look after your hair is always a good place to start if you’re unhappy with the results you’re seeing. As you age, it’s normal to have to adapt your hair care routine to the new needs of your hair and scalp! Washing your hair less frequently, detangling it more gently, and moisturizing it more intensely with oils, deep conditioners, and hair masks are all good places to start. You can also try sleeping on slippery fabrics like silk and satin in the form of pillowcases, bonnets, nightcaps, or hair scarves. This will minimize friction and breakage on your hair ends and help maintain your length. Scalp massage is also something you can try. This technique can help stimulate your hair follicles while also acting as a relaxing habit.
Hormonal Treatments
If you’re really struggling with hair changes during menopause, addressing the root cause of the issue– your falling hormone levels– might end up being the key to solving your problems. Hormone replacement therapy can help alleviate the difficult symptoms of menopause like hair loss, so don’t hesitate to contact us today to set up an appointment at Renewed Vitality. We can help you to start feeling like yourself again!
It’s one of the most common indicators of menopause, one of the most widely discussed, and one of the most fearfully anticipated– the dreaded hot flash. If you’re a woman approaching her menopausal years, hot flashes are probably the first thing that pops into your head when you start to sweat. The majority of women will experience them at least a few times throughout menopause, and there are dozens of products devoted to stopping them in their tracks.
However random they may seem, hot flashes actually do have some common triggers that can bring them on! Avoiding these triggers may help you to more easily manage the discomfort of your hot flashes, and reduce how often or how severely they occur. Here’s what you need to know!
Heat
It makes sense that when your environment is hot, you feel hot, but when you’re suffering from menopausal hot flashes, the heat can end up feeling much more intense, and it can be hard to cool down, even after you’ve exited a hot and stuffy environment. Planning your day to avoid putting yourself under excess heat is just a fact of life when you’re in menopause, so try to dress in light, loose layers that are easy to take on and off, plan your travel and events accordingly with the weather, and bring a fan or cool drink with you to help you beat the heat!
Spicy Foods
If you’re a lover of cuisine with a kick, this trigger will be a hard pill to swallow, but spicy food can commonly trigger a hot flash. If your dinner is hot enough to get your forehead sweating, it’s probably going to lead to you being uncomfortably warm down the line! Switching to foods that are a little more mild in the heat department can help keep your hot flashes at bay while you’re going through menopause.
Caffeine
Your daily latte or cup of joe may feel vital to your morning routine, but unless you want that routine to include a regular hot flash, it might be best to reduce your caffeine intake. Caffeine affects the body in all kinds of ways, and is a common hot flash trigger. Switching to a decaf version or eliminating your caffeine intake altogether can be a challenge, but if it helps your hot flashes, you might find that it’s worth it!
Alcohol and Smoking
Notice yourself checking the thermostat after a nightcap or a quick drink with friends? It’s not a coincidence. Alcohol has been known to trigger hot flashes for women with menopause, and you may even notice through your own observations that certain types of alcohol, like wine, may trigger them more easily than other types. Smoking can also trigger a hot flash, so cutting back or eliminating both of these substances is not only good for your health, but can help keep you feeling cool!
Tight Clothing
A snug-fitting dress or tight top and skinny jeans are a great fashion statement, but they might end up making you more uncomfortable than you bargained for as the day goes on. The restriction of tight-fitting clothes is a very common trigger for hot flashes, and on top of that, wiggling your way out of a tight garment while you’re trying to fight a hot flash is an exercise in frustration! As good as they look, it might be best to ditch some of your more tight-fitting outfits while you’re going through menopause. Choosing clothes that are more lightweight, flowy, and loose-fitting will keep you much more comfortable, and you might even find that you like the style too!
Avoiding these common hot flash triggers can make a big difference for some women, but if you find that you’re still struggling with hot flashes and other unpleasant symptoms of menopause, seeking out hormone replacement therapy like the kind we offer here at Renewed Vitality can get you feeling like yourself again!
If you’ve spent some time online recently in spaces devoted to discussing aging, menopause, and womanhood, then you might’ve heard the term “menopause vacation” or “menopause retreat” getting thrown around. A vacation always sounds nice, but what exactly are these phrases referring to, and what do you need to know about it if you’re currently staring down the barrel of menopause yourself?
Here’s the short answer– a menopause vacation or retreat is a program, usually that lasts at least a day or as long as a few days, focused on menopause and dedicated to increasing a woman’s understanding and enjoyment of the experience as she goes through it. For the long answer, keep reading below!
Why Go On a Menopause Vacation?
Right off the bat, you might have mixed feelings about the idea of a menopause retreat. This stage of life is something that isn’t frequently acknowledged or discussed by society at large, so dedicating an entire wellness program to it might seem like an unusual decision. However, there are lots of reasons that women choose to go to these retreats!
For starters, menopause vacations or retreats often have a strong focus on education, information, and awareness. Menopause is something that every woman goes through once she reaches a certain age, and yet many women don’t fully understand what the change entails and aren’t prepared for it. Learning more about what’s actually happening in your body, how to make it easier to cope with, and how to embrace it can create a positive experience for many women.
On the subject of embracing it, part of the idea behind menopause vacations is to celebrate and relish this time in your life. Menopause is often viewed through a negative lens, but it’s not necessarily a negative thing, even if at times it isn’t the most pleasant. Going through menopause means you’ve grown and experienced so much as you aged! It means that you have wisdom to share, memories to treasure, and new experiences to look forward to. Celebrating the process of aging and all of the developments that come along with it is something of a radical idea in our society that tends to look down its nose a bit at older women, and programs especially dedicated to embracing this stage of life are a great vehicle to do it.
One of the other main reasons that a woman might enjoy going on a menopause retreat is to enjoy camaraderie and community with her peers– other women who are in a similar stage of life and who are going through the same experiences. For lots of people, school is the last time that they’re ever surrounded by people their own age, and even if you have lots of friends and family that you love, if there’s no one in your circle who’s at a similar stage in life to you, it can be hard to feel understood. Meeting other women, making friends, and exchanging stories and advice is a huge part of these vacations or retreats, and it’s a big draw for a lot of the people who attend them!
What Do Menopause Vacations Include?
What a menopause vacation or menopause retreat will include depends a lot on the individual program, its location, and its length. However, you can definitely expect to see sections of the program dedicated to learning about menopause as well as sections devoted to socializing and bonding with the other attendees. It’s also common to have activities on the schedule that promote rest, relaxation, and wellness, like massages, yoga, meditation classes, and other activities designed to alleviate stress. You might also have activities that discuss exercise and healthy movement, nutrition, sleep, and other aspects of your physical wellbeing that can help to alleviate the less pleasant symptoms of menopause.
Would a Menopause Vacation Benefit Me?
Whether or not you feel like a menopause vacation would be a good idea for you is a personal thing. However, if you’ve been feeling like you could use some deeper knowledge about menopause, some friends to talk about it with, or just a chance to relax and slow down for a minute, going on a menopause retreat might be a good idea for you!
If you want to start learning more about menopause and the many ways that it can affect you, you can continue to read our blog here!
Menopause is a process that every woman goes through when she reaches a certain age. It’s completely natural and normal. It’s also annoying, disheartening, and at times can feel a little embarrassing. Just because it’s something that’s supposed to happen doesn’t mean that it’s easy to deal with!
Additionally, for a long time in our society, periods, menopause, and women’s health in general was something that wasn’t meant to be discussed in public, and even talking about it among your female friends was shaky ground. It can be hard to break that habit! However, as we all get more open discussing our reproductive health, there are a lot of benefits to be gained by talking to your friends about going through menopause, especially your female friends of a similar age who are in the same boat! Here are some of the reasons to have those conversations.
Feel Supported
If there’s one thing you can learn from talking to your friends about menopause, it’s this– you’re not alone! Every woman goes through this process, and the struggles and challenges you’re facing, while they aren’t much fun, are normal and not something to be scared or ashamed of. Talking to people who understand what you’re going through can be a huge benefit to your support system. After all, your family members or friends who don’t have a frame of reference are helpful, but they can’t fully relate. The feeling of mutual support that you can get from talking to your friends about menopause is something very valuable.
Exchange Coping Tips
Hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, fatigue– the list of unpleasant symptoms of menopause goes on. Again, while they’re normal and to be expected, they’re a complete pain! Talking to your friends who are experiencing the same symptoms can be hugely helpful in dealing with them. They may have methods and tips that you never thought of that make these annoyances much easier to cope with. Maybe one of your friends puts a facial mist in the fridge for hot flashes, or another has found the perfect method for dealing with night sweats. Collaboration is the name of the game when it comes to friends helping each other through this tough time.
Appreciate Aging Together
It can be tough to look for the silver lining during a process that doesn’t feel very fun, but the truth is that there’s a unique beauty in every stage of life that you get to experience, including this one. You and your friends are changing physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially, and there are upsides and downsides to those changes, but they’re all worth appreciating. Being able to get older and experience this point in your life is a gift, and talking to your friends and hearing about their experiences can help you to find the positives and appreciate aging alongside each other!
Practice Communication
During menopause, your relationships with people in your life– like partners, family members, or children– might get a little bit strained. You’re under a lot of stress that they don’t have the ability to fully understand, and it can lead to arguments and tension. When you talk to your friends, however, you’re talking to people who are in the same boat, and who understand the difficulties! Things like mood swings and general annoyance at the process of menopause are common, and talking to your friends can be a good way to practice communicating what’s going on and stating what you need. When you can carry these skills over to the other relationships in your life, you might be surprised at how the strain eases up!
Normalize the Transition
The more we openly talk about things like menopause, the more normalized and accepted they become in society. This makes it easier for women to learn what’s common and what’s uncommon, and makes resources that ease the difficulties of menopause, like hormone replacement therapy (HRT), much more accessible! You might’ve heard in chatting with your friends that HRT can lessen the symptoms of menopause and make the process easier to cope with, and that can be available to you at Renewed Vitality in Wyomissing, PA. Check out our hormonal services today to learn more!
Every year in March, the country celebrates Women’s History Month, a time dedicated to looking back to appreciate the hard work, struggles, and triumphs of women throughout history, as well as working to make the world of tomorrow a better place to be a woman. Since 1987, the United States has celebrated Women’s History Month, and in 2023 there are so many wonderful ways to celebrate! Here are just a few.
Learn About Amazing Women
History is full of women who did incredible things and lived remarkable lives, and Women’s History Month provides the perfect excuse to learn about some of them! There are women in the history of every field and every walk of life, so whatever your interests are, you’re sure to find something worth doing a little research on. If you’re a computer nerd, consider looking into Ada Lovelace or Grace Hopper. If you love literature, you could read up on Mary Shelley or Alice Walker. At Renewed Vitality, we love taking this opportunity to remember female pioneers in medicine and science, like Elizabeth Blackwell, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, and Rosalind Franklin.
Support Female Artists
Gender biases can make it hard for even the most talented women to make it in the entertainment industry, which makes the month of March a great time to actively seek out books, movies, music, TV shows, and other forms of media that are created by women. Pump up your favorite songs from female singers or check out a movie that was directed by a woman this month. In looking for something new, you might find something you didn’t even know you would love!
Give to Charities That Support Women
Women’s History Month is about celebrating the past and working towards the future in equal measure, so this time of year is a good chance to donate or volunteer for charities that support women. There’s probably a local women’s shelter in your area running food or clothing drives, or you could consider giving to organizations like the Malala Fund, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, or the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Encourage Women’s Health
In spite of the many recent advances that have been made in women’s health, there are lots of women out there who are still in the dark about their bodies and their health. Women’s History Month is the time to work towards changing that. If you’re a woman, take this opportunity to be proactive! Schedule your regular checkups with any doctors you see, do your monthly self breast exams, and do your best to take care of your body overall. If you’re not a woman, encourage the women in your life that you love to do these things! Screenings like mammograms and pap smears save lives, and so does promoting general awareness about women’s health issues. Every small step counts!
A big part of women’s health that is often overlooked is hormonal health. If you’re interested in learning more, make sure to continue reading our blog here at Renewed Vitality!
