Irregular periods? Excess facial and body hair – especially in places where it shouldn’t be? Problems with your ovaries? Overweight? Having trouble getting pregnant? It could be PCOS. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome – PCOS, for short – is more common than you might think.
Most women don’t even realize they have it – even though most women who have it first developed it back in puberty. Severe acne might have been a symptom during teen years, but acne can be an ongoing problem with PCOS for some women. As women with PCOS mature, male pattern baldness is another symptom that can develop.
To learn more about PCOS Treatment - or any of our latest medical and aesthetic treatments - contact us online or call ☎ (631) 600-7950 to schedule your initial consultation.
Polycystic ovarian or ovary syndrome (PCOS) is basically a state of hormonal imbalance. The condition occurs when your ovaries create high levels of hormones known as androgens, causing your reproductive hormones to become imbalanced. It typically develops during puberty for most women and can have effects well past menopause.
During a woman’s reproductive years, PCOS can lead to irregular periods, missed periods, long periods or a complete cessation of periods. Ovulation can be unpredictable or even stop. Small follicle cysts (fluid-filled sacs with immature eggs) may be visible on your ovaries on ultrasound due to lack of ovulation. Despite the term "polycystic" in the condition name, a woman doesn’t have to manifest with cysts on her ovaries to have PCOS.
PCOS is one of the most common causes of female infertility. It can also increase your risk of other health conditions.
PCOS Treatment can treat conditions that are related and commonly occur with PCOS – either preexisting conditions that contributed to the development of PCOS or that resulted from PCOS, such as:
While a precise cause for this incredibly complex endocrine and metabolic condition is still not known, some of the risk factors that may lead to its development in women include:
The question with PCOS is whether conditions like chronic inflammation, obesity and insulin resistance lead to its development or are caused by it. Alleviating these risk factors, however, can definitely help to ameliorate the intensity of PCOS symptoms.
At Balanced Health & Wellness, we offer solutions that help to diminish the symptoms and intensity of PCOS. PCOS cannot be “cured,” per se, but it can be managed and controlled. Oftentimes conventional treatment is directed solely to managing symptoms, but we take a whole person approach to PCOS treatment and will develop a treatment plan designed just for you and your overall health profile.
We may have a range of recommendations – from herbal supplements, probiotics and prebiotics to mind-body practices or acupuncture.
Natural, healthy lifestyle interventions can be especially helpful. Changing your diet, for instance, and losing weight can be instrumental in eradicating many of your PCOS issues. We can try medically assisted weight loss with medications like Tirzepatide. Nutritional plans that are helpful include those that are:
Healthy movement is especially important for women with PCOS. Examples include:
Research has demonstrated that aerobic exercise is effective not only for PCOS in general, but for reproductive health and maintaining regular periods.
Maintaining optimal levels of women’s hormones, keeping them in balance with one another, is essential with PCOS. Hormone replacement therapy for women is a treatment that restores hormonal balance by replacing estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and other imbalanced hormones. As part of ensuring balanced hormones throughout a woman’s body, we test for a range of hormone levels, including thyroid hormones.
Estrogen plays an essential role in sexual and reproductive development, including a woman’s menstrual cycle and fertility. Progesterone supports reproductive health, like preparing a woman’s uterus for pregnancy. Though most people think testosterone is a male hormone, testosterone levels in women have an influence on bone and muscle health, mood, libido, and the menstrual cycle.
For more conventional approaches to regulate your periods, you can consider combination birth control pills. Birth control pills that contain both estrogen and progestin decrease androgen production and regulate estrogen. Regulating your hormones can lower your risk of endometrial cancer and correct irregular bleeding, excess hair growth and acne. Progestin therapy is another option, but progestin therapy alone will not help your androgen levels and doesn’t provide birth control, if that is a concern.
Spironolactone (Aldactone) is effective to block the effects of androgen on the skin, including excessive hair growth and acne. Spironolactone is not recommended if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, as it can cause birth defects.
If infertility is an issue you’re facing with PCOS and you want to ovulate so you can become pregnant, medications like Clomiphene and Letrozole (Femara) are often used to stimulate the ovaries. In vitro fertilization may be an option.
Metformin is a medication commonly used for Type 2 diabetes for insulin resistance and to lower insulin levels. It also can help with ovulation and even weight loss in some women.
Gonadotropins is a hormone medication given by injection.
Specifically, to treat acne or hirsuitism (excessive hair growth), the following are effective:
For acne, there are various medications, including pills and topical creams or gels, that can help improve acne. We can discuss the most recent options – conventional and alternative - for acne treatment.
We will discuss all of your safety concerns at our first session, after looking at your medical history and any specific risk factors in your case, before proceeding with any PCOS treatment.
The frequency of visits and length of time your treatment requires will vary according to individual factors.
Before your first session, we always take a medical history and review any medications, supplements or herbal medications you’re taking, as well as assess any particular allergies, contraindications or medical needs you may have. We may conduct medical testing to determine if you have PCOS and how it is impacting your health.
Results vary among individuals. You may see a difference within days – or not for weeks, months or years. The effects you’re seeking matter – as does your treatment plan, age and genetics.
You may remain on PCOS Treatment for as long as it's benefiting your symptoms and not causing health issues. It is meant to be a long-term therapy. For example, if you stop taking replacement hormones, your levels will return to baseline. If you stop taking spironolactone, hirsuitism may return.
At your initial consultation, we will take a full medical and family history and determine together with you if you would be a good candidate for PCOS Treatment.
For more questions about PCOS Treatment, speak with our experts today to see if this is the best treatment option for you. Call us at ☎ (631) 600-7950.
A Brooklyn, New York native, Dr. Rutman graduated with honors in biology from Binghamton University then pursued his medical education at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency in emergency medicine at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, where he excelled as chief resident and received recognition for his teaching abilities and patient care skills. He has been serving as an attending physician in emergency medicine for over 15 years at St Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, New York, and other institutions.
As a member of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians and board certified by the American Board of Osteopathic Emergency Medicine, Dr. Rutman brings a wealth of knowledge to his work with his patients. Recognizing the importance of weight management and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in promoting overall health and wellness, Dr. Rutman has undergone specialized training to become an expert in both fields with the goal of helping each patient achieve the best possible health outcomes through an informed, healthy lifestyle.
Begin your PCOS Treatment journey today! Call ☎ (631) 600-7950 or contact us online for your first session.
