You have difficulty to conceive; your breasts are swollen and getting bigger or your breasts hurt or you have breast cysts; you are getting cramps; your period changes: you no longer get your periods; your periods become irregular; you get large clots during your period; you have fibroids, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or premenstrual syndrome (PMS); you feel tired all the time; your rings no longer fit on your fingers or your shoes do not fit; you become moody or impatient.
What is oestrogen dominance? Oestrogen dominance is a kind of hormonal imbalance. There are two primary hormones produced by the ovaries in women which are oestrogen and progesterone. These two hormones need to be maintained in well balanced in women body all the time. Too much or too little one of them can cause losing balance and leading to problems for the body. Oestrogen dominance is caused by not only absolute dominant excessive oestrogen but also the relative dominance of estrogen and relative deficiency of progesterone. The lost balance is the main reason of health problems in women.
Absolute oestrogen dominance can be caused by excessive oestrogen in the body. This is a result of excessive external oestrogen intake or excessive internal oestrogen production.
Food we eat could contains unexpected hormones, for example, commercially raised animals and poultries. These animals are fed oestrogen like hormones plus growth hormone. These hormones could pass to us when we eat meat or poultries.
In some conditions, oestrogen can be over produced in the body, such as obesity. Fat has an enzyme that convert adrenal to oestrogen. This results in excessive oestrogen production. Birth control pill with oestrogen alone causes high level of oestrogen in the body.
Ovary cysts and ovary tumours can produce excessive oestrogen.
Relative oestrogen dominance can be caused by lower progesterone in the body.
In nature aging process, we can see less progesterone in the body leading to relative oestrogen dominance. Oestrogen and progesterone decline with age gradually. Progesterone declines about twice as faster as oestrogen. The ratio of oestrogen to progesterone is going up. This causes relatively more oestrogen left in the body compared with progesterone.
Anovulation is a common condition that causes relative oestrogen dominance by lack of progesterone. Women’s ovaries release an egg once a month. After an egg is released, the remaining part of follicle forms corpus luteum producing progesterone. This is main source of progesterone production. If there is no egg released, there would be no corpus luteum formation; therefore there would be no progesterone production. The lack of progesterone leads to relative oestrogen dominance and symptoms such as irregular periods, camps, mood changes, tender breasts etc.
Short luteal phase is another common condition that causes relative oestrogen dominance by short of progesterone. In this condition, corpus luteum does not function well, as a result, there is no enough progesterone produced. Without enough progesterone, the chance of getting pregnant is reduced.
Stress can cause adrenal gland exhaustion and reduced progesterone output causing relative oestrogen dominance.
If you suspect you have oestrogen dominance, acupuncture can help. Acupuncture helps restore hormone balance by stimulating nerve endings. This regulates hormone production and helps liver break down excessive oestrogen.
