It is a sad fact that women who present to their GP with hormonal symptoms are nearly always prescribed the pill. The other options offered are the Mirena or in severe cases a partial or full hysterectomy. It makes me feel sad that many women feel these are their only options!

While the pill may help reduce symptoms it is in no way fixing the underlying hormonal imbalance. Your hormonal imbalance will continue to exist and when you stop the pill it's likely your symptoms will return or will have worsened. While the pill is busy masking your symptoms it is also depleting your body of essential nutrients including B vitamins including folate, vitamin C, zinc and magnesium.

There are many factors which can contribute to hormonal imbalances and having one blanket approach to the problem is unlikely to address womens individual needs.

Your menstrual cycle is an important indicator of your bodies health, so just masking your symptoms or using drugs to skip your period indefinitely is like putting your head in the sand! However this approach is recommended to women every day by health professionals.

While there is a place for the pill and it's ability to help make womens symptoms bearable, there are many other treatment options that can help restore your hormones to a happy balance without side effects, and which many women are unaware of. I don't want any woman taking the pill to feel bad, but just to be educated on the other options available to them, so that they can make a more informed choice on treatment options.

Some hormonal issues such as endometriosis are now being shown to involve an underlying auto-immune issue, which Naturopathic treatment can also help with, but for which the pill will do nothing.

With salivary hormone and other blood tests we can better understand where your hormones are at now, possible contributing factors which led to the imbalance, and how best to restore hormone balance and improve your symptoms for good!

A hormonal imbalance can present with many symptoms and can also have a huge impact on your fertility. So it's a great idea to work on any hormone issues now, so that in the future if you want to have children you will be much more likely to conceive and carry to term without complications.

Hormonal imbalances also contribute to diseases including fibrocystic breast disease, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, polycystic ovary syndrome and breast cancer. So ensuring your hormones are in balance now, and learning how to keep them in balance, will reduce your risk of hormonal related disease later in life.

If you suffer from any hormonal symptoms such as irregular/heavy/painful periods, acne, PMS, endometriosis or ovarian cysts, please know that there are many effective Naturopathic treatment options available. I would love to help you restore a happy hormone balance and eliminate your symptoms for good!

Marion McConnell is a degree qualified Naturopath who helps women with stress, hormone imbalances and thyroid issues. The clinic is located in New Farm Brisbane, and consultations are also available via Skype. You can contact Marion here.