Hormone Replacement Therapy

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a therapy for men and women who have reached or passed menopause, which often is frequently to as "the change of life." HRT affect grabbing little doses of one or two female hormones, estrogen and progesterone.

Along with this therapy, generally, a medication process is also prescribed to the patient by the doctor. In the case of a woman, the medication is designed to counteract the effects of menopause. These medications even contain female hormones like estrogen and progestin. In fact it is a man-made version of the naturally occurring progesterone.

Estrogen and progesterone are manufacture by nature by the ovaries until the period of menopause; at the time their production increasingly slows down and in the end ends. The one as well as the other of these hormones are needed for the peculiar operation of a woman's reproductive method. Estrogen has many other valuable roles in the body as well.

Menopause is a normal part of aging and every women experiences hormonal variation such as surges or declines in her hormone levels before and during menopause. This is accompanied by a variety of symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness and this the time when HRT comes into play to help women deal with these graveling changes effectively and also to help protect them against osteoporosis, a common disease resulting from insufficient calcium absorption after menopause, Alzheimer's disease and macular degeneration. Usually the hormone therapy is used to treat women; however, a kind of hormone treatment is also available for men and it is used to treat low levels of testosterone. 

Although millions of women take HRT, this may not be the appropriate alternative for every person. Health care professionals inform women to collect as much knowledge as they can and consider the individual benefits and peril.

Hormone replacement therapy is a commonly prescribed medication to help women cope with the discomforts and symptoms of menopause. Even though the use of synthetic hormones has been shown to provide favorable results and substantial improvement in women health, total reliance on HRT is yet to be established. Hormone Replacement Therapy is accompanied by both its benefits and side-effects that should be discussed in detail with your doctor before implementation.

Even though HRT is being increasingly employed by women to relieve themselves of these symptoms, for long term usage the therapy has yet to be proven cent percent safe. HRT comes along with a handful of risks and the extent of these risks affecting each woman depends highly on her individual health and fitness and more importantly her lifestyle. If you are taking any hormones then make it a point to get yourself checked regularly and the hormones re-evaluated after every six months by your doctor for best results.

Worried About What Your Massage Therapist Sees?

Some people avoid getting a massage due to worries about what their therapist might see. As a practicing therapist, I would like to try to allay some of those concerns...

1) Are you looking at my wobbly legs/belly/arms?

Nope. I do not see a body-part as big/small/flabby/cellulite-marked or otherwise. I see a lovely set of muscles. Muscles fascinate me; my job is to make muscles feel good. Differently sized and shaped people provide me with new challenges. If I didn't enjoy working on all shapes & sizes, I would not be doing this job. I could tell you tales of wonderfully unusual body-parts (but of course I never break confidentiality), let's just say that I really have seen it all before and I can promise you that I have never once encountered a person I did not enjoy working with.

2) Men get erections on the massage couch, don't they?

Sometimes. As the body relaxes, the parasympathetic nervous system activates and this can cause a partial or full erection. This has nothing to do a personal reaction to the therapist; it's from the same batch of involuntary responses as drooling or passing wind whilst on the couch. Fear of an erection happening really is no reason to avoid getting a massage. Let me explain why not... therapists are taught how to drape a body in towels, so that only the part of the body being worked is 'on show'. I triple-drape the middle of the male body as this has several advantages; it keeps the client warm, makes them feel secure and it also makes it virtually impossible to see details of their body underneath. When I ask clients to turn over (from front to back), the triple-layered towels rumple up and there is no way for me to tell what is (or is not), going on.

3) I haven't shaved my legs...

The length of your body hair makes no difference to your massage, except if you have just shaved; in which case, your skin may be more sensitive than usual. In my view, it's better to have a bit of stubble than sore skin. Massage oil is a viscous liquid and it's very difficult to feel leg-stubble through it. As a straw-poll, I recently asked seven massage therapists whether their last female client had shaved her legs or not. Not one of them could remember noticing either way.

4) My underwear is tatty/going grey...

Thank goodness! That means I won't ruin good clothes with massage oil. If a client hops on the couch in a posh pair of pants, I worry about oil-stains reaching the material when the client moves. By the way, I don't actually 'see' your pants, just the very edges across your back, and at your hips, as I tuck in your towels (to prevent an oil-ruination scenario).