How Holistic Health Is Empowering Women To Reclaim Their Wellness

Holistic health is an approach to wellness that considers all aspects of a person’s health, including physical, mental, and emotional factors. It goes beyond symptom management to get to the root cause of a person’s health problems.

For women, it can be particularly empowering to embrace a holistic approach to hormonal changes, stress management, and reproductive health. This is especially true if you’ve felt dismissed by conventional doctors who blame how they feel on aging or downplay symptoms.

Women face unique health challenges, and holistic women’s health encourages proactive care for long-term sustainable health.

Holistic Women’s Health = Better Women’s Health

Holistic wellness for women doesn’t limit itself to a single approach. There is a wide range of treatment options available that may include a combination of alternative therapies and conventional medicine.

This gives patients a variety of benefits and autonomy over healthcare decisions that are unique to holistic health. It’s preventative, patient-centered, and individualized to each patient’s unique needs and health case.

Women have their own special set of healthcare needs that are unique to men. That’s where we often see the disconnect in conventional medicine. It has been all too easy to dismiss symptoms that are ultimately part of a larger, underlying problem with their overall health.

The role of functional medicine for women’s health is to use the principles of holistic medicine to address the most common problems specific to women. These include:

• Low libido
• Endometriosis
• Fatigue
• Infertility
• Hot flashes
• Hormone imbalances
• Irregular periods
• Painful periods
• Mood swings
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Thyroid problems
• Weight loss resistance

Gynecology

Holistic approaches to women’s health focus on identifying and addressing the root causes of issues like ovarian cysts and severe symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Conventional methods generally rely more heavily on managing symptoms with medication.

While a traditional gynecologist may prescribe birth control to regulate periods, a holistic practitioner often starts with lab testing to assess hormone levels and thyroid function. Thyroid function, in particular, is directly related to health issues and the regularity of menstrual cycles. (1)

This is beneficial for women who want to avoid potential side effects of long-term birth control use and prefer a more natural approach to rebalancing their endocrine system.

Natural approaches may include changes to diet for hormonal health needs or herbal remedies for PMS symptoms. Some women may benefit from seed cycling, where certain seeds are consumed during different phases of the menstrual cycle to support balanced estrogen and progesterone.

Holistic approaches also consider stress management, emotional well-being, and environmental factors, which play a significant role in women’s reproductive health.

That said, traditional gynecological services are still important, particularly for routine screenings like pap smears that detect cervical cancer and testing for infections. A holistic approach can be integrative and complement these services by focusing on prevention and long-term health. (2)

Obstetrics

Holistic obstetrics addresses not only the physical health of pregnant and postpartum women but also their emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. Traditional obstetrics tends to prioritize medical interventions, while holistic care emphasizes natural or alternative treatments.

For example, a holistic approach may include practices like prenatal yoga, nutrition counseling, and stress management to support a healthy pregnancy. The goal is to reduce the need for drugs or invasive procedures while promoting a more empowered birthing experience.

In postpartum care, holistic obstetrics involves comprehensive support for recovery and mental well-being. (3) While traditional care may focus on physical healing, holistic care combines mental health practices to help new mothers cope with stress and spot signs of postpartum depression.

A holistic practitioner may also recommend herbal remedies, lactation support, or treatments like pelvic floor therapy to support different areas of postpartum recovery.

Again, conventional medicine can work in tandem with holistic care, especially in complicated pregnancies. A more personalized, nurturing approach encourages a smoother transition into motherhood and recognizes the profound changes a woman undergoes during pregnancy.

The hope is always for long-term physical and emotional well-being for both the mother and baby.

Hormonal Treatments

In conventional women’s healthcare, hormonal treatments typically involve medications that directly alter hormone levels. This may include birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or synthetic hormones.

These approaches aim to manage symptoms of hormone imbalances, like estrogen dominance, menopause, or irregular menstrual cycles, but they don’t always address the root cause.

LISTEN: Menstrual Cycle, Menopause & Hormone Replacement Therapy Myths & Truths | Esther Blum

In the case of estrogen dominance, conventional treatment may involve prescribing medications like aromatase inhibitors and GnRH agonists to lower estrogen production. (4) Women with high estrogen levels from ovarian or breast cancer may even be referred for surgical procedures.

While there is a time and place for more heavy-duty treatment plans, most women shouldn’t start there. Holistic health takes a whole-person approach to balancing hormone levels. Diet, natural supplements, stress management, and detoxification can all have an effect on estrogen levels.

Holistic care emphasizes lifestyle adjustments that naturally restore hormone balance over time. This is essential to managing significant hormonal shifts that happen during perimenopause and menopause, as well as helping reduce your risk of aging-related inflammatory disorders like osteoporosis. (5)

Better sleep, more balanced blood sugar, and reduced cortisol production through lifestyle changes and natural alternatives can reduce the severity of menopause symptoms. (6) Holistic health also supports hormonal health and healthier aging in the long term.