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zequz · 2 months ago

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Hair Fall in Men vs. Women: Understanding Gender Differences

Hair fall is a common concern that affects both men and women, but the causes, patterns, and experiences of hair fall differently significantly between genders. Understanding these gender differences can help in better addressing and treating the condition. Here’s a look at how hair loss varies between men and women, and the underlying reasons behind these differences.

1. The Causes of Hair Loss in Men

In men, the most common cause of hair loss is male-pattern baldness, which is primarily genetic. This condition is influenced by male hormones called androgens, particularly dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which affects hair follicles, causing them to shrink and eventually stop producing hair. Typically, men begin to notice hair thinning at the temples or crown of the head, often progressing to partial or total baldness.

Although genetics and hormones, stress, poor diet and medications can also contribute to hair loss in men. However, male-patterns baldness remains the leading cause, with about 50% of men experiencing some form of hair loss by the time they reach 50.

2. The Causes of Hair Loss in Women

Women Experience hair loss for a variety of reasons, and it can be more complex than in men. One of the main causes of female hair thinning is also androgenetic alopecia, but in women, this condition usually causes diffuse thinning across the scalp, rather than the pattern baldness seen in men. This type of hair loss is often tied to hormonal imbalances, which can occur during pregnancy, menopause, or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). During pregnancy, many women experience fuller hair, but after childbirth, a significant amount of hair can shed as hormone levels drop.

Additionally, stress is a significant factor in female hair loss, particularly telogen effluvium, a temporary form of hair shedding triggered by physical or emotional stress. Women also tend to experience hair loss due to nutritional deficiencies or certain medical conditions, like thyroid disorders.

3. Psychological and Social Impact

The emotional fill of hair loss can be significant for both men and women, but women may experience it differently. Society places a high value on a woman's appearance, and for many women, hair is considered an important part of their beauty and identity. As a result, hair loss can affect self-esteem and lead to feelings of anxiety or depression.

While men also experience emotional challenges due to hair fall, the social expectations for male grooming and appearance are different. Male-pattern baldness is more widely accepted, and many men opt for styles like shaving their heads to embrace their baldness, often without facing as much societal stigma.

4. Treatment Options

Both men and women have access to similar treatments for hair fall, including minoxidil, finasteride, and hair transplants. However, women may need to be more cautious with medications, as some treatments, particularly finasteride, are not recommended due to potential side effects.

For women, addressing underlying hormonal imbalances, improving nutrition, and managing stress can be effective solutions, in addition to topical treatments. Hair restoration methods, like platelet-rich plasma therapy or low-level laser therapy, are also becoming popular for both genders.

Conclusion

While hair fall is a common issue for both men and women, the underlying causes, patterns, and emotional effects can differ significantly. Men often experience more obvious, genetic male-pattern baldness, while women tend to face diffuse thinning influenced by hormonal changes, stress, or health conditions. Regardless of gender, the key to managing hair fall lies in understanding the causes, seeking appropriate treatments, and addressing emotional well-being. Use some anti-hair fall beauty products to reduce hair fall. Choose wisely because hair is an important thing to look beautiful.

#zequz #dailyuseonlyzequz #beautyessentials #haircare #cosmetic #hair growth #healthy hair #hairstyle #shampoo #conditioner #affordable

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pcos-fighter · 4 years ago

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As some may know from my group chat, I am currently in therapy to manage my anxiety and I’ve been learning grounding techniques and the kind of questions to ask myself when I get in one of my moods where I might spiral into an attack or spark it. I slowly have been working through how to manage and my therapist sent me techniques in the Betterhelp app which is how I’ve been going to sessions. The techniques I have started to learn and apply I am finding to actually be helpful when I actively work on them in a moment of panic.

For instance the other day at work I started to feel my heart race and that overwhelming stomach knot I feel when my anxiety spikes. I was in the middle of paperwork and received a text from a dear friend who supported my desire to leave my current job and sent me multiple job postings every few days. But the posts she sent me some of the listings just overwhelmed me and in my head, I began to spiral with thoughts about my abilities to handle those kinds of environments and I could feel myself start to panic a little. So when I walked to the mailbox to get the mail, I did one of the techniques I had read about previously and started to say out loud everything I saw outside to ground myself. I kept my focus on the things around me, naming each tree or car which helped calm me from a full-blown attack.

I am sharing this story because I know with PCOS many of us struggle with anxiety and depression and I know not everyone can afford therapy as it can be very expensive. Shoot I barely can afford it but with the app Betterhelp, it's a lot more affordable than other avenues so I make it work. This is why I am writing this post to share a few grounding techniques so that any of you who struggle with anxiety can have a tool that will help ease at the moment. Now it's not a cure-all so some may work better than others, but at least it can help (as a few help me) to ground you when your anxiety gets high.

There are seven ways you can ground yourself so take what works for you the best and use it to overcome those moments.

1. The Grounding Chair

The first step in this technique is to sit in a comfortable chair where your feet touch the ground. Close your eyes and breath in slowly to the count of three and then out slowly. Bring your mind's focus to the rest of your body in the chair. How does it feel? Scoot your bum right into the back of the seat so that the whole length of your back is pressing into the back of the chair. Can you feel the contact of the chair against your body?

If the chair has arms, touch it, is the material smooth or textured? Press your arms down the length of the chair's arm, notice how your hands hang off the end.

If your chair doesn't have arms, touch the material of the seat, how does it feel?

Next push your feet into the ground, imagine that energy drain down from your mind, flow down through your body, and out through your feet into the ground. As that energy drains from your head, feel how heavy each body part becomes, your torso feels heavy, and now your arms as you relax your muscles. Lastly, feel the heaviness go down your legs through your feet and down into the ground.

2. The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

This technique uses all five of your senses to help get you back to the present. It starts with you sitting comfortably, close your eyes and take a couple of deep breathes. In your nose (count to three) then out your mouth (to the count of three). Now open your eyes and look around you. Name out loud five things you can see, you can look within the room and out the window. Name four things you can feel, (such as the silkiness of your skin, the texture of the chair you're in, or what your hair feels like.) What is in front of you that you can touch? Name three things you can hear, (traffic noise, birds outside, noises in the room you're in.) What noises do you hear? Name two things you can smell. Do you have something scented nearby or in the area that you can walk to? Name one thing you can taste, (it might be a good idea to keep a piece of chocolate or mint handy in case you are doing this grounding exercise.) You can always leave the chair in this exercise and taste whatever it is you have chosen with a small bite. Let it swill around your mouth for a couple of seconds, letting it really savor the flavor. Take a deep breath to end.

(This one works a bit better for me personally.)

3. Hold Something and Really Focus On It

Hold an object in your hand and really bring your full focus to it. Look where shadows may fall on parts of it or is there something about it that is textured? Or are there color variants in it or on it? Feel the weight of it, is it heavy or light? What textures do your hands feel while holding it? Is it rough or smooth? This can be done with any object you have lying around or if you know you are going into a stressful situation, take one of your favorite small objects and put it in your pocket so you can do this calming exercise on the go.

4. Distract Yourself

There are several ways to distract your mind so it stops thinking about whatever it is that is worrying you and focuses on something that isn't emotionally driven.

You can pick a color in the room you are in. How many things in different shades of that color can you see around you? How about out the window? Still feeling stressed? Pick another color.

Count backward by 7, starting at 100. It isn't easy and requires you to concentrate.

Or my personal one I use sometimes is having some friends send me pictures of cats on the internet or their cats and it stops me in my worst spirals. (Mostly cause I love cats.) But if you have a creature you love look them up. Or watch a video with them in it. Whatever works to pull you out of that spiral find that image online or video.

5. Draw Around Your Foot In Your Mind

Place your feet on the ground and in your imagination pick your favorite color to draw an outline around each foot. Start at the heel and using your imaginary pencil slowly go up on the side of your foot to your pinky toe and then around each toe then back to your heel. Repeat on the other foot.

Another way you can focus on your feet in a stressful moment is just wiggle your toes inside your shoe. Pay attention to the sensation as you move to separate each toe. Do some move independently of the others? Tense your whole foot then stretch it out. Now do the other foot.

6. Let Your Thoughts Come and Go

So this one is simple in that most of us with PCOS constantly have our minds overthink and wander. Personally, I know when my mind lingers on the parts I can't control or can't fully change my anxiety spikes and it just spirals till I have a panic attack because I don't stop myself and observe my thoughts. And I am learning in therapy that part of this is all due to cognitive distortion and the challenge to overcome those thoughts is to really think about what those thoughts do to my feelings and then my behavior.

This technique requires you to watch your thoughts for a minute. Imagine leaves floating on the surface of a stream. For each thought that comes to mind allow that thought to take its place on a leaf and watch it blow away in the wind. Or allow them to change into a fish and watch it float down the stream. Allow those thoughts to come and go, you don't need to respond to them.

In this case, you don't have to challenge these thoughts at the moment your anxiety spikes but down the line start to challenge them.

7. Get Your Adrenaline-Fueled Energy Out

If for whatever nothing works at first because your adrenaline is spiked your best bet to kick start the calming down process is to do something physical first to get that pent-up energy out. Go for a run if you can, a brisk walk if you aren't as conditioned to run or hate running, or clean a room like the kitchen, the house, or even outside if you have a yard. Dance around your room or house while listening to loud music. (I do this often, even on car drives for my daily commute and it helps me.) When you're physically spent you can try to return to the grounding techniques above to calm down your mind.

I hope this helps some of you in some form through those moments. I know in the past there are a couple I have applied without knowing these in full as grounding techniques and I am grateful to have a therapist who sent me this information as some others I have started to apply.

Living with PCOS isn't easy and managing anxiety isn't easy either. But hopefully, this helps those of you who struggle to find healthy ways to ground yourself so those overwhelming thoughts don't get the best of you. Take care cysters. You know I care about each one of you even if I am not a frequent poster.

All this information can be found on Dr. Sarah Allen's website.

#pcosjourney #pcoscysters #pcos awareness #polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos)#7 grounding techniques #managing anxiety

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mollygetssherlockcoffee · 5 years ago

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Broken

Pairing: Spencer x Fem!reader

Summary: When Rossi makes a comment which upsets the Y/N, Spencer is there to reassure her

Warning: Mentions of rape and murder. Talk about the medical condition Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Sadness. Fluff at the end

Words: 1,824

A/N: As someone who has this condition, this a drabble I have always wanted to read.

Master List HERE!

This last case had been particularly hard for you. You’d gotten your diagnosis three days before you left for California on a case involving an unsub forcing women into pregnancy, only to kill the mother and sell the child. The latest victim to have been found, Amelia Bragg, had been found on in a ditch. She had been raped, repeatedly, but she had not given birth and wasn’t pregnant. However, the signature of the female gender symbol carved onto her hip post-mortem indicated it was the killer you were after.

“Why didn’t she have a child like the others?” JJ asked, looking from the screen where Amelia’s picture was shown to the files in her hands.

“She had a condition which made it difficult to have children… she was ‘broken’” Rossi had replied, glancing at Amelia’s medical records. “PCOS and endometriosis.”

“PCOS? What’s that?” Derek asked, looking towards Reid for an answer.

You jumped in first, not even looking up from the file in front of you, “Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Follicles surround the eggs, making ovulation difficult. As such, their periods are irregular, and they struggle with fertility. Women often experience head hair loss, while gaining excess hair in other places, such as their face, due to increased androgen. Also, they can experience increased pain anytime through their menstrual cycle, on their period or not. People with PCOS tend to struggle with their weight, due to the hormones. Also, they’re more than likely to suffer with mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety due to the imbalance of hormones. Endometriosis is where tissue similar to the lining of the room grows in other places, like the ovaries or fallopian tubes. Endometriosis causes a lot of the same problems as PCOS, but it is known to be much more painful.”

The room is quiet for a moment as the team takes in your words. You don’t look up, you can’t look up. Rossi’s words had hurt you and you couldn’t help but answer before Reid. It was a subject you had knowledge in, you had done for a while. You best friend, Jamie, had endometriosis and you had done your research after her diagnosis in an effort to support her.

“How do you know that, Y/N?” Derek questioned, his voice gentle as he realised you might have experience with the conditions.

You shrugged ad remained silent for a moment. You didn’t really want to tell them all. Sure, they’re your friends, family even, but did you want all of them knowing this? Finally, you settled on a half-truth, “I know people with the condition, so I learned about it.”

You’d caught the unsub in the end, but not before another girl had been kidnapped. Thankfully, the team had gotten to the house, and then into the underground ‘lair’ before she was raped. It was horrific done there. It was dark and with the mass of six women, all in various stages of pregnancy, crammed into the small space, it was dirty and humid.

The women had been sent to the hospital for a check-up and the unsub taken to the police station to be processed. With the case complete, Hotch decided to postpone the flight home until the morning, saying everyone deserved a night of rest.

And that was how you found yourself sitting on your motel bed, arm around your knees, as you cried.

You’d been having troubles for a while now. Your periods were irregular, only having one every few months, and yet you often walked around with pain low in your belly and back. You often had to wax your upper lip, while you often lost long strands of your hair. Your moods swung, and your weight was a like a seesaw.

You’d went through this for more than a year before you went to the doctors. They’d listen to your symptoms before ordering a thorough blood test which came back with results saying you had excess hormones. This wasn’t enough for a diagnosis, and your doctor had sent you for an ultrasound.

And there they were. Little follicles surrounding your ovaries. There was your answer, you had PCOS. You’d been fine with the diagnosis. You had friends with the same condition, and you knew the ins-and-outs of it. However, what Rossi had said really got to you. In that one instance, your entire mental approach changed and your mind told you that your body was broken. That you were broken.

And that hurt.

PCOS was currently incurable. Medication could be taken to help the symptoms, but there was nothing to stop them. When you wanted a child, you could take medication which may help to be able to conceive but there was no guarantee that you would become pregnant. You were broken. The one thing you were designed for, as a woman, was something you couldn’t do. You were a woman, you were meant to bare children. Yes, you’d never through about having children before but now the choice had been taken from you.

There was a knock at the door. You held your breath, keeping the sobs back. There was another knock. A moment passed before the knock sounded again.

“Y/N, open up… please, I know you’re in there” Spencer begged, knocking on the door again. “Please, just let me in.”

Out of everyone on the team, Spencer was who you were closest to. When you had first joined the BAU, he had helped you with your paperwork. He knew you weren’t a huge fan of clubbing, so while the rest of the team went for drinks, he invited you to go with him to his favourite café. You’d get together every week to watch the newest episode of Doctor Who and when the season ended, you would just watch reruns. Spencer was the one you had warmed up to first, and he was still the person you’d consider as your closest friend.

Knowing that Spencer wouldn’t go away, you pushed yourself to your feet. You opened the door enough for him to squeeze through and quickly closed it behind him. Spencer entered the little room, moving to drop the armful of snacks on the bed before turning around to you.

He didn’t speak, just opened his arm. A fresh wave of tears burst forth and you rushed into his arm, burying your face in his chest and letting the tears fall. His arms wrapped around you securely, holding you to his chest tightly. His chin rested on your head as he held you to him, his thumb rubbing over the top of your arm where his arms wrapped around you.

After a few minutes, you calmed down, your snobs turning to quiet sniffles. He gently released you but took your hand, leading you over to the bed. You climbed on, grabbing a packet of gummy bears before you curled in his side.

“So,” he started. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

You wiped your hand under your eyes, getting rid of another tear. “You remember that I told you I hadn’t been feeling to great and that I had that appointment at the hospital for some tests? Well, I got the results.”

“I know. PCOS” your head turned so quickly that it took your eyes a moment to catch up and focus on your face. “I know the symptoms of it Y/N, and… I had suspicions. Your knowledge of it confirmed those suspicions. You have much more than just a ‘friend offering support’ knowledge.”

“What Rossi said…” your lips rolled between your teeth and you shook your head, looking away from Spencer. “I wasn’t really bothered at first by the diagnosis but when Rossi said that Amelia was ‘broken’… that hurt. Is that how people see me, how I am, broken?”

“Of course, you’re not broken” Spencer reassured you, pulling you tightly into his side. “Rossi didn’t mean it like that. He meant it as broken for the unsub, in the unsubs mind.”

“I know how he meant it” you assured him. “Its just… I can’t help but feel like people will think I’m broken. And who would want a broken girlfriend, or wife? I’ll have these mood changes, weight problem, hair troubles for the rest of my life. And I’ll struggle to have a child too… Who would want someone like me?”

A firm hand grasped your chin and turned your face. Spencer looked at you, his face more serious than you had ever seen it. His jaw was set and his eyes held such an intensity, that you struggled to make eye contact.

“Who wouldn’t want someone like you? You’re amazing” he reassured you, his voice firm and full of sincerity. “You’re kind, funny, smart, a little too sassy at time, generous and…and gorgeous. You’re amazing. You helped me find a place for my mom, you bring me my favourite coffee and a doughnut every time I’m sad. You drive me to and from work because you know I hate to drive. You are amazing. Your mood changes? Everyone’s moods fluctuate, yours maybe a bit more than others, but that doesn’t matter. Your weight? Y/N, you’re perfect. And your hair? That shouldn’t matter to anyone because its not about what you look like, its about who you are. There is nothing saying you won’t be able to get pregnant. Yes, it’ll take longer and you made need help but still, it can happen. And if it doesn’t, there are other options. Like surrogacy or adoptions. And that’s even if you want kinds. You don’t have to have them. And the man you’re with should accept all of these things because they are what make you you. And you are amazing, you’re perfect. If they can’t accept you as you are, this perfect person, then they don’t deserve someone as amazingly brilliant as you.”

Your heartbeat wildly in your chest as you stared at Spencer. Your eyes prickled with tears again, but this time, they were in awe of the beautiful things he’d said about you. The way he spoke about you… you felt warm inside, you felt appreciated, cared for… you felt loved.

Your hand lifted to cup his face and your thumb traced his cheekbone. His eyes were soft as they met yours, the light brown orbs full of warmth. Your eyes trailed to his films, his prefect lips, and slowly, you leaned in. He met you halfway, pressing his lips to yours in a kiss.

The kiss was soft and gentle. His hand trailed from your chin to the back of your neck, tilting your head to allow him better access to your mouth. You sighed into the kiss, the warmth in your heart all consuming.

Slowly, he pulled back from the kiss, his eyes meeting yours again. “Y/N, you’re prefect and… I…I love you.”

You smiled at him. “I love you too.”

You pulled him towards you to kiss him again.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x reader #spencer x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #cm #criminal minds #david rossi #derek morgan #criminal minds fanfiction

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mrswalkers-blog · 4 years ago

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Falling in love with you

Chapter 13 - The Emptiness

Book: The Royal Romance AU ( Drake x MC & Liam x Olivia)

A/N: This is an AU that happens two years after Riley weds Drake. Drake has lost his memory of last 2 years due to an accident. He doesn’t remember meeting Riley who is pregnant with their first child. Unaware of this fact and not able to cope with the strange new life he has woken up to , he flees Cordonia.

Liam marries Olivia for purely political purposes. Olivia on the other hand marries him because she is madly in love with him. But after two years on marriage and unable to produce an heir and unable to get Liam to love her, she asks for a divorce.

Summary of last Chapter : Two years back : Liam is suddenly obsessed with having a heir - a child in his life. Olivia feels she is not ready, but still supports Liam in trying for an heir. Now : Liam feels empty without Olivia. Media on the other hand is having a field day spreading rumors about Duchess Riley’s pregnancy, mysterious absence of Duke Drake and Farmers protest for Dam.

Liam meets Olivia at their first hearing for the divorce case. According to Cordonian law, they need to wait for six months before the divorce are finalized. Olivia tells him about whereabouts of Drake and asks him to bring him back.

Warnings: PG

PLEASE NOTE: Past chapters links are available in my bio.

Please Re-blog, Comment or at least hit like if you like this series.

Six months after the Royal Wedding “Still no sign of Royal Heir!” Olivia heard Regina talking - rather loudly - to Liam in dinning room. She stopped outside the room, looking at her husband and her step-mother-in-law at the breakfast table. “Mother, your voice is getting loud.” Liam said without looking up from the file in his hand. He kept flipping pages.

“I can see you are trying to avoid me.” Regina said sternly. Liam sighed and looked up at her, “Mother, there might be other pressing issues in a kings life that need his immediate attention.”

“Do you have any idea that failing to produce an heir can cause you to loose your throne?” Regina asked him, “I am aware, and we are trying.” Liam admitted, “What more do you want?”

“I think she should see .... I mean both of you should see a doctor. I am sure that would help.” She said softly , trying to sound concerned.

“Thank you for your concern, Queen Mother” Olivia said entering the hall. ”Of course,” Regina forced a smile.” I worry about both of you.” ”That is kind of you, but this is not the time to worry” Olivia sat beside Liam and took the file from his hands.”Its time to have some breakfast.” ”Liv!,” Liam glanced at Regina and cleared his throat ,”Olivia, I need to sign and send this trade agreement to China today. I was trying to figure out if it is beneficial to us.”

“It is not.” Olivia said serving a plate of poached eggs to Liam and herself from the spread on table.

Liam sighed “I am afraid you are right.” Liam said to Olivia,”but we will have to agree on their terms.”

“Even when you know that it is costing us dearly” Olivia said digging in her plate.”And not just the initial cost, we will be tied to pay them for decades.” “You must not interfere in the matters you dont understand” Regina advised Olivia,” We have been in good terms with China and not agreeing to their terms will mean...”

“It will mean we will be finally standing up for ourselves” Olivia said firmly. “But...” Liam was cut short by Olivia.

“Your Majesty.” she smirked.” You make a new agreement and write whatever terms you want. I will make sure that they get agreed on.”

Liam beamed,”I know that smile. You definitely have something up your sleeve.” he finally took a bite of his breakfast. “Care to share?”

“A lady never reveals all her secrets.” Olivia chuckled.” Just know that I have dirt on some pretty important people.”

“What would I do without you?” Liam smiled gratefully to Olivia. Both of them enjoyed their breakfast, talking to each other and completely unaware that they were ignoring Regina sitting at the same table. None of them realized when she left the table rather fuming at the turn of events.

--- Later that day, Olivia did visited an OB/GYN. After several tests and examination, she was sitting with doctor in her cabin. Her clasped in each other , waiting for the report. She was looking hopefully at the doctor engrossed in the file , across the table. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the news doctor had for her. “Your Highness”, the doctor paused, pressing her lips.

“Don’t worry.” Olivia said realizing the hesitation in doctor’s voice,” you can lay it on me. I can say the report is not good from your face”. She braved a smile.

“Honestly, there is still hope” she showed her the report. “Your one ovary is completely damaged.“ she pointed at a sonogram apparently showing a damaged organ in her body supposed to be producing eggs. ”But there is another ovary, so I still have chance, right?” Olivia asked hopefully.

“Yes, but there are some complication in that too.” Doctor explained her.” You have a condition called PCOS. It is the reason for your irregular periods. And it is making it difficult to conceive.”

“So what options do we have.” Olivia asked. She didn’t want problems, she wanted solutions and desperately.

“I will give you some medicine. But the main reason for PCOS is stress. You should try meditation. Relax a bit.” Doctor wrote a prescription and explained her the dosage and precautions she should take.

After listening to the doctor for several minutes, she asked the doctor, ”What are the chances of me getting pregnant doctor?”

"Well, right now there are very less changes, but after proper medication and working on your stress, i believe you will have good chances.” “Thank you, Doctor” Olivia said to the doctor and took her leave. There was still hope that she can produce an heir. She didn't know why she was so desperate to produce an heir. She never imagined herself to be a mother. Was she doing it for the throne? She didn’t care about it either. There was only one man whom she loved so much that she was ready to turn her life upside down and take up a responsibility of producing and raising an heir. She knew what the baby meant to him. How his eyes lit up when he talked about their future kid.

She was not sure how he would react knowing that Olivia was the reason they didn't have a heir yet. Would this push him away?

That day, when she entered their bedroom, Liam was working on his laptop on bed. He looked up and gave her a smile , before getting busy in his work. She thought about telling him about the slim changes of them getting pregnant. But she could never pluck up enough courage to talk to him. She changed in to her comfortable shorts nightwear and stood by her side of the bed for a moment, looking at Liam still busy on his laptop. She wished he looked at her. She wished he notice the turmoil going inside her. But Liam never looked up.

Olivia lied down on her side of bed , keeping her back towards Liam. She couldn't sleep, even after closing her eyes, her mind was playing several different scenes where she tells Liam that they might never have kids or Liam find out about it. And in each scene, she somehow always ends up loosing him.

--- Now

Drake had his long hair tied carelessly in a man bun. Riding his favorite horse and feeling of air blowing through his hair made him feel alive for a while. He had fled Cordonia because he was feeling trapped, suffocated even. But now he was feeling empty. Only thing in his life was his time with the stallions in this ranch. He had hoped that moving away from Valtoria will help him clear his mind, but all he could think now was his brief time there. He wished that just as he had forgot about the last two years, he could forget the last two months as well. Make a new start.

But his past was not leaving his mind, and it seems it had caught up with him. His eyes caught the sight of two well dressed men near the gate talking to one of his fellow rancher. Before the rancher pointed to his direction,, he knew they had come for him. Their attire were enough to tell them apart in this part of the world.

He knew one day they would find him. He didn't expect it to be so soon. He turned the horse towards them. He climbed down the horse and walked toward his best friend and his god father. He gave a tentative smile to his childhood friend, who was now a king. But Liam didn't return the smile. His eyes were burning with hot anger.

'Liam!' Drake cautiously approached him, 'didn't think you will find me here.' Liam took a quick steps towards him, and before Drake could understand anything else, a hard punch landed on his face making him stumble back a few feet.

'Hey you!' Three ranchers came running to rescue Drake.Bastien immediately stepped in front of Liam with one of his had on the gun in his belt and other stretched towards the men to stop them.

This did stopped the man, but they were now more alert on seeing the gun in the stranger’s belt.

Drake recovered from the blow he just suffered to see the tension in the air. He turned towards the ranch men , holding a hand up to gesture them to stay back. "It's alright! " He managed to say rubbing his jaw ," He is an old friend."

“Get me some ice please.” Drake asked one of the ranchers. The men disbursed leaving them alone - murmuring to each other and giving them a glance every now and then , just to be sure.

"Let's talk in my cabin." Drake led Liam and Bastien to his room. Bastien stood outside guarding the door after Liam and Drake went in.

"Great place you have" Liam said looking at the room Drake called his cabin.

"Well, it's enough for me." Drake shrugged. He opened the window to let some light and air in room. He switched on the small table fan.

“Seems like you are working out.” Drake said rubbing his jaw.

“Exercise helps me focus." Liam replied weakly. His tone and choice of words were enough for Drake to understand his friends current state. Liam was using exercise a distraction to help him get over the divorce.

Drake grabbed two tumblers and a cheap whiskey bottle. He poured small amounts in both the tumblers. Just about then, one of the rancher bought some ice in a small bucket.

“You didn’t say, how you find me here.” Drake dropped two cubes in a tumbler and handed it to Liam.

“Olivia found you. She has her sources.” Liam took a small sip of the whiskey.”But Riley always knew where you were.”

“Did you notice the guy who didn't react when I punched you? The big guy - clean shaved. He is from Cordonia” Liam informed him.

"I thought his accent was funny.” Drake smirked. But there was something which was not making any sense.“But why is she doing this? I mean keeping watch on me like this.She could have reached out.”

“She is trying to keep you safe and giving you freedom that you want. what more could you ask for,” Liam replied. He clenched and opened his fist looking at a bruise forming on his knuckles.

Drake wrapped some ice in a napkin and handed it to Liam. He took some more ice and started dabbing it to his jaw through another napkin.

Liam was wrapping the napkin on his hand when he noticed the familiar looking news papers and magazines on his bed side table.

“You seem to be keeping an eye on us.” Liam picked up the magazine that had run the article about speculating Riley’s pregnancy.

Drake felt his throat turn dry. He couldn't get this news out of his head since he saw in the magazine. “Is .... is it true?” he said gesturing to the article.

Liam looked in his eyes for a long moment before answering a short - “Yes”

Drake rubbed his hands on his face. He flopped down on the bed, hiding his face in his hands.

“I didn't know.... She didn't tell me. I wouldn’t have left...” he murmured excuses to calm down the overwhelming guilt.

“Why didn’t she tell you, Drake?” Liam asked. Although his voice was calm, Drake felt it hurt more than the punch he just received.

Is it mine? He wanted to ask, but he didn’t.

I thought you and her....he wanted to say, but he couldn’t.

“Why did you leave, Drake?” Liam sat down besides him.

“I thought if I left....” Drake paused , “You were getting divorce from Olivia....” Liam looked at him more confused.

Drake took a breath,”I knew you loved her.”

“Is it was this is about?” Liam asked.

“Why didn’t you marry her?” Drake asked, finally with a courage to look Liam in his eyes.

“Because , she chose you.” Liam sighed. Drake mock chuckled.

“What?” Liam asked.

”Ya,Like that could be true.” Drake scoffed,”Why would anyone chose me over you? I mean you are literally the King! and you are pretty amazing!”

Liam laughed,”I know! right?!” he shook his head,”Even I thought she was out of her mind. “ Liam paused, “It took a long time for me to accept the fact - but you are not that bad your self, Walker.”

Was it true? did she really chose him over Liam? There was no one in the world who would have chose him over Liam - for anything - let alone for something as important as marriage - to spend their entire life with him. The over caring, the keeping watch - all was because she cared for him. Drake sat frozen as the realization slowly downed on him.

“But.... you....” he paused,” Did I ? ....came between you two?” he stammered.

“Drake!” Liam placed a hand on his knee.” You love her and she loves you. That’s what matters.”

“And You?” Drake asked trying to read his face. Only few people could read past Liam’s stoic expression. Drake was one of them.

“I?”, Liam gave him reassuring smile.”I am over her Drake. He is my dear friend and wife of my best friend - whom, by the way, I miss so much.” Liam wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

Drake smiled. “I miss you too.”

“Then let’s go. “ , Liam clapped his back, “I am here to take you home.”

“I ..don’t think I can face her, Liam” Drake shook his head. The way he behaved with her, pushed her away.

“God, Drake!” Liam stood up,” If you cannot own up to your mistakes and try to correct them, you are not the man I thought you were.”

Drake looked at him conflicted. He knew he wanted to go back. But was he ready to take up the responsibilities of his new life? To face Riley?

“Come on buddy,” Liam said to him,”She needs you, Cordonia needs you.I need you”

When could he ever refuse to Liam? Not only did he felt obligated to be there for Liam, he knew he could trust Liam with his life.

“How can I ever say no to you?” He smiled and stood up.

Liam smiled and wrapped him a brotherly hug. Drake hugged him back , feeling relaxed after a long time. He hoped this would be the beginning of a better time.

“Okay then lets hurry.” Liam pulled away and checked his watch. They might still make it.

“We might have to give you a makeover on the plane.” He said looking at Drake from head to toe.

---

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Pixelberry.

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blisspads · 3 years ago

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Why women with PCOS are most vulnerable to mental health problems?

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) – a lot of women of their reproductive age are affected by this common endocrine heterogeneous disorder. The most known symptoms of this hormonal disorder are abnormal or absence of periods, obesity, infertility, excess growth of hair on the face and body, and acne. Not all PCOS-affected women experience all the symptoms associated with the condition.

Along with the above-mentioned symptoms, some women are subjected to depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. These numbers are on the constant rise, but they are often overlooked and left untreated.

How PCOS affects the mental health of women?

Well, recent reports say that the women affected by PCOS are three times more prone to anxiety and depression than women without PCOS. PCOS is a condition of abnormal hormones, some of which increase the risk of psychological problems. Their morals, the cultural values of the society, and the burden for a perfect look can all affect the emotional well-being of women affected with PCOS.

PCOS & Perfect Looks

In women with PCOS, the male hormone called Testosterone is found in abundant levels and they cause abnormal changes in their physical appearance like excess growth of facial hair, acne, or loss of scalp hair. Women are always obsessed with good-looking faces, and their beautiful presence before society and anything that takes a toll on these are considered not worthy. These women feel less feminine and are reported to have low self-esteem contributing to emotional imbalance and depression.

PCOS & Obesity

One of the main symptoms that tag along with PCOS is obesity. Due to the hormonal imbalances, most women with PCOS are insulin-resistant, i.e., their bodies do not use up the glucose like how they normally would. These excess levels of insulin, instead of burning the fat make them get stored in your belly. Due to this reason, women with PCOS gain weight which disturbs their interpersonal relationships leading to anxiety and panic attacks.

PCOS & Infertility

Because of the increased level of male hormones and abnormality in reproductive hormones, women with PCOS do not ovulate. This causes irregular menstrual cycles and since there are no eggs for fertilization, women with PCOS find trouble in getting pregnant. Infertility can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining for couples, who often need assisted reproductive techniques to get conceived. This can cause prolonged stress leading to depression.

PCOS & Insomnia

Women with PCOS experience a much serious problem called Sleep Apnoea. A person with sleep apnoea will stop breathing for a shorter amount of time during their sleep. Because of this and constant worrying about other symptoms associated with PCOS, the affected women feel trouble falling asleep. Lack of sleep disturbs the mental state leaving the patients with hopelessness and cause serious health issues like psychological disorders and depression.

Ways to improve your mental health despite having PCOS

If you notice any changes in your mood or feel anxious and depressed, discuss it with your doctor to get medical treatment as a cure. We should also understand that the symptoms of PCOS are very much related to one’s lifestyle and making some modifications can help in controlling mood swings, anxiety, and depression.

Daily workouts not only help in maintaining a healthy figure but also release happy hormones called endorphins which are responsible for mood lifting and mental peace.

Alternative therapies like yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and acupuncture are known to reduce depression and anxiety among women with PCOS.

Following a healthy diet and avoiding foods that increase insulin levels in the body can help in reducing the extra weight.

Friends and family to have your back is a great support and motivation to emerge successfully from the psychological effects of PCOS.

The doctors can prescribe medications for the depression after taking consideration into the other symptoms you experience. Some antidepressants are known to cause weight gain. So, express your concerns to the specialists before you assume medications on your own.

Supplements like omega fatty acids and vitamin D are reported to relax the mind and reduce mood swings.

Message from Bliss Naturals

In India, most women tend to ignore the mental symptoms and experience stigma around them. They do not take the issue seriously which may lead to non-restorable consequences. Lack of confidence, poor self-esteem, loss of sleep, frustration due to the trouble in conceiving, and having negative thoughts can even trigger suicidal thoughts in women with PCOS.

Proper self-care is very important and there is nothing to feel embarrassed about reaching out for help in adverse times. After all, PCOS is just a disorder and with proper treatment, you can reduce the symptoms of PCOS and depression and lead a blissful life.

#mental care mental health women pcos

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comeonthinkers · 4 years ago

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The Constant Struggle of Cuteness

I feel like, this morning, I need to talk about body image. Body image, and the constant barrage of conflicting messages around body image that I, as a midsize woman, receive and dissect every day.

First of all: midsize. Was this even a term five years ago? As “plus size” has become more ubiquitous and more accepted in the past decade, “fat” has been reclaimed, and “curvy” is suddenly more of a feeling than a descriptor, the terms I used to identify with as a teenager now, somehow, no longer apply to me anymore. I’m not sure what happened in the past decade; in high school I distinctly remember almost always being the largest woman in the room. Since then, whether it’s due to perception, self-confidence, age, awareness, or just... overall changes in the population, I now find myself distinctly in the middle.

Note: I’ve been a size 12-16 my entire post-adolescent life. For one brief stint after college I could fit into a size 10. But before and since, 14 has been the mainstay numeral in my wardrobe. My steady friend and most accurate guesstimate across brands as to what my body may fit.

14, despite being the most (so I’m told) “common” size amongst women, was for many years infamous for being the most left-out, in-between size in clothing stores. In juniors’ stores (marketed toward teens: your Charlotte Russe’s and Forever 21′s), 14 would translate to the non-existent XXL: with “XL” usually falling in the “12″ range. In Plus Size or Women’s stores, 14 is a 0X; 1X is most commonly measured around a “16″ size.

About 5 years ago I found a fashion youtuber who made a video decrying the variation of a size 12 across different brands. And I’ll agree: sizes vary a lot from brand to brand, despite there being a base similarity in most big brand stores. She, like me, found herself living in this dreaded size 12-14 fashion purgatory, this no-womans-land of sizes. And even here! The numbers can’t be trusted!

She called herself “midsize”. She looked a lot like me. And at last, I had a label I could consistently search and see body types that I could identify with. From what I can tell, midsize is the chosen moniker for fashion influencers sizes 8-16, with of course, varying body shapes and compositions. For example, many of the folks I follow on instagram that claim “midsize” wear a VERY different bra size from me- so to find “fashion inspiration” I can actually act upon from midsize influencers, I also have to bring in a few accounts that allow for more top-heavy-friendly designs.

Despite all of the overwhelming positivity and diversity now available to me as a midsize woman (for example, almost all plus-size brands now start at a size 10-12 (00X-0X), and most “regular” retail brands now extend to a XXL), I can’t help but go back to my first observation: I’m no longer the largest woman in the room. While I don’t consider myself particularly unhealthy, I also know I’m not passing any presidential fitness tests any time soon. I find it difficult to run for extended periods of time. My joint strength isn’t nearly what it should be to support my weight. While muscular, I have a lot of extraneous body fat that adds strain to my daily life, and all my body’s systems: skeletal, endocrine, muscular, cardiovascular. This isn’t good. I’ve worked for years to try to find ways to get stronger, lose weight, and improve my overall health- in fact, the difficulty I faced when trying to lose weight was what led me to discover that I have PCOS and a few hormonal hurdles to maintaining a healthy body weight.

But when I try to research how best to approach health and weight loss with PCOS, the studies are few and far between- and when available are fairly inconclusive and far from thorough. I’m left to follow MORE accounts of personal success stories, all of which are biased toward one product or another, one lifestyle brand or book tour, all of which are antithetical to every other product, book, or brand I’ve seen before.

On the one hand, I’m grateful to see more body types represented in the media. It IS helpful to my self-esteem to normalize the bodies of women both my size and larger than me (even if there’s still a prevalence of too-smooth skin and too-round belly buttons). But I also worry about how we tend to conflate feeling good about ourselves to being healthy. They aren’t the same. And we’re letting commercial forces tell us that it’s okay to be unhealthy even when attempting to BE healthy: mentally or physically.

Time to come clean here: for the past year, I’ve been experimenting on and off with a carnivore lifestyle, which, OBVIOUSLY, many people assume is super unhealthy, much like the stigma around Atkins in the early 2000′s. Honestly, it feels a lot like Atkins did back in the day: lots of bacon, burgers, steak, and eggs. Quite literally “zero-carb”, as opposed to just “low-carb”. While low-carb isn’t really new anymore, and many people can see carnivore as a logical step past the surprisingly universally accepted ketogenic diet, I was amazed to discover just how much the “science” of the trendier diets of the past decade (paleo, keto, whole-30) don’t match up to the scientific, accepted nutritional advice of the actual medical community.

Last year I started going to a weight-loss clinic at the behest of my OB-GYN in an attempt to get my PCOS and weight “under control”. I’m gonna spoil most of the rest of this rant by saying this was a pretty dumb idea for someone like me. This clinic was created around those with extreme weight issues, for whom psychological care and bariatric surgery are the most “effective” forms of treatment (again, according to the health care system that seems determined to sell it, but I’ll talk more about THAT another time). The nutritionist I met with gave me the same spiel I’d read time and time again from every weight-loss specialist book I’d bought, despite me relaying to her my decades-long struggle with traditional diets and fat-loss strategies. A ketogenic diet was never recommended to me, nor any kind of actual dietary changes to help with hormone balance/control: I was prescribed metformin (a drug for insulin resistance most commonly prescribed to type 2 diabetics) and told to eat a low-fat, high-fiber diet.

I didn’t lose any weight. My periods didn’t regulate. I just stopped gaining weight as fast... although I did eventually gain back the 12 pounds I’d lost from my first 2 months on carnivore.

The truth is, that treatment plan, that clinic... it doesn’t exist for someone who is trying to change their body chemistry. It might work for folks that are so obese that literally ANY form of mindful eating will help them lose 200 pounds. But let’s be real: if I lost 200 pounds, I’d weigh 6 pounds. I’m a tall, muscular woman with some fat that has tried all the recommended diets for fat loss. Through them all, I fight cravings and energy loss, mood swings, and all the symptoms that come with PCOS. The ONLY thing I’ve found in the past 10 years that actually helps with my PCOS?

Regular exercise, stress management, and a carnivore diet.

I’ll also point out that when I DID lose a considerable amount of weight after college (due to what I think was a combination of 1. getting enough sleep for once, 2. intermittent fasting, and 3. regular hiking), it was also easier for me to maintain my weight and many of my PCOS symptoms went away. It wasn’t until I switched to a HORMONAL BIRTH CONTROL method that I then gained back all of the weight I lost (and then some) and once again began fighting uncontrolled PCOS symptoms. They compounded on each other, and made it harder and harder to get back to any kind of “normal”.

So, I’m back on carnivore. In addition to more stable energy, noticeable reduction of PCOS symptoms, and slight weight loss, I also just... hurt a lot less on carnivore. Along this journey I’ve finally realized that I do in fact have a chronic pain problem. Whether it’s due to chronic inflammation, past injuries, or food sensitivities, I’m not really sure: but I know when I eat carnivore, my chronic pain all but goes away. Recently, I’ve been recovering from a back injury, so there was of course some pain associated with that (as well as a break from regular exercise, which I plan to get back to once I’m cleared by my chiropractor), but the daily body aches, numbness, and discomfort?

Gone.

I’ve got regular periods when I eat this way- like, ACTUALLY one a month like I’m supposed to have. My facial hair growth slows down, even thins out. My focus improves. I sleep better, and actually follow a normal circadian rhythm. What’s total bananas is that I’m not the only one who experiences this: MANY folks who’ve tried this way of eating report daily quality of life improvements.

I’m not going to say everyone should eat this way; I’m not even going to suggest that everyone with PCOS should eat this way. But I WOULD love to see some actual RESEARCH done on this way of eating- or even better research on a ketogenic diet! I’m so frustrated by the lack of medical research on nutrition, and in particular the lack of action to curb the universally-accepted-to-be-unhealthy nutrition standards in America. While I won’t say it’s hard to eat carnivore (cause like, all diets are hard), I have noticed over the years that NO ONE IN OUR COUNTRY IS HEALTHY anymore- except for those whose JOB it is to be healthy. And this isn’t a coincidence!! Almost all cultures that have adopted American corporatized food structures are chronically unhealthy, and much, much more fat than they used to be.

I agree that being fat isn’t always a personal failing, and I’m so, SO glad that more and more figures in our media diets are representing the diverse catalogue of body shapes and sizes reflected in our world. I’m happy that my future daughter won’t be fat-shamed the same way I was as a little girl, and that she likely won’t be told (like I was) that she’s too fat to be what she wants to be when she grows up, despite not actually being all that fat.

BUT. Fat representation is not the hill I want to literally die on. I’m not willing to throw my health, my comfort, my ability to be active, away for my “right” to eat ice cream every day. I’m sick of being marketed to constantly as a garbage disposal. I’m not just here to eat and diet and wear clothes.

I’m here to LIVE. I’m here to plant gardens and make art and take walks and enjoy the seasons. And I can’t do a lot of those things if I’m constantly sick and in pain. And it’s way harder to enjoy not being sick and not being in pain when all we know to do as a society when spending time together is... eat food.

What frustrates me is, I think so much of this really comes down to marketing, corporate profit-mongering, and the way our political system is set up to make laws for companies instead of people. I think capitalism is making us fat and unhealthy, to sell us sugar and diets and medicine and surgeries in an endless cycle of crap. I don’t really have much more to say on that, I don’t have sources, except like... well, look around you. Look at the system we have. Look at what we’re told to do to escape it. And look at how many forces are there to take us right back to the beginning of the roller coaster when we have a little success.

Side note/conspiracy theory time: I actually think liposuction might be a more safe and effective (literally EFFECTIVE not just safe) form of “weight loss surgery” in helping folks with actual, permanent weight loss. Hear me out: while I will fully admit I can’t remember where I read any of this (as I’ve read so many scores of information regarding health and weight loss over my lifetime), I seem to remember body fat working something like this: it’s really easy for your body to make new fat cells, but very difficult for your body to destroy them. So, when you gain fat, it first occurs by your body filling your fat cells with fat, until they can’t hold anymore, and then your body makes new fat cells, which makes it easier for your body to hold onto said fat. The best way to “reset” your body’s fat threshold is to literally destroy or remove the fat cells. And, I assume, if you adopt more healthy habits AFTER having liposuction, your body would be less likely to create more fat cells than it was when you lived an unhealthy lifestyle.

Bariatric surgery is incredibly invasive and dangerous, and almost always ends up reversed by bad habits and your body’s natural ability to STORE FAT AND STRETCH YOUR STOMACH. It’s a temporary solution, and often proves to be ineffective in the long term, and leads to many unfortunate complications over time, not to mention the recovery from that surgery is LONG and TOUGH.

But liposuction (the most COMMON FORM OF PLASTIC SURGERY, I’ll add), is the only “weight loss” procedure (despite not being labeled as such- it’s “cosmetic surgery” even though it most definitely WOULD result in weight loss, right?) that actually removes fat from your body. Literally takes the fat cells away so your body can’t fill them up again, without once again needing to create more.

But bariatric surgery is covered by insurance, and liposuction isn’t... despite the fact that removing weight and fat from the body would be a more instant and potentially effective cure for obesity and its underlying symptoms, and being a simpler procedure overall, as well as extremely common.

So like... why is being fat something poor people are forced to endure dangerous surgery and super long recoveries and lifetime habit changes to overcome, but rich people just get to have their fat vacuumed away? Sounds sus to me.

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kelkat9 · 5 years ago

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People with uterus medical talk under the cut

Hi just your friendly giving advice not asked for post LOL.

So I have PCOS which was not diagnosed for decades. I went through a lot of really bad symptoms and due to the prevalent misinformation and GYN mindset of the 90s into the 2000s, I suffered. We will not go into details but needlless to see I glomped onto anything that helped.

Oral contrraceptives was the primiary treatment of what I was suffering from, even if they didn’t diagnose me with PCOS. They only said: Oh, you have ovarian cysts and every woman goes through this. BC pills will stop them from getting so big.

The first sign something was amiss was how sick I got after taking the “standard” pill available. I wanted to vomit for 3 months. Then I got used to it. Took those pills for decades and then for some reason they stopped working. Tried another one and could not tolerate it. Never got used to is and got tired of being sick so stopped.

Years later, terrible ovarian cysts to the point I needed surgery to remove them. They had to remove part of one ovary. Since baby making never worked or would have resulted in bad things and probably a bunch of miscarriages, no biggie. But I had to get back on oral contraceptives to regulate hormones or end up back in surgery.

Tolerated it fine but I started early menopause. Every doctor said I was too young. Ha, my body will show you! Thus, weight gain, depression, hair loss and a lot of other unplesant things. I stayed on BC because ovarian cysts threat. And yeah hormone regulation minimized menopause. It also raised my blood pressure. And hair loss, omg, I cannot stress enough how much I would cry in the shower at so much hair falling out.

Post menopause now. I stopped taking everything including the blood pressure meds I had to take for the birth control which you know had all these side effects.

Moral of this story: Your body changes a lot over time. Don’t be afraid to question meds you’ve been on for years if you start to feel off. My last CT showed my ovaries were shrunk to nothingness so I’m going without and see what happens. Oral contraceptives serve a purpose but DO NOT underestimate the side effects. Know when to switch to something else or another form of hormone regulation/birth control.

I think my hair is starting to thicken again and so far, I feel so much better. Worried about hormonal induced depression but so far so good. Take care of yourselves out there. Eat as best as you can, go for a walk, drink lots of water and pay attention to what your body is telling you!

#birth control #oral contraceptives #hormones #PCOS #Bad GYN advice #ladies with a uterus #menopause is not scary #hope this helps someone

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bestgynecologistforpcos · 7 days ago

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Best Doctor For Pcos | Best Gynecologist For Pcos

How PCOS Affects Your Hair? Causes, Symptoms, and Solutions

Introduction

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common hormonal disorder Best Doctor For Pcos that affects millions of women worldwide. While it is primarily associated with irregular menstrual cycles and infertility, one of its most distressing symptoms is hair-related issues. PCOS can cause both excessive hair growth (hirsutism) and hair thinning (androgenic alopecia), leading to emotional distress and reduced self-confidence. Understanding the causes, symptoms, and potential solutions for PCOS-related hair issues is crucial for managing the condition effectively.

How PCOS Affects Hair Health

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome disrupts the delicate balance of hormones in a woman’s body, particularly increasing levels of androgens (male hormones). These hormonal imbalances directly impact hair growth in different ways:

Increased Androgen Levels

Androgens, such as testosterone, can cause hair follicles on the scalp to shrink, leading to thinning hair.

Higher androgen levels also stimulate excess hair growth in unwanted areas, such as the face, chest, and back (hirsutism).

Insulin Resistance

Many women with PCOS experience insulin resistance, which can elevate insulin levels.

Increased insulin can stimulate androgen production, exacerbating hair loss and excessive hair growth.

Chronic Inflammation

PCOS is linked to chronic inflammation, which can weaken hair follicles over time and contribute to hair shedding.

Common Hair-Related Symptoms of PCOS

PCOS can lead to various hair concerns, including:

Hair Thinning (Androgenic Alopecia)

Gradual thinning of hair on the scalp, particularly around the crown and parting line.

Hair may become weaker and more prone to breakage.

Excessive Hair Growth (Hirsutism)

Unwanted hair growth on the face, chest, abdomen, and back due to increased androgen levels.

This can be frustrating and difficult to manage for many women.

Oily Scalp and Dandruff

Hormonal imbalances can trigger excessive sebum production, leading to an oily scalp.

This can contribute to dandruff and scalp irritation, further weakening hair health.

Effective Solutions to Manage PCOS-Related Hair Issues

While PCOS cannot be cured, there are several ways to manage hair-related symptoms effectively:

Medical Treatments

Oral Contraceptives: Birth control pills can help regulate hormones and reduce androgen levels, slowing down excessive hair growth and hair loss.

Anti-Androgen Medications: Spironolactone and finasteride are commonly prescribed to block androgen effects and improve hair health. Best Gynecologist For Pcos

Minoxidil (Rogaine): A topical treatment that stimulates hair growth and prevents further thinning.

Diet and Lifestyle Modifications

Low-Glycemic Diet: Reducing sugar and refined carbohydrates can help regulate insulin levels and prevent hormonal fluctuations.

Balanced Nutrition: Including protein, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins like Biotin, Vitamin D, and Zinc supports hair growth.

Regular Exercise: Helps improve insulin sensitivity and reduces androgen levels naturally.

Natural Remedies

Saw Palmetto: A natural supplement that may help reduce the effects of androgens on hair follicles. Best Doctor For Pcos

Essential Oils: Rosemary and peppermint oils have been shown to improve scalp circulation and promote hair regrowth.

Aloe Vera & Onion Juice: Known for their soothing and strengthening properties, these can be applied to the scalp for healthier hair.

Hair Care Routine for PCOS

Use Gentle, Sulfate-Free Shampoos: Harsh chemicals can strip natural oils, making hair brittle and prone to shedding.

Massage the Scalp Regularly: Increases blood flow to hair follicles and promotes healthy hair growth.

Avoid Heat Styling and Harsh Treatments: Excessive heat and chemical treatments can weaken hair strands further.

Professional Treatments

Laser Hair Removal & Electrolysis: Effective solutions for managing hirsutism.

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy: Uses the body’s platelets to stimulate hair regrowth in thinning areas.

Micro needling: Encourages hair follicle stimulation and enhances the absorption of hair growth serums.

Conclusion

PCOS-related hair issues can be challenging, but they are manageable with the right approach. Understanding the underlying hormonal imbalances, adopting a balanced diet, maintaining a proper hair care routine, and seeking medical treatments can significantly improve hair health. If you’re struggling with PCOS-related hair concerns, consult a healthcare provider or dermatologist to develop a personalized treatment plan. With consistent care and the right solutions, you can regain confidence and improve the health of your hair despite PCOS.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) can significantly impact hair health, leading to excessive hair fall and thinning. Many women struggle with finding the Best Doctor for PCOS who can provide effective treatments. If you're looking for the Best Gynecologist for PCOS, choosing an expert who understands hormonal imbalances is crucial. Find Your Best Doctor.

Call Now: +91 95022 26258

Visit: https://www.drsahithi.com/blog/the-impact-of-pcos-on-hair-health

#Best Doctor For Pcos #Best Gynecologist For Pcos #How To Stop Hair Fall Due To Pcos

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abhinavayu21 · 2 years ago

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What are the causes of hair loss and how to prevent it?

Ayurvedic therapy, stress-relieving hobbies, and other preventative measures are available.

Are you concerned that you will lose your hair as time goes on? It's unsettling to notice that your beautiful looks are losing volume. Understanding the reasons why hair falls out might help you take timely preventive measures, like using ayurvedic hair oil for hair fall problems, to stop hair loss.

Causes of Hair Loss:

Some of the major causes of hair loss include:

· Hereditary Hair Loss

Hereditary pattern baldness, also known as androgenetic alopecia, can cause hair loss and thinning. The progression of baldness may be slowed with ayurvedic haircare products.

· Dandruff

You may regularly scratch your scalp due to the itching that dandruff causes. This behaviour could harm your hair follicles and cause hair loss.

· Psoriasis

Hair loss can be brought on by hormonal diseases like PCOS. While working with prescribed meds from a licenced physician to address concerns, you still need to take care of your hair to control hair loss.

Tips to prevent Hair Fall:

1. You can nourish your hair and maintain it healthy by applying a decent hair oil on a regular basis, such G3 Hair Oil or D-Scale Oil. You may feel more relaxed if you combine the oil with a decent scalp massage. Ayurvedic hair oils like G3 are composed of Bhringraj, Amla, Methi, Neem, Brahmi, and Japa among other constituents. You can handle premature greying, dandruff, hair breakage, and other hair health issues with the use of these chemicals.

2. DHT shampoos should not be used as they can damage the scalp. An ayurvedic hair wash product like G3 Hair Wash, on the other hand, can be useful in preventing hairfall. Ayurvedic shampoos can help with flaky scalp management and increase hair strength. Ayurvedic shampoos contain active herbs in their formulas that not only make hair silky but also nurture it.

3. One of the factors that can contribute to hair loss is stress. Exercise, meditation, and other stress-relieving activities can also help to maintain healthy hair. You can reduce tension and enhance the blood flow to your scalp by getting a head massage.

4. Ayurvedic tablets infused with herbs suitable for nourishing hair are also helpful for preventing common hair-related issues.

Conclusion:

G3 Red Onion Oil 200 ml gives an entire approach to all hair-associated issues. You can take a look at out this product with the aid of using following this link: For extra Ayurvedic merchandise, go to our internet site at https://www.abhinavayu.com/. You can touch us at 022 2634 7701 or mail us at [email protected], for any of your queries.

Key Takeaways:

Last but not least, persons who begin to lose their hair for typical reasons may or may not have the time to maintain it. If you truly care about your hair, you will make time in your hectic schedule to address any problems that may arise. With readily available ayurvedic haircare items like oils, shampoo, and tablets, it is preferable to avoid these problems as much as possible and have soft, healthy hair. And wouldn't you like treating yourself to a relaxing head massage that has the added benefit of giving you gorgeous hair?

Click here to discover more about Ayurvedic haircare products.

Resource: https://abhinavayu21.blogspot.com/2023/01/what-are-causes-of-hair-loss-and-how-to.html

#Buy Ayurvedic Hair Oil for Hair Fall Problems

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hairstyleforteen · 2 years ago

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What Cause Hair Loss in Women Long Infor article

Hair loss is a problem that many women face at some point in their lives. There are many different causes of hair loss, and it can be difficult to determine the exact cause. However, there are some common causes of hair loss in women that you should be aware of. One of the most common causes of hair loss in women is iron deficiency. Iron is necessary for the production of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the cells. Without enough iron, the cells cannot function properly, resulting in hair loss. If you think you may be iron deficient, talk to your doctor about getting a blood test to check your levels. Hair loss in women can be caused by a variety of factors. It can be the result of hormonal changes, stress, nutritional deficiencies, or even certain medications. If you are experiencing hair loss, it is important to consult with a doctor to determine the underlying cause. Once the cause is determined, treatment can be initiated to help stop hair loss and promote new hair growth. Credit: mooreunique.com What is the Main Reason for Hair Loss in Females? There are many reasons why hair loss can occur in females. However, the most common cause of hair loss in women is Androgenetic Alopecia, also known as female pattern baldness. This type of hair loss is caused by a combination of genetics and hormones. Androgenetic Alopecia typically begins to develop in women during their 20s or 30s and affects approximately 30 million American women. While the exact cause of Androgenetic Alopecia is unknown, it is believed to be related to an excess of the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the scalp. DHT is a by-product of testosterone that shrinks hair follicles and inhibits new hair growth. Women with Androgenetic Alopecia typically have higher levels of DHT in their scalps than women without this condition. There are several treatment options available for female pattern baldness, including oral medications, topical treatments, and low-level laser therapy. In some cases, surgery may also be an option. If you are concerned about your hair loss, we recommend talking to a dermatologist or other medical professional who can help you diagnose and treat your condition. How Can I Stop My Hair From Falling Out Female? One of the most common reasons for hair loss in women is iron deficiency. When there isn't enough iron in the body, the hair follicles can't get the oxygen and nutrients they need to grow. This causes the follicles to produce weaker, thinner hairs that are more likely to fall out. To prevent this from happening, make sure you're getting enough iron in your diet by eating foods like leafy greens, beans, and lean meats. You can also take an iron supplement if you feel you're not getting enough through your diet alone. Another possible cause of hair loss in women is hormonal imbalance. This can be due to conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) or thyroid problems. If you think your hormones might be out of balance, talk to your doctor about getting a blood test to check your levels. Treatment for hormonal imbalances will vary depending on the underlying cause but could include medications or lifestyle changes like birth control pills or increasing exercise. Stress is another common trigger for hair loss in women, so it's important to find ways to manage stress effectively. Exercise, meditation and spending time outdoors are all great ways to reduce stress levels and promote relaxation. If you find yourself feeling particularly stressed out, consider talking to a therapist who can help you develop coping mechanisms specifically tailored to your needs. Why am I Losing Hair for No Reason? If you're suddenly finding more hair in your brush than usual, you may be wondering why and what you can do about it. Here's a look at some possible causes of unexplained hair loss and what you can do about them. Telogen effluvium is the second most common form of hair loss, accounting for 40 percent of all hair loss cases. It usually occurs three to six months after a major stressor, such as childbirth, surgery, a severe illness, or a major life event like a divorce. In telogen effluvium, the growing phase of the hair cycle is shortened, and the resting phase is lengthened. This leads to more hairs falling out when they reach the end of their natural cycle and new hairs taking longer to grow back in. Anagen effluvium is similar to telogen effluvium, but it occurs during the anagen (growing) phase of the hair cycle instead of the telogen (resting) phase. Anagen effluvium is usually caused by chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer. The chemicals in these drugs damage rapidly dividing cells, including those in the hair follicles. This type of hair loss often improves once treatment is finished. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder that causes patches of baldness on the scalp or elsewhere on the body. In alopecia areata, white blood cells attack healthy cells in the hair follicle resulting in Hair shedding, if left untreated, can lead to permanent baldness. Although there isn't currently a cure for alopecia areata, treatments are available that can help stimulate regrowth or cover up bald spots with artificial fibers or makeup.. There are many potential causes Of losing hair for no apparent reason. Telogen effluvium and anagen effluvium are two types OF temporary shedding that may occur after a stressful event or due To certain medications. Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disorder that can cause patchy baldness, but fortunately, there ARE treatments available even Though There isn't yet A cure. If You Are Concerned About sudden or excessive Hair Loss, it's always best TO consult With A dermatologist TO rule out any underlying health conditions and discuss The best course OF treatment. Top Causes of Hair Loss In Women - SLUCare Dermatology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpJcGo4-ISU Which Vitamin Deficiency Causes Hair Loss Vitamin deficiencies are one of the many causes of hair loss. While not as common as other causes, they can still lead to significant hair shedding and thinning. The most common vitamin deficiency associated with hair loss is a lack of vitamin D. This can be caused by not getting enough sun exposure or not getting enough vitamin D in your diet. A lack of vitamin D can lead to a dry, itchy scalp and shedding. Other vitamins that have been linked to hair loss include vitamins A, B, and E. While these vitamins are important for overall health, they don’t seem to play as big of a role in hair health as vitamin D. If you think you may be deficient in any of these vitamins, talk to your doctor about taking supplements or changing your diet. Illnesses That Cause Hair Loss hair loss can be caused by a variety of things, ranging from genetics to illness. Here are some common illnesses that can cause hair loss: 1. Alopecia Areata: This is an autoimmune disorder that causes patchy hair loss on the scalp. It is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. There is no cure for alopecia areata, but treatments are available to help improve the appearance of the hair. 2. Trichotillomania: This is a condition characterized by the compulsive urge to pull out one's own hair. It can lead to significant hair loss and baldness if left untreated. Treatment for trichotillomania typically involves therapy and medications to help reduce the urge to pull out hair. 3. Telogen Effluvium: This is a type of temporary shedding that occurs when the growth cycle of the hair is disrupted due to stress or other factors. It usually results in thinning all over the scalp rather than patchy hair loss like alopecia areata. Telogen effluvium typically resolves on its own with time, but treatment may be necessary if the shedding persists for more than 6 months. 4. Scalp Psoriasis: This is a chronic skin condition that causes scaly, inflamed patches on the scalp (and other parts of the body). While it doesn't directly cause hair loss, it can lead to itching and scratching, ultimately damaging the hair follicles and resulting in Hair Loss. My Hair is Falling Out from the Root What Can I Do If you're noticing that your hair is falling out from the root, it's important to see a doctor to rule out any underlying medical conditions. There are a number of potential causes of hair loss, ranging from genetics to hormone imbalances, so it's important to get a diagnosis before trying any home remedies. Once you know the cause of your hair loss, you can work with your doctor to find the best treatment option. If hair loss is due to genetic factors, there may not be much that can be done. However, if it's due to an imbalance or other treatable condition, there are a number of options available. For example, if hormones are responsible for your hair loss, medications may be prescribed in order to correct the imbalance. In some cases, surgery may also be an option. No matter what the cause of your hair loss is, it's important to seek medical attention in order to determine the best course of treatment. Can Hair Loss Be a Sign of Something Serious Hair loss can be a sign of many things, some of them more serious than others. If you are experiencing hair loss, it is important to see your doctor to find out what is causing it. There are many possible causes of hair loss, including: - Hormonal imbalances - Autoimmune disorders - Nutritional deficiencies - Medications and treatments (such as chemotherapy) - Stress - Genetics Each of these causes can lead to different types of hair loss. For example, hormonal imbalances can cause diffuse hair loss (loss all over the scalp), while autoimmune disorders often lead to patchy hair loss. Nutritional deficiencies can also cause diffuse hair loss, as well as other problems such as brittle nails and dry skin. Medications and treatments can cause both diffuse and patchy hair loss depending on the specific medication or treatment being used. And finally, stress can cause telogen effluvium ( temporary shedding of hairs that were in the resting phase). genetics plays a role in several types of hair loss, including male-pattern baldness and female-pattern baldness. If you are concerned about your hair loss, make an appointment with your doctor to discuss your symptoms and possible causes. Conclusion There are many potential causes of hair loss in women, including medical conditions, medications, and physical or emotional stress. Treatments for hair loss include medications and surgery. Read the full article

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vjclinic · 2 years ago

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Understanding The Effects of Hormonal Changes On The Growth Of Hair

Hair can add charm to anyone's personality, But hair fall is the most common problem nowadays. People facing hair loss issues know how necessary it is to take care of their hair. We generally forget to take care of our hair and end up having problems with hair growth. Before the situation gets worse, consult the experts for Hair Loss Treatment.

As it is the most common problem, factors that result in hair fall may vary from person to person. Harmonical changes also lead to changes in hair growth in any human body. And all the factors or reasons that cause hair loss can be treated, and a Hair Transplant in Vizag can be the ideal choice if you seek hair loss treatment.

Life Cycle Of Hair

To understand how the effects of hormones can change growth, Let's understand the growth of hair. Hair grows underneath the skin and gets nourishment from blood vessels in the scalp. This nourishment helps hair to grow.

Phases of Hair

Anagen Phase: It lasts for 2 to 6 years, during which hair grows.

Catagen Phase: It lasts 2 to 3 weeks, during which hair growth stops and starts to shrink away from the skin or scalp.

Telogen phase: It lasts for about 100 days, in which hair follicles are completely at rest and almost 25 to 100 hair sheds per day.

How are hormones responsible for Hair Loss?

Androgen Hormones like testosterone and DHEA, commonly referred to as male hormones, are responsible for hair growth. The increase in the level of these hormones increases the growth of hair, mainly on the face and body, and when the level of these hormones decreases, the hair growth gets affected, which ultimately causes thinning of hair or baldness.

Hair growth also depends on the thyroid gland; when the thyroid gland is not active to produce enough hormones, hypothyroidism occurs, and metabolism starts to slow down. To recompense, the body begins to shut down the less important process, for example, hair growth. Women with PCOS or pregnant women can also face changes in hair growth due to the harmonical changes.

The Bottom Line

Hair fall is a common problem, but its treatment is available. If you are facing hair-related issues, don't hesitate to visit Dr. VJs Cosmetic Surgery & Hair Transplantation Centre for successful results.

#Health #Indiia

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yasbxxgie · 7 years ago

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When the former NFL cheerleader Natalie Nirchi stopped menstruating at age 17, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormone disorder affecting up to 10 percent of women of reproductive age. She didn’t initially show any of the physical symptoms, like excess hair growth, cystic acne, or obesity, but a blood test revealed that she had high levels of testosterone and an ultrasound showed cysts on her ovaries.

“My doctor mentioned that one day I might have trouble getting pregnant, but didn’t offer any other information about the disorder,” Nirichi said. Other than the absence of her period, PCOS did not significantly impact her life until college, when she began experiencing shooting pains in her pelvis, mood swings, and rapid weight gain despite a rigorous exercise routine.

“It wasn’t like I turned 21 and started partying, it was like I turned 21 and all of a sudden, I was extremely depressed. No matter what I did, I just kept building this layer of extra weight around my midsection,” she said.

PCOS is genetic and presents differently in each woman of childbearing age. For some women, symptoms emerge shortly after they begin menstruating. Others may not show signs of the disorder until later in life, or after substantial weight gain, and many don’t receive a diagnosis until they are struggling to get pregnant. A community-based prevalence study published in 2010 found that approximately 70 percent of the 728 women in the cohort had PCOS, but had no pre-existing diagnosis.

Contrary to the implication of “polycystic,” some women with the condition don’t have any cysts. A diagnosis requires only two of the following three criteria to be met: elevated levels of male sex hormones (which can cause excess hair growth, acne, and baldness), irregular or absent periods, and/or at least 12 follicular cysts on one or both ovaries.

“If a woman has fewer than eight menstrual periods a year on a chronic basis, she probably has a 50 to 80 percent chance of having polycystic ovary syndrome based on that single observation,” said John Nestler, the chair of the department of internal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. “But if she has infrequent menstruation and she has elevated levels of androgens such as testosterone in the blood, than she has a greater than 90 percent chance of having the condition.”

When the syndrome was first described in 1935 by American gynecologists Irving Stein, and Michael Leventhal, it was considered a rare disorder. Today as many as five million women in the United States may be affected, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, but researchers are still just beginning to uncover the disorder’s full impact.

“Classically, we thought of PCOS primarily as an infertility disorder or a cosmetic annoyance, but we now know that it’s also a metabolic disorder and a serious long-term health concern,” Nestler said.

According to a recent study published in the Endocrine Society’s March 2015 issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, women diagnosed with PCOS are twice as likely to be hospitalized for heart disease, diabetes, mental-health conditions, reproductive disorders, and cancer of the uterine lining. The cost of evaluating and providing care to women with PCOS is approximately $4.36 billion per year.

The definitive cause of PCOS is unknown, but researchers have found a strong link to insulin resistance, a genetic condition often associated with diabetes, in which the muscle, fat, and liver cells do not respond properly to insulin and thus cannot easily absorb glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream. As a result, the body produces higher and higher levels of insulin to help glucose enter the cells.

“The excess insulin that's being produced stimulates the ovary to make testosterone, which can interfere with ovulation, rendering many women infertile,” said Nestler. PCOS is the most common cause of infertility in industrialized nations. “The exact cellular and molecular mechanisms are still being explored and are not completely understood.”

In one study, insulin resistance was found in 95 percent of overweight women with PCOS and 75 percent of lean women with PCOS. Perhaps relatedly, women with PCOS have a more than 50 percent risk of getting Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes before age 40.

“We are seeing an explosion in polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescent girls, and I think it’s due to the fact that we are also seeing an explosion in obesity in adolescent girls,” Nestler said. “It’s quite possible that if those girls had remained a healthy weight, that they would still carry the genes that predispose them, but they wouldn’t be expressing the disorder.”

Healthy diet and exercise is the first line of intervention most doctors recommend for overweight women with PCOS. Research shows that a 5 to 7 percent reductionof body weight over a six-month period can lower insulin and androgen levels, restoring ovulation and fertility in more than 75 percent of patients.

Angela Grassi, a registered dietitian who also has PCOS, says that because women who are overweight are likely to experience more insulin resistance than those who are not, they can get locked into a cycle of weight gain. “The more weight you gain, the more corresponding insulin your body produces, and the more you continue to gain weight,” she said.

But this underlying metabolic dysfunction is at work even in women of a healthy weight, according to Daniel Dumesic, a reproductive endocrinologist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

“Research shows that unlike most women, lean women with PCOS tend to burn protein instead of fat while they’re sleeping. This might explain one of the reasons why despite their best efforts, it’s much harder for women with PCOS to lose weight,” he said.

Many doctors prescribe the drug metformin to help regulate the amount of glucose in the blood. The medication is traditionally used to treat Type 2 diabetes, as it makes the body more sensitive to insulin, and decreases the amount of glucose the liver releases. A meta-analysis published online in June in the journal Human Reproductive Update demonstrated that when metformin is combined with lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise, it has been shown to help women with PCOS lose more body fat, achieve lower blood sugar, and improve menstruation better than lifestyle modification alone.

Regular menstruation is important for the prevention of endometrial cancer. Women with PCOS are three times more likely to have endometrial cancer than women without. When a woman isn’t menstruating on a frequent basis, the lining of the uterus (endometrium) can begin to grow excessively and undergo atypical cell changes resulting in a precancerous condition called endometrial hyperplasia. If left untreated, this can develop into full endometrial cancer. Hormonal birth-control pills are often prescribed to help women with PCOS shed their endometrium more regularly, an important measure for preventing the overgrowth of cells in the uterus.

“If a woman knows from a young age that she may have a more difficult time than her peers maintaining a healthy body weight and reproductive system, than she can make sustainable lifestyle changes early on,” said Dumesic.

Unfortunately, awareness of the condition is not widespread and many physicians do not perform the necessary diagnostic tests or recognize that PCOS has broad and potentially devastating consequences. According to the non-profit support organization, PCOS Challenge, Inc., PCOS awareness and support organizations receive less than 0.1 percent of the government, corporate, foundation, and community funding that other health conditions receive.

Only a small number of researchers receive funding to study PCOS and most of the money goes toward studying the infertility side of the disorder. Nestler says women would benefit if more of the funding went toward researching the metabolic mechanisms of PCOS that underlie the development of diabetes and heart disease.

Dumesic believes the complex metabolic, hypothalamic, pituitary, ovarian, and adrenal interactions that characterize the condition may be to blame for the deficit in PCOS specialists and researchers.

“When any condition crosses disciplines and doesn’t have a full investment in [one of them], it often falls through the cracks. There are elements of reproduction in PCOS, but most reproductive endocrinologists mostly do in-vitro fertilization and are not necessarily interested in metabolism. Medical endocrinologists, who are mostly interested in metabolism, aren’t usually interested in reproduction and ovarian function,” Dumesic said.

For women who don’t receive timely, appropriate care for PCOS in early adolescence, the development of symptoms such as facial-hair growth can become more challenging to treat. Brandy Cramer, 33, a program officer at The Cameron Foundation, from Midlothian, Virginia says her doctors told her she just wasn’t trying hard enough to lose weight and dismissed her when she requested they run blood tests or suggest alternatives to the birth-control pills that gave her intense migraines. Cramer grew facial hair and has only been able to remove 50 percent of it, even after expensive laser hair-removal treatment.

“I had no support or resources to learn how to manage my PCOS. It wasn’t until I was able to connect with other women who had it that I started to feel less isolated and learned how to advocate for myself,” said Cramer.

Gretchen Kubacky, a health psychologist who also has PCOS, says the condition has a significant impact on the mental health of her clients on both a situational and chemical level.

“Often times the cosmetic issues are huge, depending on the severity. When you summarize the typical PCOS patient as someone who is fat, has acne, and male-pattern baldness, that is definitely depressing, but that in and of itself is not enough to cause depression,” she said. “It’s the hormonal imbalances that have a real neurobiological affect on the brain and we have evidence that the excess of androgens in women is definitely linked to depression.”

Sara Eaton, a 30-year-old ballroom dance teacher based in Augusta, Georgia, says PCOS has had a significant impact on her health, body image, and self-confidence since she was diagnosed at age 15.

“It’s a frustrating, difficult, and sometimes heartbreaking thing to deal with,” Eaton said. Eaton’s PCOS has given her male-pattern baldness, acne, obesity, and skin tags. In spite of her challenging symptoms, she dances and works out several times a week. “There aren't many women who look like me who can get on the floor and move like I do, who are comfortable enough in their skin to step into the spotlight and demand that people look at them,” she said.

Until PCOS is better-understood, Eaton says women need to look out for themselves and their fellow “cysters.”

“Don't just trust what the first doctor you see says without doing some research,” she says. “Find another woman with PCOS, go online to some of these support groups. Find a reproductive endocrinologist who knows what they're doing. Talk to other cysters, read the articles, look for doctor recommendations. We have a syndrome that is so complicated and confusing, one of the best ways we can help ourselves is to be proactive and make sure we find the best and most knowledgeable caregivers available to us.”

#pcos #polycystic ovary syndrome #stbm #the atlantic #hormone disorder #testosterone #cysts #polycystic #follicular cysts #ovaries #gynecology #health #endometrial cancer #reproductive endocrinologist #endocrinology #long reads

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