Hands On Women’s Wisdom: Hormone Imbalance

In my practice over the last 12 years, I’ve seen hormonal imbalance in many forms, time and time again. Whether manifested as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, amenorrhea, or simply irregular cycles, this condition plagues more of us than you’d think. But what causes these imbalances?

There’s no one answer, but a major contributor is the stew of chemicals in our environment that can accumulate in our bodies. Toxicity is on the rise: it’s estimated that today’s average newborn body is dealing with more synthetic chemicals than a senior did in our grandparents’ day. As new chemicals are introduced into our food and cosmetic supply, and as pollution increases, our bodies have a greater influx of contamination to deal with. This buildup in our systems, complete with endocrine disrupters and reproductive toxins, create inflammation in the body and interrupt its ability to regulate hormones.



So how can we help our bodies get rid of these unwanted substances? In addition to making better nutritional choices like eating organic where possible and cutting back on inflammation-promoting foods, I’ve seen a type of massage known as lymphatic drainage produce wonderful and immediate results. Lymph is a milky fluid in our bodies; it’s main function is to deliver hormones and nutritive substances, while simultaneously removing waste. Think of lymph as the body’s sanitation system, recovering trapped toxins around your cells and sending them through lymph vessels to your lymph nodes (garbage dumps and recycling centers) to be filtered and purified. Unlike blood, our body’s other nourishing fluid, lymph is not actively pumped through vessels. Lymph is essentially static, pooling within our tissues until muscle movement or gravity push it towards lymph vessels and nodes. Massaging the lymphatic system with the lymphatic drainage technique quickens these actions by up to four times their normal speed, which can improve fluid movement in the body, reduce bloating, enhance liver function, and help to release the excess hormones that can be causing disruption.