My name is Hannah and I am 27 years old. I am originally from the Midwest in the United States but have been living abroad for the past five years and currently reside in Tokyo, Japan. I recently graduated with my master’s degree in nutrition and started a private practice where I work with clients interested in holistic health. My personal healing journey is what inspired me to go into nutrition and I love being able to share what I have learned over the years to help others who are struggling with similar health issues. I want to share my story of how I discovered aromatherapy and how it helped with my ongoing hormonal imbalances.
Ever since high school, I suffered from hormonal imbalances. The symptoms originally started as heavy and irregular periods, but progressed to sleep issues, sensitivity to heat, and even dry hair and skin. It was when the symptoms started to interfere with my daily life that I first went to see a gynecologist. She didn’t run any tests or ask many follow up questions, but immediately recommended birth control. Even though she assured me that birth control was a completely safe option, I knew it often came with many negative side effects and so I decided to not take it. I decided I would just deal with the symptoms and didn’t see another doctor for a few more years.
Over the next several years, my family became more familiar with alternative medicine, and had used different practices to help my younger sister who was struggling with health issues. This was the first time I thought there must be more natural treatments out there to address my symptoms.
We found a gynecologist in the area who was known to treat hormone imbalances “naturally” and after some blood work and meetings with her, I started on bioidentical progesterone pills. It made sense at the time that because I was low in progesterone, I should be supplementing with this hormone. It also seemed like a less invasive and more natural approach to the birth control pills and so I was hopeful in the beginning. After a few months of treatment, however, I was experiencing even more negative side effects. I started cramping, which was something I had not previously experienced, my periods were even heavier, and I just felt off. Though the doctor recommended I continue the treatment, I decided to take a break and do a bit of my own research.
I came across a few blogs that discussed ways to naturally balance hormones and address irregular periods. Many blogs mentioned aromatherapy and essential oils as a safe and effective way to treat hormonal imbalances. I liked that they seemed to come with minimal side effects. Though I had heard of essential oils, I typically associated them with stress and sleep, and not with medicinal use.
I couldn’t find anyone in my city who specialized in aromatherapy. However, I found a small local medicine shop whose owner had studied essential oils for a few months. I went to the shop and met with the owner for about an hour. We went through the history of my symptoms and the different treatments I had previously tried. She helped me choose the right combination of essential oils and taught me how to properly mix them with a carrier oil as well as how to apply the mixture topically.
Over the next few months, I tried different combinations of essential oils and my symptoms slowly started to improve. After about five months, my periods were much more regular and less heavy. In addition, I was sleeping better and experienced less sensitivity to heat. To this day, I continue to use aromatherapy to keep my hormonal imbalances at bay. I always use a combination of oils that include lavender, clary sage, chamomile, and geranium. Other oils I add in depending on where I need additional support include cinnamon, rosemary, frankincense, myrrh, juniper, and cyprus. After having such a positive experience with the essential oils, I decided to study aromatherapy myself. And as a couple of years ago, I became a certified aromatherapist. I now incorporate essential oils into my holistic nutrition practice, especially when working with clients to address hormone imbalances.
Sometimes it’s difficult to go against our doctor’s recommendation. Sometimes even harder to do our own research to find the best treatment protocol for us. However, doctors generally know a specific type of medicine and they are largely unaware of the world of alternative medicine. There is no one who knows our bodies better than we do. Therefore it’s important that if one treatment isn’t working, we branch out and find one that does. Essential oils have truly changed my life and my only regret is not looking into alternative options sooner.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.