Dr Alicia Rogers Women’s Health
Dr. Alicia Rogers is a Naturopathic Physician at Core Vitality Clinic in Corvallis, Oregon. Her focus is Bio-identical Hormones and Women’s Health. Starting at the age of 10, she suffered from terrible migraines and heavy, painful periods. It was hard for her to understand what was happening at that time until she started to learn about the body studying Naturopathy. Her aim is to help empower women by teaching them how their body works and offering ways to help it function better.
Concerns She Treats
Dr. Alicia Rogers is a Primary Care Physician as part of being a Naturopathic Physician. That means that she can help with the typical women’s health care such as pelvic exams and routine PAP smears when necessary. She offers a gentle pap smear experience & a relaxed setting in which to address your specific female health concerns. But there are many other concerns that she is experienced in working with. Thyroid & weight issues, menopause & perimenopausal concerns, infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome, PMS, and other mood disorders. Digestive concerns, autoimmune disease, and food intolerances or allergies are all issues Dr. Alicia is comfortable with.
Menopause
Menopause is considered when the end of a woman’s menstrual cycles and fertile time. It generally happens when the woman’s ovaries no longer make estrogen and progesterone, around the age of 50 or so, although it happens earlier for many women. This can affect a woman’s life in many ways. Periods may become heavier or lighter, less or more frequent. Hot flashes & night sweats are common, as are changes in headache frequency & intensity. Mood changes occur, such as feeling run down, depressed or anxious. You may start gaining weight, having more acne, & lose your sex drive. For years before you reach menopause, perimenopause is happening, where things start to kind of shift and get a little off, like puberty happening in reverse.
Dr. Alicia offers various options for hormone testing. Typically, if you are having regular cycles, estrogen should be tested on period day 3 and progesterone on cycle day 20 to see if you have ovulated. Dr. Alicia says, “With post-menopausal women the results are typically going to be low all the time and that makes it pretty straight forward. In treating with hormones, what I like to do is find your “sweet spot”, the dose that makes you feel the best, and maintain a steady state, rather than mimicking a cycle which goes up and down. If a woman is still cycling, then we look at imbalances in the phases of the cycle to promote ovulation and address heavy/painful cycles.”
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) refers to both physical and emotional symptoms that occur one to two weeks before a woman menstruates. Some common symptoms include acne, tender breasts, bloating, feeling tired, irritability, and mood changes/swings. Many times, Dr. Alicia will add herbs, nutrients, dietary/lifestyle interventions, or natural progesterone in a cream or prescription form. Natural progesterone is always used over synthetic because of the risks of blot clots and stroke with synthetic progestins. With estrogen as well, they use a bioidentical form. This means that it is the same molecule that your body makes. Dr. Alicia says, “Most often, when I have found someone’s sweet spot for their estrogen and progesterone they feel like they have regained their sense of composure, vitality, and balance that wasn’t there for a while.”
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that affects a woman’s hormone levels. Women with PCOS produce higher-than-normal amounts of androgens (DHEA and testosterone). Symptoms may include cysts on the ovaries, skipped periods or no period (Irregular periods), heavy bleeding, excessive body/facial hair, acne, weight gain, male-pattern baldness, insulin resistance, infertility and much more. This is all caused by hormone imbalances. Dr. Alicia can help you find out which hormones are off and work towards trying to correct them. There are many things that you can do to help combat PCOS symptoms, these include supplementing with inositol and NAC, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and working towards weight loss.
Infertility
Infertility is a condition that can prevent the conception of children. Unfortunately, it affects approximately 10-15% of couples throughout the United States. The diagnosis of infertility is usually given to couples who have been attempting to conceive for at least 1 year without success (depending on their age). Fertility may be affected by physical problems in either the male or female partner, and these should be ruled out. Commonly, things such as PCOS, anovulatory cycles, and physical stress to the testes can cause a delay in conception. High stress level and exposure to toxins, alcohol, and drugs may also be at play.
There is a growing body of data that environmental toxins/exposures to endocrine disrupting substances are affecting our reproductive systems and contributing to many health issues of our time. There are nutrient and diet/lifestyle interventions that can help improve both male and female fertility. Dr. Alicia Rogers is available to help you navigate through this.
Other Women’s Health Needs
There are many other concerns that are considered women’s health. Some of these would include Endometriosis which is a painful disorder in which tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus, the endometrium, grows outside the uterus. Dr. Alicia has experience with treating Mood swings, Depression & Anxiety. She tests neurotransmitters such as Serotonin, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, and GABA. She works with amino acids and medications to address imbalances in these brain hormones. Dr. Alicia is comfortable with treating vaginitis, headaches, migraines, weight gain, abnormal PAP smears, thyroid, adrenal disorders, and more.
If you are having Women’s Health Issues, or just looking for a holistic Primary Care Physician, then you’ll want to see Dr. Alicia Rogers at Core Vitality Clinic in Corvallis, Oregon.
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