WHAT MAKES MINNESOTA WOMEN'S CARE SPECIAL
Menopause can be miserable. We're focused on finding solutions.
At Minnesota Women’s Care we're committed and focused on treating the symptoms of menopause and preventing disease related to aging. Our body systems are complex and interconnected and the changes associated with menopause can impact many areas of life. The hormonal shifts of menopause can cause major upheavals in a woman’s feeling of well being. We believe in helping women lead their best life – free from distress and discomfort that can easily be corrected.
What makes hormone pellet therapy different?
Click to find out.
Our Approach
Stop coping with symptoms of menopause. Start Living.
Fatigue? Poor concentration? Stubborn weight gain? Mood changes? Night sweats? Decreased sex drive?
These are just a short list of the many changes associated with menopause. Our body's complex system can be impacted in many different ways by the hormonal imbalance that often precedes menopause.
Though every woman is different, many women experience a number of the symptoms on this list:
- Hot Flashes
- Night sweats
- Decreased libido
- Memory loss
- Difficulty with concentration
- Hair loss
- Insomnia
- Mood Swings
- Weight gain
- Loss of muscle mass
- Fatigue
- Lack of energy
- Decreased exercise tolerance
- Vaginal dryness
- Pain with intercourse
- Anxiety
Our Approach
Menopause Management
Focusing on treating your symptoms of menopause as well as preventing long term consequences of poor management of menopause requires an individualized approach through diagnostic evaluations. We then help women achieve symptom relief and optimum health outcomes. Our goal is to enhance your enjoyment of life now and for many years to come.
Consider being able to :
Get through the day without bothersome hot flashes
Be productive and focused
Experience a healthy sex drive
Maintain a high energy level throughout the day
Sleep through the night
“Feel” Great!
Talk with us. We can help.
What our patients say:
A note from Dr. Ashford
Hormone Replacement Therapy & Hormonal Imbalance
For many years I have struggled to balance the controversies regarding hormonal therapy with the significant and life disrupting symptoms suffered by women with hormonal imbalance. Severe hot flashes decreased sex drive, lack of energy and just feeling out of place are not symptoms conducive to a happy and healthy life. Many other areas of life are negatively impacted by this. Furthermore the underlying health concerns from hormonal imbalance are just as significant. Finally I have found a therapy option that I feel to be safe and extremely effective to help women suffering from hormonal issues.
A Natural Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone Pellet Therapy is an all-natural bio-identical hormone replacement therapy that specializes in the use of subcutaneous testosterone and estradiol pellets. This method was first used in 1937 in England and Australia. The use of biologically identical, non-synthetic testosterone and estradiol is safe, and the use of pellets provides an effective delivery method. The pellet delivery method allows for the continual release of the hormone – the key to improving brain and muscle function. Other delivery methods result in sporadic, or a “roller coaster,” effect in the delivery and release of hormones within the body. These methods include pills, patches, injectables, and creams.
Literature shows that the use of pellets and all natural testosterone carries less risk compared to synthetic testosterone. We use a science based approach to prescribing (dosing) the patient the appropriate amount of testosterone and/or estradiol based on specific factors about the individual and their blood analysis. This results in achieving physiologic hormonal balance - something research has shown is absolutely vital to good health and well-being. Of all hormonal replacement modalities, only pellet therapy can provide this balance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Individualized care for each woman
At Minnesota Women's Care we believe in providing the best care based on each woman's unique needs. We believe in finding solutions for conditions that diminish the quality of your life - solutions that are consistent with each woman's needs and her desired approach to treatment. Hormone Pellet Therapy for women symptomatic from hormone deficiency is one such therapy. Why live with constant hot flashes, emotional ups and downs, decreased sex drive, deteriorating bone conditions and all the negative consequences of hormone deficiencies. Stop Coping, Start Living!
Melvin Ashford, M.D.
Wait ... what happened to all the warnings that hormone replacement therapy was bad and should not be used?
As Dr. Ashford has pointed out again and again, the 2002 study on which this guidance was based was misinterpreted. After an updated analysis was released in May 2024, the recommendation has now changed. Hormone therapy IS appropriate for the management of menopausal symptoms when started before age 60. This is precisely what Dr. Ashford has been saying since that original study was first released.
In other words ... for women who are experiencing the unwelcome effects of hormone changes – symptoms like night sweats, hot flashes, moodiness, sleeplessness, and more – hormone therapy is in fact appropriate to manage these symptoms.
The article below explains the original study and current findings. Feel free to read it. Or call us for an appointment and discuss your condition with one of our trained healthcare providers.
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OPINION
How one misinterpreted study upended care for menopausal women
In 2002, a well-intentioned but flawed study upended medical care for middle-aged women. It suggested that hormone therapy, then the gold standard to treat menopausal symptoms, led to higher risks of breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes. [...]
This month, WHI researchers published an updated analysis of their results. As JoAnn E. Manson, the paper’s lead investigator and professor at Harvard Medical School, told me in an interview, the bottom line is that hormone therapy is appropriate for the management of menopausal symptoms when initiated before the age of 60. “The WHI findings should not be used as a reason to deny hormone therapy to these women,” she said.